This Rooster Ilustrates Why It's Difficult to Judge Mixes

[speckledhen]

[QUOTE="21hens-incharge, post: 19186661, member: 264500"]No way the mom could be a silkies....or a Cochin...or a booted bantam......

Guessing
Mum was a wyandotte mix ......... But with WHAT??[/QUOTE]

Well, not necessarily. I had three hens whose sire was a Silkie/Cochin cross and their mothers were all Barred Rocks. None had feathered legs or black skin or silkied feathers.

Nope, no Wyandotte.

 

[junebuggena]

We are, of course, assuming that the hen's parents had all the proper traits for their breeds. Otherwise, it's like trying to guess a mix of a mix of a mix. Pretty near impossible that far down the gene pool.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Mixes are wayyyyy to hard.

We are, of course, assuming that the hen's parents had all the proper traits for their breeds. Otherwise, it's like trying to guess a mix of a mix of a mix. Pretty near impossible that far down the gene pool.

Boy don't that just add a bunch in there! The possibilities become endless.

 

[speckledhen]

When I noticed that C.J. was, well, odd, I asked what else he could be. I knew he was not an Orp, or didn't look like one. And there was that pea type comb on him. The person seemed defensive, but I was not at all angry, just curious. I love happy accidents! Some of my best birds were happy accidents, like my Rita, who hatched from a blue egg out of a normal looking BBS Ameraucana flock. However, the lady told me that if I got an odd chick, her husband's BLRW rooster got in with the Ameraucanas. Rita was red, with bluish underfluff....and a single comb. And she laid a brown egg, not green as I would have expected, but I saw the photos of the Wyandotte rooster and the BBS Ameraucanas she came from. Genetics are just gremlins, I am convinced.

 

[junebuggena]

When I noticed that C.J. was, well, odd, I asked what else he could be. I knew he was not an Orp, or didn't look like one. And there was that pea type comb on him. The person seemed defensive, but I was not at all angry, just curious. I love happy accidents! Some of my best birds were happy accidents, like my Rita, who hatched from a blue egg out of a normal looking BBS Ameraucana flock. However, the lady told me that if I got an odd chick, her husband's BLRW rooster got in with the Ameraucanas. Rita was red, with bluish underfluff....and a single comb. And she laid a brown egg, not green as I would have expected, but I saw the photos of the Wyandotte rooster and the BBS Ameraucanas she came from. Genetics are just gremlins, I am convinced.

True BBS Ameraucana hens would only produce pea combed, muffed/bearded offspring, no matter what rooster you pair them with, and they would pass that blue shell gene on. That breeder was lying.

 

[21hens-incharge]

OK I will hazard a guess based on the process of elimination in the early posts.....

I will guess that mum has Cochin in there but now with what????

 

[speckledhen]

We are, of course, assuming that the hen's parents had all the proper traits for their breeds. Otherwise, it's like trying to guess a mix of a mix of a mix. Pretty near impossible that far down the gene pool.

Mixes are wayyyyy to hard.

Boy don't that just add a bunch in there! The possibilities become endless.

And that is entirely my point. The folks who jump in and say someone's bird is definitely this or that are usually wrong if the bird in question's parentage was unknown.

Okay, here is C.J.'s mother. Bantam Blue Frizzle Cochin x Silkie. How a Buff Orp rooster got hold of this little hen, I have no idea. Nature will find a way, I guess. Supposedly, the hen was being housed with the Buff Orps for some reason. No way you'd think that cross would ever happen.

And when you look at her and think of a Buff Orp siring C.J., remember, someone was selling BBS Ameraucanas with his picture. Gee whiz.

 

[The Angry Hen]

And that is entirely my point. The folks who jump in and say someone's bird is definitely this or that are usually wrong if the bird in question's parentage was unknown.

Okay, here is C.J.'s mother. Bantam Blue Frizzle Cochin x Silkie. How a Buff Orp rooster got hold of this little hen, I have no idea. Nature will find a way, I guess. Supposedly, the hen was being housed with the Buff Orps for some reason. No way you'd think that cross would ever happen.

And when you look at her and think of a Buff Orp siring C.J., remember, someone was selling BBS Ameraucanas with his picture. Gee whiz.

View attachment 1186101

Oh my goodness! That is amazing!!

 

[junebuggena]

And that is entirely my point. The folks who jump in and say someone's bird is definitely this or that are usually wrong if the bird in question's parentage was unknown.

Okay, here is C.J.'s mother. Bantam Blue Frizzle Cochin x Silkie. How a Buff Orp rooster got hold of this little hen, I have no idea. Nature will find a way, I guess.

And when you look at her and think of a Buff Orp siring C.J., remember, someone was selling BBS Ameraucanas with his picture. Gee whiz.

View attachment 1186101

That hen is at least two or three generations crossed. A first generation Silkie mix would have a crest.

 

[speckledhen]

True BBS Ameraucana hens would only produce pea combed, muffed/bearded offspring, no matter what rooster you pair them with, and they would pass that blue shell gene on. That breeder was lying.

It depends, though. I on rare occasion had a beardless Ameraucana hatch from my BBS line which originated with Cree Farms stock, if you remember them. If the mother was not pure for pea comb, that would do it. But, some genetics person here told me that when you cross rose x pea, about 25% of the combs can be singles.