Silkie thread!

[Hawkeye95]

I feel so dumb because I thought the fluff in front of the tail was the cushion. Is it all cushion? I would love a good silkie chart as everything I find is for smooth chickens!

Hmmm.... Okay, I don't feel qualified to clear that up!

When we go to show our silkies, we are doing Showmanship. So my boy has to list all the parts of his breed and talk about the feathers, type, etc.. We were told all the fluff under the tail is the cushion. So that's what I just passed on. I do hope that is indeed correct! I know we didn't get told we were wrong in Showmanship. But I'm not going to stake my life on it, either! LOL

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/content/62/1/28.extract

Next one scroll way down close to the bottom to find brachydactyly

http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetics/mutations2.html


I'm reading a few different articles both US and UK ....

The gene responsible for Bracchydactyly is believed to be autosomal and an incomplete dominant.

It would appear that both parents carry the hidden gene for brachydactyly - if you breed them to another bird, you will get a much lesser # of brachydactyly offspring, by breeding them together your looking at atleast 50% of the offspring having some form of brachydactyly either just missing the toenail, or missing a couple phalanges.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Everyone is different on what they feel is worth nitpicking on. I personally would keep a brachydactyly bird if it is great in all other aspects and just not breed it to the same line.

Now that you know both your birds are most likely carrying this gene, try breeding to unrelated birds (is your 2nd pullet related to either the cockerel or the parent pullet of the chick?) if not - go for that breeding instead and see your results.

I am much more picky on toe number, toe placement and syndachtyly (fused toes) than brachydactyly in young birds.

 

[peepblessed]

My best roo and hen are both extremely heavy foot feathered and together they have produced 14 chicks (before she went broody on me!). Very nice babies with lots of feathering. Three of them have missing outside toe nails.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Everyone is different on what they feel is worth nitpicking on. I personally would keep a brachydactyly bird if it is great in all other aspects and just not breed it to the same line.

Now that you know both your birds are most likely carrying this gene, try breeding to unrelated birds (is your 2nd pullet related to either the cockerel or the parent pullet of the chick?) if not - go for that breeding instead and see your results.

I am much more picky on toe number, toe placement and syndachtyly (fused toes) than brachydactyly in young birds.

OKay, so I did a bit of reading up. It seems that this Brachydactyly is possibly recessive, or someone else stated that it is an incomplete dominant. So for this trait to be expressed in my chick-- THEN, both parents have to have a copy of this gene, and then, it may not always be expressed... BUT, if however, both parents are related, then your odds of having this trait expressed increase. It was stated that "recessive traits is increased with in-breeding". Here's the thing-- I did buy these birds from the same breeder, however she did say they were from different pens. Because I was worried about in-breeding, I did ask that question. So either, these birds are from the same pen, or they both received two copies from their parents... right?? I hope I'm understanding this. And it looks like I can go ahead and use these birds, but it would be better to use non-related birds that obviously did not express this trait.

Oh what a mess! How do you all keep track of all of this!!? I guess I'll be hunting for BBS eggs or a new pullet. Sigh. Any recommendations on eggs from really good quality breeders?

My best roo and hen are both extremely heavy foot feathered and together they have produced 14 chicks (before she went broody on me!). Very nice babies with lots of feathering. Three of them have missing outside toe nails.

Sounds like your odds are doing really well-- that's not too bad! Are all 14 of them your own breeding, or shipped eggs? Now I can't WAIT to see what my up coming hatch will look like! Because if none of these chicks have this issue, I'm going to calm down about it. But if I get more of this, then I'm going to have to switch my pairings around.

ETA-- just re-read that. Okay, these are your own birds. And I'm assuming that as far as you know, they are non-related, and not from the same breeder?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: No, Brachydactyly is incompletely dominant, meaning that a bird with one copy expresses it, but to a lesser degree than a bird with two copies. Only one parent needed the gene to pass it on. It seems to have a lot of variability in expression.

Of all the traits I would worry about, this is one of the least. Certainly work on it if you have all the other traits under control, but for showing this is merely a point or two out of 100; pretty minimal.

 

[Hawkeye95]

No, Brachydactyly is incompletely dominant, meaning that a bird with one copy expresses it, but to a lesser degree than a bird with two copies. Only one parent needed the gene to pass it on. It seems to have a lot of variability in expression.

Of all the traits I would worry about, this is one of the least. Certainly work on it if you have all the other traits under control, but for showing this is merely a point or two out of 100; pretty minimal.

OKay, that really clears that up for me! The reading kept jumping to recessive genes, and I figured that is what it meant. I wouldn't say I have all other traits under control! LOL

I feel completely OUT of control! But this pair of birds have done well in judging so far. My cockerel has a larger than desired comb... and I have no idea how that will express with our chicks. The pullet has almost no comb-- just a tiny pea sized one. I could go on and on of course! Wait and see, I guess. I have another hen I haven't bothered with because she has the bit of leakage under her beak. I still think I'm going to hunt down some nice BBS eggs here soon. I'm glad to learn this isn't as big of an issue as I was thinking it was. Whew!

 

[Whittni]

Is the Brachydactyl gene that bad? I kinda think they should show better with the section missing...makes them look even more fluffy.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Nomenclature and anatomy don't change just because of silkied feathers.

 

[peepblessed]

Quote:


These are definitely non-related birds. I raised the hen from an egg in Kentucky and bought the roo here in CA.