poults are different color!!

[heyjude1]

Well I thought I had a sweetgrass hen and tom... I let Gerty set 13 eggs when she went broody and as of lst night, I had 7 hatched!! The problem is, my poults are all black with white on their heads!!! any idea why? shouldn't the poults be brown?
Is it a recessive gene? Could this be because there may be a spanish black in the gene pool?
I appreciate any feedback...thank you in advance.....

 

[judsenn]

My Black Spanish poults were black with a white spot on head...but then again I thought all turkey breeds looked that way when they were born. Shows how much I know. LOL

 

[KrisH]

do you know the background of your foundation pair? I went to porters site to see and his poults sure look different from what you describe.
http://www.porterturkeys.com/sweetgrass.htm

RobertH

 

[heyjude1]

I have no clue now..I thought I had sweetgrass hen and tom, but evidently not..I went to porter too and truthfully my poults look like Spanish blacks, but two more hatched and they look like sweetgrass!!! I'm wondering if they can throw back to a recessive gene.. I wish I knew. I've searched all over the internet and just can't seem to find the info that I need....
Since I purchased the original trio ( the black spanish hen died in a week) I'm wondering now whether they weren't all related and inbred... I jsut am at a loss as to what these poults are and if Gerty will throw back each and every time..
I must admit though she is a GREAT mama and considering the cold we're encountering right now she's doing terrific at keeping her babies warm...

 

[heyjude1]

here is a picture of my hen and tom--- any suggestions as to their strain since I am totally confused now---

 

[heyjude1]

lost three of my babies today..Not sure how they managed to get outside into the pen, but everyone is locked down for the night and tomorrow, I will be working on finding the chink in the armour or the hole in the coop....

 

[KrisH]

they are tiny and fit through the smallest of holes.

RobertH

 

[heyjude1]

8 chicks!! one was hiding... so that's my final tally.. everyone seems to be doing GREAT so far... they are changing color very quickly..were born black with white heads and now are turning brown with yellow heads... strange.....
still wishing I could tell what strain my hen and tom are.. I don't want to give someone wrong information when I go to sell the poults..Maybe a buyer will be able to tell me if someone on here can't tell......
thank you everyone who responded to my post.. I REALLY appreciate it.....

 

[TV]

Those are Chocolate, not Sweetgrass.

 

[heyjude1]

thank you TV!!! Do you happen to know if it's normal for the poults to hatch and be black and white, then change to brown and yellow? I have eight poults that are changing color as I type......