Question on cushion combs

[phasianidae]

I have hatched many cushion combed chicks this year and a few of them have a half ring of down on their comb. Is this common? What will it look like when they mature? This one has the most down on his comb:

 

[shelleyb1969]

Oops...double post.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
Thank you, This chick is heterozygous for both Rose and Pea, would a homozygous cushion comb have this also? Will these kind of chicks ever have feathers on their comb when they mature?

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
I haven't seen that many hairs on cushion (walnut) combs before, except for photos of Malays on Feathersite. But the top third of the comb can get separated from the rest of the comb (with cushion and walnut combs) by this line of hairs. It does seem to be common with walnut combs, which I believe are genetically the same as strawberry and cushion.

These fine hairs are often seen through adulthood.

This is not a hatchery vs. breeder issue. It's genetic and does not have anything to do with quality unless there is something in the breed's SOP. Many preservationists will try to keep both hairless and haired combs because it is not yet clear if breeding out the hairs will also breed out other connecting traits, like possibly something like wattle size which can be connected to comb genetics.

What breed is the bird in your photo?

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
That is what I'm wondering myself.

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
I haven't seen that many hairs on cushion (walnut) combs before, except for photos of Malays on Feathersite. But the top third of the comb can get separated from the rest of the comb (with cushion and walnut combs) by this line of hairs. It does seem to be common with walnut combs, which I believe are genetically the same as strawberry and cushion.

These fine hairs are often seen through adulthood.

This is not a hatchery vs. breeder issue. It's genetic and does not have anything to do with quality unless there is something in the breed's SOP. Many preservationists will try to keep both hairless and haired combs because it is not yet clear if breeding out the hairs will also breed out other connecting traits, like possibly something like wattle size which can be connected to comb genetics.

What breed is the bird in your photo?

Thank you, it is a breed in progress.

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
That is what I'm wondering myself.

If possible, I would like to eventually have a comb completely covered with these hairs, or even better-feathers.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I haven't seen that many hairs on cushion (walnut) combs before, except for photos of Malays on Feathersite. But the top third of the comb can get separated from the rest of the comb (with cushion and walnut combs) by this line of hairs. It does seem to be common with walnut combs, which I believe are genetically the same as strawberry and cushion.

These fine hairs are often seen through adulthood.

This is not a hatchery vs. breeder issue. It's genetic and does not have anything to do with quality unless there is something in the breed's SOP. Many preservationists will try to keep both hairless and haired combs because it is not yet clear if breeding out the hairs will also breed out other connecting traits, like possibly something like wattle size which can be connected to comb genetics.

What breed is the bird in your photo?

I haven't seen that many hairs on cushion (walnut) combs before, except for photos of Malays on Feathersite.

Malay (By standard) shouldn't have either a Cushion nor Walnut comb, what they should have is a Strawberry Comb.

Strawberry A somewhat egg shaped, low compacted comb that is wider in the front than in the rear. The rear of the comb should not extend past the mid point of the head.

Cushion Comb would be like the comb of a Chantecler.
A Low, small compact, smooth comb with no spikes or depressions.

Walnut Comb would be like the comb of a Russian Orloff
A comb that resembles one half of a walnut meat in appearance also moderately broad.​

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
Thank you for the correction. I think of those three combs as all the same thing since I enjoy thinking of them as being the same genetically. Do you have any comments to add on the hairs that Ryan is asking about?

So Ryan, the hair that appears at approximately the line of the top third of the comb can be seen in the Kraienkoppe (walnut, though some have a cushion comb) and the Chantecler (cushion is the standard, but it doesn't always display as a cushion). And these hairs are on the photo of the Malay on feathersite. I have heard that the Malay has the line of hairs across the comb at the top-third line, but I've not seen it. It's also on some Silkies and probably some other birds. (sounds like the Orloff and your mystery bird)

Poultry Breeding and Genetics by Crawford, p 193, "The walnut comb is smaller than either the rose or the pea comb. Generally a shallow transverse groove separates the posterior third ..." and that's all I can get. I don't have the book.

Google Bateson.

You want a comb completely covered in feathers? Okay. Why not? But I'm thinking that the homozygous might have fewer hairs because of the comments made somewhere by Bateson that I can't currently find. But I'm not too well read up on these things and don't always understand the terminologies. I think it said something about the F1s having the hairs. But it may be that he didn't study the walnut comb any further. He was trying to figure out pea + rose = walnut (or cushion or strawberry or cowbell or whatever name the APA wants to give it in the SOP).