The BANTAM ORPINGTON Thread

[Sagetown]

Either my camera has given up the ghost or it has decided to refuse all rechargeable batteries. I've ordered another but it'll be a week at least before receiving it. I'm sorry. I know pictures would be helpful. Suffice to say, one chick has wing feathers that actually curl up towards and over the back. Short of frizzles, I've never seen anything like these feathers, and frankly, I've never had smooth feathered chicks before that look quite like this. I'm just trying to find out whether anyone else has had something similar and whether it straightened itself out (no pun intended) once the mature feathers came in.

Does your camera use AA batteries? Try the 'Energizer AA Ultimate Lithium batteries. They are expensive, but they last forever in cameras, or anything that you want to depend on when ever you need it. I put one in my shop's clock too.

 

[broodytood]

I have had some cockerels that feather in VERY slowly. Then, on the other hand, others that feather in normally. As far as feather quality - your confusing it with Lavender. Lavender has some major issues (fretting), while chocolate has the issue of becoming dull and diluted without the addition of black. For some reason, black brings back the darker, richer chocolate color.

White feathers are normal on black and chocolate chicks. They will fall out and be replaced with normal colored feathers for the bird.

Mind if I ask what fretting is? Thanks.

 

[Sagetown]

Mind if I ask what fretting is? Thanks.

Fretting is dark lines on the feathers. On some birds it is not a color, but an empty space in the feather that appears like dark lines, but according to those who have lavenders it is an actual black color.

 

[jeremy]

@tkay6205 is shipping me BBS bantams this week, I'm sooo excited!

 

[gootziecat]

Congratulations and good luck with your new birds.

 

[Caitlin_VT]

Here is some info I am quickly finding about chocolate vs lavender genetics:

In the bird world, males are ZZ and females are ZW. Z is a longer chromosome than W, so males have two copies of some genes that females have only one copy of. These genes are sex-linked.

The genotype of a choc male is choc/choc
The genotype of a choc female is choc/-

The genotype of a bird split to choc is Choc+/choc, and the bird MUST be male.

The genotype of a non-choc male is Choc+/Choc+
The genotype of a non-choc female is Choc+/-

Lavender is not a sex-linked gene.

The genotype of a lavender bird is lav/lav
The genotype of a bird split to lavender is Lav+/lav
The genotype of a non-lavender bird is Lav+/Lav+

With both choc and lavender, birds who are split cannot be visually discerned from those who are pure for not having the gene.

Source: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/337123/lavender-vs-chocolate-genetics/10





Then came Lavender or self blue, for the other blue tends to be laced in appearance. This is a recessive mutation often associated with bad feather structure. Ihe consensus is that it is epistatic to the other dilutants by the nature of expression mechanism. Truely epistatic would mean however that it would also cover splash or khaki (hence "white?" in table below). This needs to be confirmed either way. Until then the fanciers' consensus is that the whites would not permit to show the lavender tint. This tint is lighter than splash Blue. Other poultry species' lavenders/self blues do not seem to act epistatic to other diluters and contribute in further dilution of the eumelanin. Lavender also dilutes Phaeomelanin (groundcolor) in chickens.

Chocolate is a sex linked recessive mutation with a similar appearance as heterozygous Dun. The chick down seems darker though. In a recent visit to the dutch Serama empire there was a pullet harbouring both Dun and Chocolate. She was a lighter but prominent brown. Sexlinked brown dilution is the most common eumelanin dilution among birds and poultry, but still very rare in chickens.

Source: http://kippenjungle.nl/basisEN.htm

 

[Caitlin_VT]

Fretting is dark lines on the feathers. On some birds it is not a color, but an empty space in the feather that appears like dark lines, but according to those who have lavenders it is an actual black color.

For me, fretting has to do with QUALITY of feathers. For some reason the lavender color gene often carries, in conjunction, a gene that DECREASES quality of feathers. Fretting is the rough appearance you can see on the end's of feathers of poorer quality lavenders. Hence why we breed back to black frequently - to decrease the risk of fretting and to overall increase the quality of feathers.

There is also the issue of leakage in lavenders, both a gold color (at least in Ameraucanas) and barring, which I think you are referring to as fretting... But I don't consider that fretting.

 

[Faraday40]

Glad to learn that the random white feathers may disappear as they age. This is out 1st & only bantam. Age 6 weeks 2 days. Any gender predictions for this active little chick?

 

[Sagetown]

By it being full feathered, and not having a well developing comb, or wattles, I'd say it is a pullet.

 

[abkoldewyn]

Glad to learn that the random white feathers may disappear as they age. This is out 1st & only bantam. Age 6 weeks 2 days. Any gender predictions for this active little chick?

She looks like a pullet to me! pretty girl!