Need a simple explanation to this egg mystery! Feather leg/naked neck

[gritsar]

I have two flocks. They live in seperate coops, but co-mingle during the day. The older flock is LF brahmas. The hens are buffs, lights and darks, led by my dark brahma roo. All are hatchery quality but I've been told by more than one expert (including a poultry judge) that my darks are very close to the standard.


My other flock is led by a turken roo, that has a large bowtie. His hens are SS, turkens, EEs, silkies and SFs; all are HQ. The salmon faverolles have turned out to be very broody. The last time a SF hatched chicks, she hatched a light/dark brahma chick with heavy foot feathering (like the dark brahma roo), an EE/turken cross w/o the feathered neck and a turken w/o the feathered neck. These were from eggs that I purposely gave her.

My current broody has been hatching her chicks today. I gave her brahma eggs, eggs that I had marked the minute I brought them in from the brahma coop. No one could have switched eggs or added to her clutch because she was isolated the whole time.

So how is it that some of her brahma chicks are hatching out with NAKED NECKS?!? I know she has at least three chicks hatched - one is a brahma chick (dark over light), no doubt. The other two are very light in color and both have naked necks. One has clean legs, I don't know about the other.

Can anyone explain to me how this could happen, without going heavy into an explanation of genetics. Like algebra, I just don't have a brain for genetics. I know the NN gene is dominant. The feather leg gene is too, correct?

 

[Celtic Hill]

Was the hen ever incontact with the Nacked Neck Roo?

 

[WriterofWords]

You said a "simple explanation" on BYC???

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Clean legged can happen. If one parent is heterozygous for leg-feathering (but can still show full leg-feathering) and the other parent is either heterozygous or dominant for clean-legged...you can wind up with chicks that have non-feathered legs.


Since the flocks co-mingle...maybe some "brown chicken brown cow" happened between the NN cock and some Brahma hens.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That's what I was afraid you might say.

Impy (the turken) has been mating Thor's hens every chance he gets, but I didn't think it was happening that often and frankly, I didn't think he had the size to complete the transaction. My brahma girls are huge.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yeah Kate, I did. Too much to ask I know.

 

[chickendales]

if u want co mingle ur flocks u might want not let rooster out or dont coming just let out one coop at time if u dont care then how cares

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
That's what I was afraid you might say.

Impy (the turken) has been mating Thor's hens every chance he gets, but I didn't think it was happening that often and frankly, I didn't think he had the size to complete the transaction. My brahma girls are huge.

Ever seen a Chinese Crested dog? Ever see a Doberman female? If I hadn't looked out the window when I did, IT would've happened!! Never underestimate the "little guy" !

 

[wsdareme]

"Impy"??? "Thor"??? Bwaahahahahahahaaaaaaaa!!

Perhaps you should rename "Impy" since it seems he is stealing Thor's ladies......

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
OMG! I'd love to see the resulting pups....errr, or maybe I wouldn't.

Long ago I had a friend that had three dogs - a large lab female and two male terrier mixes, one fixed, one not. Three times that lab gave birth to single pups. We couldn't figure it out. Neither of the males even came up to her belly. Then one day we happened to be looking out the window and saw the lab actually backing up to the steps and the male standing on the top (3rd) step, waiting for her.