Hi all -
Can someone tell me the mode of inheritance of beards and how hard they are to breed out of a flock? And what about the gene for 5 toes? Are these the types of things that can pop up unexpectedly in flocks of purebred chickens?
Reason I ask is, I recently hatched some shipped bantam cochin eggs, and from one of them, I got a 5 toed bearded bantam cochin. The breeder told me that they had a frizzled cochin rooster with 5 toes, but they said they had no bearded breeding stock...
And while I'm at it, what about bent toes? Is that a genetic thing or an incubation thing? I've heard both. Can anyone point me in the direction of information on how to fix it?
Can someone tell me the mode of inheritance of beards and how hard they are to breed out of a flock? And what about the gene for 5 toes? Are these the types of things that can pop up unexpectedly in flocks of purebred chickens?
Reason I ask is, I recently hatched some shipped bantam cochin eggs, and from one of them, I got a 5 toed bearded bantam cochin. The breeder told me that they had a frizzled cochin rooster with 5 toes, but they said they had no bearded breeding stock...
And while I'm at it, what about bent toes? Is that a genetic thing or an incubation thing? I've heard both. Can anyone point me in the direction of information on how to fix it?
