Teaching a lesson on Genetics, would like some advice...

[greenfamilyfarms]

The sex-linked breeds would be good. That way you can use them to cover sex-linked traits as well.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

What grade are your students?

 

[onthespot]

How big is your incubator? You could solicit donations of mixed heritage eggs from BYC'ers that knew for sure what the parents were. You would get ALL KINDS of variations, and the kids could try to guess which chick was from which egg (of known parentage.

 

[picklezoet]

I teach 8th graders. They're tons of fun (once you get past the attitudes. They are in that really awkward stage when the really want to be treated like adults, but still expect you to hold their hand along the way.)

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

If you ask me I would get 2 white birds. Collect the eggs. Show how breeding two white birds together would get white.

But cause white hides genes. I would also get a 3rd bird of another color. Black perhaps. And breed it to the same white bird of the previous pair. Its offspring would have various colors.

This would show how white on white makes white. But white on another color can be a surprise, cause of the hidden genes.

 

[tadkerson]

How about this.

Black male (almost any breed) over recessive white (silkie) or
lavender (self blue)

over blue (any andalusian blue bird)

over dominant white (leghorn)


Black female under barring ( barred rock male)


I would use a silkie on the recessive white because white rock can carry barring and dominant white. The black bird should not be a wyandotte they are black but based on the brown gene and not extended black.

Tim