Pekin Bantam colour...

[EireRoo]

Hi this is my 2 year old Pekin hen and she's part of a black Mottled group that we have noticed a brown chick appearing now and again after hatching.
As the chicks get older they look like red Mottled.. trying to figure out where it's coming from but this lady seems to be the only one as the rest are definitely black mottled.. I initially thought her mottling would come in but she's still the same and more of a splash .. what would cause the red mottling in the chicks? It's no issue actually nice to have that colour too

 

[Egg Snatcher]

@NatJ

 

[NatJ]

Hi this is my 2 year old Pekin hen and she's part of a black Mottled group that we have noticed a brown chick appearing now and again after hatching.
As the chicks get older they look like red Mottled..

Black is dominant over any of the brown/red colors and patterns in chickens.
So you probably have one hen and one rooster carrying a recessive gene that allows non-black chicks.

It sounds like all of them have the mottling gene. It is a recessive gene, so if you breed two chickens that show mottling, all chicks will show it too (regardless of whether they have black or red/brown as the rest of their coloring.)

If I am correct about what is causing them, breeding two of the red mottled birds together will give you red mottled chicks and no other colors or patterns.

trying to figure out where it's coming from but this lady seems to be the only one as the rest are definitely black mottled.. I initially thought her mottling would come in but she's still the same and more of a splash .. what would cause the red mottling in the chicks? It's no issue actually nice to have that colour too

I think that hen probably does have mottling, just expressed a bit differently than the other ones do. I have no idea whether she is the mother of the red mottled ones or not.

Can you post a photo of a "red mottled" chick? I'm curious to see what they look like.

 

[EireRoo]

Black Mottled chick

 

[EireRoo]

Red mottled

 

[EireRoo]

My daughter added a surprise egg to the hatch which I presume is from the lavender pen

 

[NatJ]

View attachment 3839796
Red mottled

I see what you mean about the color difference.
What do these ones look like as they grow up?

View attachment 3839797
My daughter added a surprise egg to the hatch which I presume is from the lavender pen

I see why you suspect lavender

 

[EireRoo]

I see what you mean about the color difference.
What do these ones look like as they grow up?


I see why you suspect lavender

They get mottling on the brownish red feathering

 

[NatJ]

They get mottling on the brownish red feathering

I don't know exactly what gene you're dealing with, but the red (rather than black) is almost certainly caused by some recessive gene, being carried by the rooster and at least one hen.

Definitely an interesting thing to discover!