The "Ask Anything" to Nicalandia Thread

[NagemTX]

If the down color of a chick is smoky and cream is it silver based? Also can you tell for down color if they are dominant white or recessive white? Was looking at the chicks on Cackles sight for the white ameraucanas. Image below belongs to Cackle.

 

[NatJ]

So can I ask about egg color? Is that technically in the line of genetics? I read somewhere that egg color is split between the hen and roo and that the egg the off spring will lay will be between what each breed lays. If I have a roo whose breed lays brown eggs and a hen that lays white eggs, would the offsprings eggs be tan? A color in the middle?

Yes, genetics of egg color are fine.

Yes, brown egg rooster to white egg hen will probably produce daughters who lay an in between color, so tan or light brown eggs.

For egg color in general:

For shades of brown, the offspring will probably lay a color in the middle.
There are a number of genes that control the amount of brown, but there are enough genes with poorly-understood behavior that averaging the colors is about as accurate as any other method for most of them.

There are two specific genes that affect egg color so much they have been studied more, and their inheritance is understood better.

One is the blue egg gene. It's dominant, so any hen with the gene lays a blue egg. Some people say that hens with two copies of the gene lay eggs with more blue, some say it doesn't make a difference. I don't know for sure either way. A blue egg with brown on it is a green egg. Darker brown makes it look a darker green, sometimes called "olive."

There is also a specific gene that has a strong blocking effect on brown. It is found in many breeds that lay white eggs. This one is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ, hens have ZW. So a hen gets her only Z chromosome from her father. When people cross a brown-egg breed with a white-egg breed, they get different egg colors if they have a white egg rooster (daughters lay much lighter eggs) than if they have a brown egg rooster (daughters more likely to lay medium-toned eggs.) The difference is how researchers figured out that it is on the sex chromosome, instead of any of the other chromosomes.

 

[MysteryChicken]

If the down color of a chick is smoky and cream is it silver based? Also can you tell for down color if they are dominant white or recessive white? Was looking at the chicks on Cackles sight for the white ameraucanas. Image below belongs to Cackle.
View attachment 3241859

Dominant White varies in shade, & tone. It can be solid light yellow, yellow with random tinges of Orange/Red, or look all orange/Red all over.

The brown one is dominant white, just haven't figured out what he's expressing.

Here's recessive white, blank white, with silvery tone.

 

[NatJ]

If the down color of a chick is smoky and cream is it silver based? Also can you tell for down color if they are dominant white or recessive white? Was looking at the chicks on Cackles sight for the white ameraucanas. Image below belongs to Cackle.

White Jersey Giants have recessive white, and their chicks definitely show various shades of gray (there are photos on the websites of Cackle and McMurray.)

The "white" chickens that are based on black, with Dominant White turning it all white, seem to generally have light-colored chick down (I'm thinking of things like White Leghorns.)

But I don't know whether you can tell them apart that way, or whether I'm just missing examples that go the other way.

And of course it is possible for a chicken to have both Dominant and recessive white at the same time.

Dominant White varies in shade, & tone. It can be solid light yellow, yellow with random tinges of Orange/Red, or look all orange/Red all over.

Are those chicks going to grow up with all-white feathers?
Because @NagemTX is asking specifically about WHITE Ameraucanas.
All the breeds I can think of that have colored chick down and express Dominant White are also expressing gold: Red Sexlinks, White Laced Buff, White Laced Red, and so forth.

I cannot think of any solid white chickens with red shades in their down color. And the only all-white chickens I can think of with gray shades in their down are the Jersey Giants (recessive white.) I'd love examples if there are some that I'm missing.

 

[MysteryChicken]

White Jersey Giants have recessive white, and their chicks definitely show various shades of gray (there are photos on the websites of Cackle and McMurray.)

The "white" chickens that are based on black, with Dominant White turning it all white, seem to generally have light-colored chick down (I'm thinking of things like White Leghorns.)

But I don't know whether you can tell them apart that way, or whether I'm just missing examples that go the other way.

And of course it is possible for a chicken to have both Dominant and recessive white at the same time.


Are those chicks going to grow up with all-white feathers?
Because @NagemTX is asking specifically about WHITE Ameraucanas.
All the breeds I can think of that have colored chick down and express Dominant White are also expressing gold: Red Sexlinks, White Laced Buff, White Laced Red, and so forth.

I cannot think of any solid white chickens with red shades in their down color. And the only all-white chickens I can think of with gray shades in their down are the Jersey Giants (recessive white.) I'd love examples if there are some that I'm missing.

Yep, except for the brown one, grown up to be solid white.
I did mention solid light yellow, which would be without red expression, which I don't have an example of without searching images.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Since Ameraucanas are the subject, Ameraucana alliance. Org Gold vs silver based whites is a good place to start.

 

[samanthaoverton]

Yes, genetics of egg color are fine.

Yes, brown egg rooster to white egg hen will probably produce daughters who lay an in between color, so tan or light brown eggs.

For egg color in general:

For shades of brown, the offspring will probably lay a color in the middle.
There are a number of genes that control the amount of brown, but there are enough genes with poorly-understood behavior that averaging the colors is about as accurate as any other method for most of them.

There are two specific genes that affect egg color so much they have been studied more, and their inheritance is understood better.

One is the blue egg gene. It's dominant, so any hen with the gene lays a blue egg. Some people say that hens with two copies of the gene lay eggs with more blue, some say it doesn't make a difference. I don't know for sure either way. A blue egg with brown on it is a green egg. Darker brown makes it look a darker green, sometimes called "olive."

There is also a specific gene that has a strong blocking effect on brown. It is found in many breeds that lay white eggs. This one is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ, hens have ZW. So a hen gets her only Z chromosome from her father. When people cross a brown-egg breed with a white-egg breed, they get different egg colors if they have a white egg rooster (daughters lay much lighter eggs) than if they have a brown egg rooster (daughters more likely to lay medium-toned eggs.) The difference is how researchers figured out that it is on the sex chromosome, instead of any of the other chromosomes.

Thank you

 

[nicalandia]

If the down color of a chick is smoky and cream is it silver based? Also can you tell for down color if they are dominant white or recessive white? Was looking at the chicks on Cackles sight for the white ameraucanas. Image below belongs to Cackle.

White Ameraucanas are recessive white and might have smoky colored chick down.

 

[NagemTX]

Since Ameraucanas are the subject, Ameraucana alliance. Org Gold vs silver based whites is a good place to start.

That was some interesting discussion on the subject. Thank you for the link.

 

[nicalandia]

@nicalandia

There has been some discussion on the Picture of the Week thread about my super-dark Blue Australorp pullet, Charcoal:

Some people aren't believing that I don't have any Silkie-cross, Ayam Cerami-cross, etc. birds and that she's just gypsy-faced.

Gypsy face on females is more common than what people believe. That is an exceptional looking bird.