The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

So a black out of a blue breed has one blue gene? Weird my head is spinning similar to what it does with math. I need to re-read your post a few time to sink it in. I never knew that about barred birds. I like learning new stuff, thank you.

I have always wondered what colors were dominant and is it different in breeds or are there just dominant colors?

If you breed blue to black, you always can get blue or black chicks and it doesn't matter which parent is which color. A blue bird is genetically black with addition of one blue gene. A splash bird is a black bird who carries TWO blue genes, making him shades lighter than blue. Any blue bird has one blue gene. Any splash bird has two blue genes. A black bird is just a black bird. Hope that makes sense.

I'm not sure there are actually dominant colors unless you get into dominant and recessive white, which confuses me. My Delawares are a silver-based white. I'm not good with white. I know the barring gene and blue/black/splash and now, I'm getting comfortable with the partridge, blue partridge, splash partridge. Those are really just the black, blue and splash with the addition of the partridge pattern to confuse the eye so you can't tell who is blue and who is black immediately like you can in plain blue, black, splash birds.

With the barring gene in making sex links, the barred parent MUST be the mother or it can't be sex linked and sexable at hatch.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

All I know is Columbian is apparently dominant as almost every one of my mixed bantams come out Columbian. Definitely need to look into color genetics in chickens, you have peaked my interest, thank you. Great information as always.

 

[speckledhen]

All I know is Columbian is apparently dominant as almost every one of my mixed bantams come out Columbian. Definitely need to look into color genetics in chickens, you have peaked my interest, thank you. Great information as always.

And the restricted Columbian hackle of the Delaware is very strong, pops up out of nowhere. Rex with one of the hens he had, a red hen, produced a Delaware colored male and female. Shocker, that was.

 

[getaclue]

I LOVE the way you explain things. Easy to understand.

 

[speckledhen]

I LOVE the way you explain things. Easy to understand.

Thank you, Cheryl! That is one of the nicest compliments I could be paid. That's what I aim to do, make it easy to understand. Some things, I have trouble with myself and if someone explaining it can "dumb it down" for me, I love that, though I sort of hate the term because it doesn't mean someone is dumb, just not quite getting what can be a complex subject. I have some sort of mental block with the "alphabet soup" that is gene designations so I can't even use that stuff. Just tell me the possibilities and why they happen if I add A and B and I'm happy.

 

[1muttsfan]

White is very complicated, it involves both recessive and dominant white genes, and genes that are hidden behind the white color.

Andalusian Blue genetics are simpler, but since they are not sex-linked they are the same for both males and females.

Remember that in birds sex genes are the opposite of people (XY males, YY females) - males are ZZ, and females ZW. So males get 2 copies of genes carried on the Z gene (such as barring), while females only get one. This also means that it is the female that determines offspring sex instead of the male (like in mammals).

 

[speckledhen]

White is very complicated, it involves both recessive and dominant white genes, and genes that are hidden behind the white color.

Andalusian Blue genetics are simpler, but since they are not sex-linked they are the same for both males and females.

Remember that in birds sex genes are the opposite of people (XY males, YY females) - males are ZZ, and females ZW. So males get 2 copies of genes carried on the Z gene (such as barring), while females only get one. This also means that it is the female that determines offspring sex instead of the male (like in mammals).

People look at me funny when I say the hen determines the sex of the chick. Of course, a lot of folks didn't remember their facts from science about mammals anyway.

 

[kitkat5505]

The breeding genetics is really cool, even if it's confusing lol. I can't do any breeding (no roosters allowed) so I haven't looked into it much, I just know what I've learned on BYC lol.

I just had the scary experience of an egg bound pullet for the first time. Yesterday one of our EE was trying to lay her first egg and it would not come out and was causing her vent to prolapse. Tried all the advice I could find and nothing helped. She's my son's and today is his birthday so I had to do everything I could. Finally took her to the vet today and he got it out. She has to be on antibiotics and extra calcium for a week and we have to watch her closely. Hopefully she heals well and eventually lays ok, it was a pretty, light blue egg.

 

[getaclue]

Glad the vet was able to get it out, and I hope your hen recovers just fine.

 

[speckledhen]

Kara, I'm glad that worked out. It seems like once they prolapse they do it again eventually, so watch for that.

We walked out the door early and my husband says, "There's deer in the pasture". I looked out in time to see one of our resident doe's twin fawns bouncing around chasing a big butterfly. I felt like I was in a Disney movie, LOL!

I realized that MaryJo is now 21 weeks old and Cora, Bash's daughter, is about 32 weeks old.