Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[pgpoultry]

Good luck with the little chicks....any chance of bigger pics.?.......I'd love to see a close up.

Sandie

 

[Inkheart]

Hello All

I love the look of the Naked Necks/ turkens - but i am seeing a chicken called a "Showgirl"? Is this simply a Silkie/ turken cross? And is it correect that the "naked neck" gene is very dominant - so that if they are crossed with other breeds that the offspring should always present that factor? New to chickens - doing my research as to what breeds I am most intersted in -
Thanks in advance for your help
Just looking for a friendly - docile - interesting- beautiful bird - which i think these are !
Thanks

 

[Kev]

Hello and welcome!

The naked neck gene is semi-dominant, which means there is a visual difference between a bird that's not pure and pure for the gene. It's even apparent at hatch:

Not pure on left(giant bowtie covering a lot of the front of neck is most noticeable feature), pure on right(neck and even part of breast is visible.. bowtie is just two little puffs high on neck). As adults, they look pretty similar, just replace the fuzz with feathers..

Once old enough to breed, the chick on left if bred to say, a barred rock, will give 50% naked neck chicks and 50% that you need to sell off ASAP(aka not naked necked..). Chick on right if bred to a barred rock also, will give 100% naked necked chicks, but all of them will not be pure for the naked neck gene.. in other words they will look like the chick on left.

Reason I mention all that is because there are quite a lot of naked necks, either from hatcheries or backyards that aren't pure for the gene. So chances are very good if you buy some and breed them, you will notice a percentage of chicks come up not naked necked.. which can seem confusing at first.. it's simply the parent(s) not being pure for the gene is all.

BTW some people believe only the ones completely naked necked, no bowtie at all are the only ones pure for the gene, that's not true.

I'm sure most will tell you they are indeed docile, interesting AND beautiful birds. Pretty decent producers too- of eggs and meat.

 

[pgpoultry]

Here are my NN's on their first free range day..............they loved it

The other animals were fine with the chicks, but Mort (I think definitely Mortimer rather than Morticia), largest of the chicks, rose his non-existent hackles and ran at the two Brahma boys pictured....the Dark Brahma is the alpha male, too! The. Brahmas just stood and looked as if to say "You and who's army?" and ignored him.

These birds are so funny!

Sandie

 

[TsaLaGi Acres]

Ok I have a question. We just hatched 2 NN's, both have the lil' bowties but one has darker neck skin ( even from hatch) than the other. It's not red, but actually is darker almost black, just at the top/back of the head, right below it's lil' toupee. It is the smaller of the two and has less feathering on it than the other. Is this an indication of what sex it is or just an oddball??

I'll try and get pictures of them later today.

 

[Kev]

Are they from breed mixes? A lot of turkens from backyards are mixed with other breeds, those can throw various surprises.

If they're hatchery stock, it's likely something to do with 'gypsy face'- it darkens the skin on the head but usually doesn't do much on rest of body. Usually these also are black feathered. Most eventually lose it, some keep traces of it such as black eyeliner, or a slight darkening on face and back of neck behind the head during summer time and it goes back to full red during winter.

Everybody will love to see pictures.

 

[TsaLaGi Acres]

Quote:
To be honest with ya, I really don't know for sure.
We got the parents from a breeder but not really sure if they are from breed stock or not. I'll post some pic's of their parents and them as well. I WILL say, they are some of the sweetest birds I've ever seen.

 

[Dar]

we were gifted 2 NN 1 roo and 1 hen.. I think they are from the same hatch... they are about 10 weeks old

the roos is fine the hen on the other hand is in need of help.

about 4 days ago she lost the use of her legs. they were in the brooder and i noticed she was sitting funny. I went back a few hours later and she had flipped over to her back. I removed her to the ICU (a large cat crate)

She was extremely hungry so I took care of that first and now she is eating like a lil piggy. I have added vitamins and penicillin to her feed/water

she can still move her legs and move her body so there is strength there but she just cant stand up. her legs stick straight out front. I have her ICU set up so she can reach her food and water without having to stand up

I have rolled a towel into a donut shape so she does not fall over.

Is there anything thats genetic for NN that would cause this?

 

[Kev]

Quote:
To be honest with ya, I really don't know for sure.
We got the parents from a breeder but not really sure if they are from breed stock or not. I'll post some pic's of their parents and them as well. I WILL say, they are some of the sweetest birds I've ever seen.

No matter, sweet is sweet!

 

[Kev]

Quote:
So sad!

There's nothing specific to NN, really. That kind of sounds like Marek's.. also known as 'range paralysis'. Be sure to ask in the Emergencies/diseases section.. it's a general poultry question.