Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[draye]

Had a little pullet egg today. One of my young pullets started laying.
Set 14 Naked Neck eggs today. Plus another 46 of other breeds or mixed.

 

[draye]

 

[Kassaundra]

I'm sure mine are laying, but they are being very sneaky about it, haven't found the spot(s) yet.

 

[Flowerbh]

OK Kev, some genetic questions for you. I had a pea combed roo and pea combed hens that all gave green/blue eggs. The roo was white and black and was hatched from a green egg and the hens were: 1) red laced EEer, 2) white and gray EEer and 3) blue Naked Neck. So, I hatched some eggs from these three hens and that roo. (Only had the one roo). All chicks are white and blackish/gray. Two chicks have single combs coming in and some chicks have feathered legs! None of the parents had feathered legs. So is the single comb a recessive thing and I had two recessive genes come together? Same with the feathered legs? Will these single comb chicks give me brown eggs or will I get the green? The chicks are only 3 weeks old, will some of the red laced color come in later or will they stay like the father? I guess I was surprised there were not any that were more colorful like the red laced mother. And the single combs surprised me. Can you explain?
Here is the father:

Here are the hens:

One on right on one on left

The blue NN in the middle

 

[Kev]

So is the single comb a recessive thing and I had two recessive genes come together?

Yes, exactly. Normally you are able to tell if a bird is pure for pea comb or not by the appearance- especially on roosters... a common look for not pure pea combs is a chewed up bubble gum. Also common is for them to be a little bigger or floppy. On pures usually is small, has three rows and is tight to the head but then hen's combs are naturally smaller so for this reason it's not always so easy to tell on hens.

That roo has the classic look of a not pure pea comb- largish, grows high, has the chewed bubble gum look and looks to have some floppiness and the size and shape of his wattles are all the check marks.

btw- this roo bred to a single comb hen will give you half single combs, half pea combs. Bred with a hen not pure for pea comb, 75% pea, 25% single. If you want to select for pea combs, keep cockerels with very small, tight combs and either no or just barely visible wattles.

The gene for blue/green eggshell is very closely linked to pea comb gene, so they strongly tend to 'inherit together'. As in 90% likely for a single comb not to lay colored eggs.

Quote:
Leg feathers is more complex- there are five main genes, some are dominant, semi dominant or recessive. Also, leg feathering varies quite a lot- even a bird with dominant gene(s) for leg feathering can seem to have clean legs. Sometimes if you look closely, there might be a few small feathers that are easily missed until the birds are in the hand.

His legs are mostly hidden but do I see a row of short feathers on his right leg..? I see a light colored 'streak' that happens to be parallel to his leg, am wondering if that's leg feathers or just coincidence and is something on the ground. I see blue frizzles, did the roo come from Lisa(Dipsy Doodle Doo)? If he did, leg feathering is present in some of her breeding stock.

Also if the roo was from Lisa, not very likely to get reds as her preference is for solid black/blue/splash so chances are high he is pure for genes for a solid colored bird. A pure solid black bird will always throw black chicks, however if crossed with colored birds, many will eventually show some color later on as lacing on hens breasts necks and on hackle/saddle on roosters.

If you have a cockerel that shows red or "golden"(not crisp white) feathers on wings/back, he will be a good one to breed with red or brown hens for chicks that aren't black/blue.

btw hen on far right in second pic is very interesting color.. maybe dun? fawn? If she IS dun or fawn, breeding her with the blue roo can give a variety of colors including khaki or platinum.

Middle hen in same picture- you could pretty easily create a laced line of EE from her.. she already has some of the genes necessary for single lacing. Any well laced roo over her would give you some chicks with pretty decent lacing either right off or in the second generation. Thought to mention in case lacing was attractive to you.

 

[Flowerbh]

Yes, exactly. Normally you are able to tell if a bird is pure for pea comb or not by the appearance- especially on roosters... a common look for not pure pea combs is a chewed up bubble gum. Also common is for them to be a little bigger or floppy. On pures usually is small, has three rows and is tight to the head but then hen's combs are naturally smaller so for this reason it's not always so easy to tell on hens.

That roo has the classic look of a not pure pea comb- largish, grows high, has the chewed bubble gum look and looks to have some floppiness and the size and shape of his wattles are all the check marks.

btw- this roo bred to a single comb hen will give you half single combs, half pea combs. Bred with a hen not pure for pea comb, 75% pea, 25% single. If you want to select for pea combs, keep cockerels with very small, tight combs and either no or just barely visible wattles.

The gene for blue/green eggshell is very closely linked to pea comb gene, so they strongly tend to 'inherit together'. As in 90% likely for a single comb not to lay colored eggs.


Leg feathers is more complex- there are five main genes, some are dominant, semi dominant or recessive. Also, leg feathering varies quite a lot- even a bird with dominant gene(s) for leg feathering can seem to have clean legs. Sometimes if you look closely, there might be a few small feathers that are easily missed until the birds are in the hand.

His legs are mostly hidden but do I see a row of short feathers on his right leg..? I see a light colored 'streak' that happens to be parallel to his leg, am wondering if that's leg feathers or just coincidence and is something on the ground. I see blue frizzles, did the roo come from Lisa(Dipsy Doodle Doo)? If he did, leg feathering is present in some of her breeding stock.

Also if the roo was from Lisa, not very likely to get reds as her preference is for solid black/blue/splash so chances are high he is pure for genes for a solid colored bird. A pure solid black bird will always throw black chicks, however if crossed with colored birds, many will eventually show some color later on as lacing on hens breasts necks and on hackle/saddle on roosters.

If you have a cockerel that shows red or "golden"(not crisp white) feathers on wings/back, he will be a good one to breed with red or brown hens for chicks that aren't black/blue.

btw hen on far right in second pic is very interesting color.. maybe dun? fawn? If she IS dun or fawn, breeding her with the blue roo can give a variety of colors including khaki or platinum.

Middle hen in same picture- you could pretty easily create a laced line of EE from her.. she already has some of the genes necessary for single lacing. Any well laced roo over her would give you some chicks with pretty decent lacing either right off or in the second generation. Thought to mention in case lacing was attractive to you.

Thank you so much, Kev! You've given me great information! Thank you for taking the time to explain things so nicely! I had to rehome that white rooster as he was just brutal and mean. Now have a 15 week old roo that is White Leghorn/Crested Cream Legbar mix. He does have some gold/red in wings. If he is nice, he will stay. He should be a blue egg gene roo, right? I did have a beautiful BLRW roo, but the bear ate him!

A few weeks ago. This is Roo Guy, my oldest roo now. See his small crest (from his father)!
And yes, those were birds from Lisa! hahaha....funny how you can spot her birds!
Thanks again!

 

[gootziecat]

Pretty blue NN in last series of pictures, Flowerbh.

 

[Kev]

If he is out of cross of pure legbar to leghorn, then yes he has the blue egg gene. He will "mess" a little bit with the linkage between pea and blue egg gene in your flock.. with his single combed offspring you won't know if they have the blue egg gene or not, until the daughters start laying.

No problem!

 

[Kev]

New babies! Silver Sussex rooster over a blue laced red NN hen:

 

[Kassaundra]

New babies! Silver Sussex rooster over a blue laced red NN hen:

Very cute. What is your expected look going to be?