Strange Baby

[Lunie]

So over a year ago my family got these baby chicks. They were called Smokey Pearl by TSC. I have always thought that they were named wrong as they got bigger because they looked nothing like the pictures I've seen. Only one of our hens I THINK might be one. Anyway never really was curious until now because we have gotten a chick from the bunch and he does not look like any of our chickens. Just wanted to see if you guys could figure it out better than I can! I'm pretty sure our hens are mixes for sure just don't know what kind. In the past TSC gave me Rhode Reds but they ended up being Cornish X's. The pictures are the hen who hatched, and the chick from today, when I first saw them there was the yellow chick but it has since died. And that's the rooster. Also the hen that COULD be the mom. She is the only one different from the others.

 

[Coops Dad]

The white ones look to be White Leghorns; the gray one with dark comb... idk but she's a beauty.

 

[Chive]

The white ones look to be White Leghorns; the gray one with dark comb... idk but she's a beauty.

Yeah, I agree. The white ones are white leghorns, and the one with the dark comb...... also leaves me stumped. She kind of looks like a Bresse (because of her blue feet), so she might be a Bresse cross.

 

[Theorrin]

Yeah, I agree. The white ones are white leghorns, and the one with the dark comb...... also leaves me stumped. She kind of looks like a Bresse (because of her blue feet), so she might be a Bresse cross.

i was thinking like a black meat bird cross since the breese have light blue legs and these look almost black to go with the dark comb an waddles

 

[Chive]

i was thinking like a black meat bird cross since the breese have light blue legs and these look almost black to go with the dark comb an waddles

Good point!

 

[NatJ]

If the dark chick is the puzzling one:
It is sometimes possible for two white chickens to produce a dark chick. It's just a matter of which genes are dominant (visible in the chicken) and which are recessive (can be hidden by dominant genes so you don't know the adult has them, but inherited by the chick, who shows the recessive genes if it inherited them from both parents.)

 

[Lunie]

Yeah, I agree. The white ones are white leghorns, and the one with the dark comb...... also leaves me stumped. She kind of looks like a Bresse (because of her blue feet), so she might be a Bresse cross.

I had thought they white ones were leghorns from what I've looked up. Wasn't to sure on it. My Gray hen I had thought was the Smokey but seeing TSC's track record of messing up chicks she could be a Bresse for sure.

 

[Lunie]

If the dark chick is the puzzling one:
It is sometimes possible for two white chickens to produce a dark chick. It's just a matter of which genes are dominant (visible in the chicken) and which are recessive (can be hidden by dominant genes so you don't know the adult has them, but inherited by the chick, who shows the recessive genes if it inherited them from both parents.)

Was very curious on the chick! I know genetics can be weird and I thought maybe knowing what the parents were would help with some stuff.

 

[NatJ]

Was very curious on the chick! I know genetics can be weird and I thought maybe knowing what the parents were would help with some stuff.

Genetically, a White Leghorn is a black chicken, with a gene called Dominant White that turns black into white.

Dominant White is a bit leaky. If the chicken has two copies of the Dominant White gene, it typically looks white. If it has just one copy of the Dominant White gene, it is more likely to have some black bits in places. I suspect the rooster, and the hen with the dark feet in the last photo, each have one copy of Dominant White.

If each parent has just one copy of Dominant White, then they could have a chick that inherits the not-Dominant-White gene (which allows the chick to show black.) That could let the chick be black, or it might have inherited genes that allow some other pattern rather than solid black. it can be hard to tell what other genes are present in a white chicken.

 

[Lunie]

Genetically, a White Leghorn is a black chicken, with a gene called Dominant White that turns black into white.

Dominant White is a bit leaky. If the chicken has two copies of the Dominant White gene, it typically looks white. If it has just one copy of the Dominant White gene, it is more likely to have some black bits in places. I suspect the rooster, and the hen with the dark feet in the last photo, each have one copy of Dominant White.

If each parent has just one copy of Dominant White, then they could have a chick that inherits the not-Dominant-White gene (which allows the chick to show black.) That could let the chick be black, or it might have inherited genes that allow some other pattern rather than solid black. it can be hard to tell what other genes are present in a white chicken.

Oh wow! That's cool. I had no idea! That's really cool! Thank you!!!