peachick...what kind?

[campdirector]

Hey all,

So I had much better luck this year with my peas. I hatched out 10 chicks lost 3 to predators and 2 to drowning in the duck pool. But I, or I should say their mama hen has managed to raise the other 5 up to 4 months today. My question is I have an IB blue cock, 2 IB hens and 1 Blackshoulder hen. Last year I hatched out several IB chicks and a few blonde looking ones all of which did not make it past a month old. I assumed the little blonde ones were going to be blackshoulder. So this year, I hatched out a couple of the little blonde ones again and 1 has survived to the formentioned 4 months old. My question is it looks nothing like my BS hen or an IB. Can anyone tell me what color it is and why I may have gotten it? Interestingly enough I have not hatched out any BS chicks.Also can anyone tell what sex it might be. My guess is hen but not sure. Thanks for the help all!

Scott

 

[zazouse]

I have to figure out a better way of recordkeeping, I am sure that pics will help but I have been noticing that they change so fast. I have three young IBBS cocks that have changed so much I have to study them and their rings to figure out which one they are. Freckles is loosing his spots, NewBoy has eye feathers coming in and he is supposed to be coming two and White Eye, and if Rocky wasn't split to White/Pied I wouldn't know which one he was. Then to top it off the plastic rings come off, and that is how I tell where I got them and how old they are by the color system.

Well records are fine but when it is all said and done ya got to live it a couple times for it to sink in, i keep a journal and take lots of photos cause those photos all have a time stamp and i can find them easily for reference if my memory fails me plus i like to play show and tell LOL

 

[AugeredIn]

Why don't you post this as a separate thread or a poll. I was under the same impression, but over the years I have been told again and again by those with more experience than me that it is not a big deal and doing it once is not likely to cause any problems. If the original parents are not related and it is not perpetually done thru several generations, which is what breeders end up doing to get the new colors, it is considered much safer than a brother to sister breeding. I would really like to hear what the general consensus is and also if anyone has had any genetic problems pop up because they did it.

The reality of "inbreeding" is very simple. Inbreeding by itself is not inherently better or worse then any other type of breeding. Inbreeding does not "cause" negative mutations. There is no more of a chance of spontaneous defect from inbreeding than any other type of breeding. What can and frequently does in closed breeding populations is that bad traits become concentrated with no chance of removal. Breed bad genetics and you get bad genetics. Breed good genetics and you get good genetics. Does not matter how they are related. The more diversity you have to choose from, however, the better your chance of isolating or not propagating bad genetics.

What we consider inbreeding occurs naturally every day in the animal world and not necessarily as the exception in many instances.

 

[DylansMom]

Hey all,

So I had much better luck this year with my peas. I hatched out 10 chicks lost 3 to predators and 2 to drowning in the duck pool. But I, or I should say their mama hen has managed to raise the other 5 up to 4 months today. My question is I have an IB blue cock, 2 IB hens and 1 Blackshoulder hen. Last year I hatched out several IB chicks and a few blonde looking ones all of which did not make it past a month old. I assumed the little blonde ones were going to be blackshoulder. So this year, I hatched out a couple of the little blonde ones again and 1 has survived to the formentioned 4 months old. My question is it looks nothing like my BS hen or an IB. Can anyone tell me what color it is and why I may have gotten it? Interestingly enough I have not hatched out any BS chicks.Also can anyone tell what sex it might be. My guess is hen but not sure. Thanks for the help all!

Scott

Hi there! Congrats to you and Mama hen. That little blonde looks like a Cameo hen, That means the male is split to Cameo. He carries a Cameo gene but it is recessive to the India Blue gene. Cameo is a Sex-Linked color which means you can get Cameos with only 1 parent carrying the gene. A male carrying Cameo can produce Cameo daughters only, to get a Cameo son you would need a Cameo mom as well. So that explains your color. Now your Black shoulder is technically an India Blue Black Shoulder, BS is a pattern not a color. It is not sex-linked and therefore you need both parents to carry the gene to produce BS offspring, otherwise it is recessive to the wild or barred wing pattern. Hope that helps!

 

[KsKingBee]

It's a Cameo chick, I have a bunch of them too. Can't tell you the sex, I haven't figured out how to sex them yet. Some say that there is a barring but I haven't seen that on mine yet.

 

[DylansMom]

It's a Cameo chick, I have a bunch of them too. Can't tell you the sex, I haven't figured out how to sex them yet. Some say that there is a barring but I haven't seen that on mine yet.

It's a hen, look at the scallop shaped feathers with the wide light edges on it's chest/breast area. Plus genetics would tell you it could only be a hen.

Have to have a Cameo hen to get a Cameo male.

 

[KsKingBee]

It's a hen, look at the scallop shaped feathers with the wide light edges on it's chest/breast area. Plus genetics would tell you it could only be a hen.

Have to have a Cameo hen to get a Cameo male.

Ah, thank you. So like an IB hen breast only lighter. I can now scrutinize my chicks with this new information. And if they don't have the scallops then they are male, is there a difference in neck color between the sexes?

 

[DylansMom]

Ah, thank you. So like an IB hen breast only lighter. I can now scrutinize my chicks with this new information. And if they don't have the scallops then they are male, is there a difference in neck color between the sexes?

We've talked about those breast feathers before and it is very hard to put into words. Males can appear somewhat scalloped as well, but the lighter edge on the feathers will not be as wide and uniform looking. After a couple years of raising them you will learn all those subtle little variations.

 

[KsKingBee]

Ok, I will try to be patient.

If in a couple of years it lays an egg will it be a hen?

 

[DylansMom]

Ok, I will try to be patient.

If in a couple of years it lays an egg will it be a hen?

What I meant ( Smarty Pants)

was in a couple of years you will be able to look at a bunch of 10 week old chicks and know which are boys and which are girls...... 98% of the time anyway, cause we all get fooled now and then.