Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

Generally speaking the color of the pullets will come from the dad. The cockerel color is dependent on a variety of things. The barring pattern is dominant, therefore if the male has two clean copies of the barring pattern all of the chicks will be barred. If the mother doesn't have a barring gene, then if the offspring are bred they will produce offspring with various patterns of barring (called incomplete barring). If he only has one copy of the barring gene, you will get some variation of barring dependent on the pattern of the mother (again, incomplete barring).

Sorry for the long explanation...genetics is of particular interest to me.

Good explanation....I am slowly getting my genetics down.
LofMc

 

[bumpercarr]

Good explanation....I am slowly getting my genetics down.
LofMc

LOL....if you don't love it, it can be a painful subject to try to study.

 

[vpatt]

Generally speaking the color of the pullets will come from the dad.  The cockerel color is dependent on a variety of things.  The barring pattern is dominant, therefore if the male has two clean copies of the barring pattern all of the chicks will be barred.  If the mother doesn't have a barring gene, then if the offspring are bred they will produce offspring with various patterns of barring (called incomplete barring). If he only has one copy of the barring gene, you will get some variation of barring dependent on the pattern of the mother (again, incomplete barring).

Sorry for the long explanation...genetics is of particular interest to me. 

The last two chicks that hatched were his and they are both barred. I wish I could understand genetics better.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

LOL....if you don't love it, it can be a painful subject to try to study.

I do enjoy it...just don't have time to think it through as so much other stuff to read...but when I do have time, I do enjoy it.

I've gotten egg color down (she says confidently )
I've gotten part of the color thing down

Combs will come next.

...all so that someday I hope to begin to breed my own little "perfect" back yard flock.

LofMc

 

[bumpercarr]

I guess the main thing to remember if you are thinking about genetics is that dominant genes only require one copy and recessive genes require two copies in order to be visibly present. Dominant does not mean that it will override ever other gene, just that it only requires one copy to be visibly present. Each chick gets one gene from it's mother and one from it's father. Then, you look at how those genes might be present to see what you might end up with. If we take an easy example, the pea comb which is dominant gene. The parent that shows the pea comb could either have one copy or two copies, let's call them Pp or PP. If you breed to another bird that has a straight comb, it's gene combination would be pp (because it doesn't have a pea comb it does not have a copy of P).

Now lets look at what the possible combinations could be (use a punnet square, makes it easier to see). If the one parent has one copy, the resulting combinations would be Pp, pp, Pp, pp. So, 50% of the chicks would have one pea comb gene. If the one parent has two copies, the resulting combinations are Pp, Pp, Pp, Pp. All of the chicks would have one pea comb gene and show the pea comb.

So, that is the basics. I won't go into what happens when you breed two birds that each have at least one dominant gene for the same trait (i.e. the pea comb and the rose comb are both dominant). That lesson is for another day.

What interests me the most about genetics is that you can tell what genes the parents have based on what the resulting chicks look like. For instance, if you breed a pea comb to a strait comb and 1/2 of the chicks have the pea comb, then you know that the pea comb parent only has one gene. If all of the chicks have pea combs, then you know that the parent has two genes.

Hope that makes things a little clearer. A few common examples of dominant genes: pea comb, rose comb, vulture hocks, 5 toes, feathered legs, crests, frizzle, wildtype (gold), white skin, tufted.....and on and on. Sometimes the presence of two dominant genes gives a different result than expected, but those are unusual. Blue is one of those color genes that when two are present the result is splash (not dominant white which is a different color altogether). So, how do you know if you have a blue splash vs. a dominant white? Breed to black. If the resulting chicks have white on them then the parent was dominant white. If the chicks are blue, you have a blue splash.

Lesson over........

 

[KrystalRose]

Well, all the chicks did really well this weekend running around the coop and run, taking dust baths and sun bathing. But mom decided to abandon them officially today, pecking them when they came close to her, so now they are on their own under a lamp in my brooder. Unless it is decent weather, then I will let them run around, but today we had nasty wind, not even the adults wanted outside!

My adoptive BO mom however is still being an awesome mom. I love her!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I guess the main thing to remember if you are thinking about genetics is that dominant genes only require one copy and recessive genes require two copies in order to be visibly present. Dominant does not mean that it will override ever other gene, just that it only requires one copy to be visibly present. Each chick gets one gene from it's mother and one from it's father. Then, you look at how those genes might be present to see what you might end up with. If we take an easy example, the pea comb which is dominant gene. The parent that shows the pea comb could either have one copy or two copies, let's call them Pp or PP. If you breed to another bird that has a straight comb, it's gene combination would be pp (because it doesn't have a pea comb it does not have a copy of P).

Now lets look at what the possible combinations could be (use a punnet square, makes it easier to see). If the one parent has one copy, the resulting combinations would be Pp, pp, Pp, pp. So, 50% of the chicks would have one pea comb gene. If the one parent has two copies, the resulting combinations are Pp, Pp, Pp, Pp. All of the chicks would have one pea comb gene and show the pea comb.

So, that is the basics. I won't go into what happens when you breed two birds that each have at least one dominant gene for the same trait (i.e. the pea comb and the rose comb are both dominant). That lesson is for another day.

What interests me the most about genetics is that you can tell what genes the parents have based on what the resulting chicks look like. For instance, if you breed a pea comb to a strait comb and 1/2 of the chicks have the pea comb, then you know that the pea comb parent only has one gene. If all of the chicks have pea combs, then you know that the parent has two genes.

Hope that makes things a little clearer. A few common examples of dominant genes: pea comb, rose comb, vulture hocks, 5 toes, feathered legs, crests, frizzle, wildtype (gold), white skin, tufted.....and on and on. Sometimes the presence of two dominant genes gives a different result than expected, but those are unusual. Blue is one of those color genes that when two are present the result is splash (not dominant white which is a different color altogether). So, how do you know if you have a blue splash vs. a dominant white? Breed to black. If the resulting chicks have white on them then the parent was dominant white. If the chicks are blue, you have a blue splash.

Lesson over........

So what happens in the genetics when you've got a pea comb parent (I'm assuming one gene) bred to a single comb parent, and the comb is a really funky pea comb neither single nor pea. I've heard a lot of breeders say that happens....

Curious.
LofMc

 

[Angie16hearts]

I would....or wait until the Cochin goes broody...that is likely only a matter of time.
LofMc

thank you! You always have great information !
Yesterday, Oreo had been sitting on eggs all night and most of the day before. Unfortunately she's the lowest in the pecking order. My GLW who I have watched viciously attack a few of my EE's and others. She pulls the hair off their heads if the Roo mates them. Actually ;( during) she's also been just walking up to the others and ripping feathers out. I've had enough of her! Anyways she scared Oreo out of box. Not sure if Oreo was off all day? She was out when I got home. I took her to the eggs and she settled right in. So a few more days see how it plays out. I removed my GLW going to re home her. She is just a mean lady. Oreo is trying hard but young still. I think she's a bit confused. She's still on eggs as of now. Maybe with the other bird gone she will finish. Or should I move her now into broody coop? She had her massive bm just like pepper and her cackle Is strong!

 

[Angie16hearts]

LofMc, should I put Oreo in broody coop ? See if she will stay with out distractions? Pepper was at tip of pecking order and still is so no one dared to move her way!!! I feel like she's trying but scared of others she even stopped laying. Is she a not so good broody? That's why I'm wondering if I should seperate her for a bit. Even if she doesn't follow though she's still at the bottom of pecking order . She is so easily intimidated but the other girks to leave nest so they can lay

 

[Lady of McCamley]

thank you! You always have great information !
Yesterday, Oreo had been sitting on eggs all night and most of the day before. Unfortunately she's the lowest in the pecking order. My GLW who I have watched viciously attack a few of my EE's and others. She pulls the hair off their heads if the Roo mates them. Actually ;( during) she's also been just walking up to the others and ripping feathers out. I've had enough of her! Anyways she scared Oreo out of box. Not sure if Oreo was off all day? She was out when I got home. I took her to the eggs and she settled right in. So a few more days see how it plays out. I removed my GLW going to re home her. She is just a mean lady. Oreo is trying hard but young still. I think she's a bit confused. She's still on eggs as of now. Maybe with the other bird gone she will finish. Or should I move her now into broody coop? She had her massive bm just like pepper and her cackle Is strong!

LofMc, should I put Oreo in broody coop ? See if she will stay with out distractions? Pepper was at tip of pecking order and still is so no one dared to move her way!!! I feel like she's trying but scared of others she even stopped laying. Is she a not so good broody? That's why I'm wondering if I should seperate her for a bit. Even if she doesn't follow though she's still at the bottom of pecking order . She is so easily intimidated but the other girks to leave nest so they can lay

I always remove my timid girls from the main coop when they go broody...and since I never had a dominant hen go broody..I built a permanent broody coop for my timid girls.

What you are seeing is what I experienced repeatedly...the timid broodies keep getting pushed off the nest by the more dominant hens who want to lay. And it really confuses the little broody and keeps her unsettled. Sometimes it is because they will never settle, but I have had good luck with them settling once moved...almost, "ah, I can set about my business now."

You'll never know until you try...and if it were me, I would definitely try and see if this little girl wants to brood. Give her a few days to relax into her new space. If she remains fickle in the broody pen, then back to the coop she goes. If she is on again, off again, fickle brooding, I then encourage them to break by repeatedly through the day lifting them off the nest and taking them into the yard, setting them down, and giving them really, really nummy treats. By the end of the week they are generally out about and running to me for treats.

And yes...get rid of the GLW. She would make a nice side dish to dumplings, nasty girl.

LofMc