Pullet or cockerel? White chicken, breed unknown, but most likely a California tan?

[DuckDuckPromise]

What was the dad?

Barnyard mix. I have a picture if it helps! Not a full one, but you can still see some of him!
His name is… Rooster

 

[NatJ]

That rooster, and the hen in the picture, probably cannot produce chicks that are all white. (Possible exception: if they both carry the recessive white gene. But they most likely do not.)

 

[SkyAJK]

I have a hen looks like your baby chick there, white feather - picture attached.
The parents are both Isa Brown, so I don't know where the white feather from.

I do not know anything about chicken breed/DNA

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Barnyard mix. I have a picture if it helps! Not a full one, but you can still see some of him!
His name is… Rooster

LOL I LOVE IT

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

That rooster, and the hen in the picture, probably cannot produce chicks that are all white. (Possible exception: if they both carry the recessive white gene. But they most likely do not.)

Agreed, since white is recessive, both parents would have to be carriers. I do not know the likeliness of this.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Awwwww, thank you!!! I would love to take credit, but that’s God’s Handiwork!!! Lolol!
I LOVE baby critters!

Lol!!!!

 

[NatJ]

Agreed, since white is recessive, both parents would have to be carriers. I do not know the likeliness of this.

There are some other genes that can cause white feathers in chickens, including some dominant ones, but it is obvious from the photos that the rooster and the hen in question do not have the dominant ones.

 

[NatJ]

I have a hen looks like your baby chick there, white feather - picture attached.
The parents are both Isa Brown, so I don't know where the white feather from.

I do not know anything about chicken breed/DNA

If you breed an ISA Brown hen with an ISA Brown rooster and hatch a bunch of chicks, I would expect about 1/4 of chicks to be white like the one in your photo.

This happens because of the cross that is used to produce ISA Browns. Some of the genes appear in different combinations in the next generation. One gene determines gold vs. silver (white) in the coloring, and another determines black vs. white in other areas of the chicken. Those two genes cause four different combinations of colors: gold with black or with white, silver with black or with white. Silver with white makes a white chicken like your hen. Silver with black makes a coloring like what Light Brahmas have. Gold with black makes a coloring like what Buff Brahmas have. Gold with white makes the coloring you see in ISA Brown hens.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

Ignoring the coloring, I think I see a crest on the hen's head, muff/beard on her face, and feathers on her feet.

If that is correct, any chick of hers would be likely to have at least SOME of those extra feathers, but this chick does not have any of them. So I think that hen is probably not the biological mother of the chick.

As regards coloring, knowing the color of the rooster is important when trying to figure out whether a hen of a given color can produce a certain color chick. There are some roosters that could produce white chicks with a hen of that color, and some roosters that could not.

Oh wow, you are SO much more knowledgeable than I am on this gene stuff! I love reading it though, thank you so so much for sharing with me! Okay, so with that being the case, would it be most likely for one of the California tans to be the biological momma then? They are our ONLY white chickens, and Rooster is the only rooster they have been exposed to, so he is definitely Dad lol.
Everyone in our flock of about 14 is barnyard mix though (except for the 2 California tans)
And you are absolutely right about the gray chicken, we were told from the farm we got the eggs from (our flock EXCEPT for the California tans were all incubated at home) that the eggs would be barnyard mix, but a silkie chicken breed was in the list of possibilities that they could be mixed with, and I think that she (the gray chicken) definitely has some silkie in her! But I am a newbie at the genes stuff, I’m just going by her extra claw, head fluff, and feet feathers!

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

If you breed an ISA Brown hen with an ISA Brown rooster and hatch a bunch of chicks, I would expect about 1/4 of chicks to be white like the one in your photo.

This happens because of the cross that is used to produce ISA Browns. Some of the genes appear in different combinations in the next generation. One gene determines gold vs. silver (white) in the coloring, and another determines black vs. white in other areas of the chicken. Those two genes cause four different combinations of colors: gold with black or with white, silver with black or with white. Silver with white makes a white chicken like your hen. Silver with black makes a coloring like what Light Brahmas have. Gold with black makes a coloring like what Buff Brahmas have. Gold with white makes the coloring you see in ISA Brown hens.

Also, I think I accidentally angry faced instead of hearting your other post!!! I’m sorry!