unpopular chicken opinions??

[MelIngles]

Silkies are kind of ugly...

Say that again to Maddie Roo. He is so majestic

 

[FuzzyCritters]

There's actually no genetic link between combs and egg colors, that I know of.

There is when the chicken has a pea comb and the blue egg gene. The genes are very close together on the genetic code, so they become linked. When offspring are hatched from a split blue egg layer with a split pea comb, the chicks that inherited the pea comb very likely inherited the blue egg gene as well because of the linkage.

This doesn't mean every pea combed breed has the blue gene, or should. The egg color link only happens when both blue eggs and pea combs are present.

 

[333113]

I'm buying a male but the safe ratio of males to females is just really low. I would definitely rather them die as day old chicks than fight to the death - that's a long slow death

Okay, here's an unpopular opinion, but it's true in my flocks.

A one-rooster-one-hen-one-pen ratio works out just fine in most cases. The same for ducks.

I will be honest here, I don't understand why I can take a rooster out of a pen of five females that he is beating up with aggressive breeding, and put him into a pen with just one of those hens and presto, overnight they become a couple, no more overbreeding or broken feathers. I have to think there's maybe some instinct that tells him he's got only one, so better take care of her if he wants offspring.

Full disclosure, I am talking about adult roosters, not cockerels.

 

[ackie]

There's actually no genetic link between combs and egg colors, that I know of.

okay I found the original post I read here

the gist is that the comb type and shell color are on the same chromosome so the two genes more often travel together. of course crossing over can occur so its not full-proof, but they can travel together just based on physical proximity to each other - rather than being completely independent of each other.

so if you start with a pea comb blue shell breed & a single comb white shell breed, the pea comb in offspring should correspond with blue shells more often than not.

if you start with a single comb blue shell breed & a pea comb white shell breed, the single combs will tend to indicate blue. (eta: but since single combs are recessive, it doesn't mean that pea combs will only lay white... complicated stuff below)

so it's not that you can look at a comb and tell what color it lays. but you can follow the progression of a gene through known generations with a better chance of being right than if it was entirely random.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Okay, here's an unpopular opinion, but it's true in my flocks.

A one-rooster-one-hen-one-pen ratio works out just fine in most cases. The same for ducks.

I will be honest here, I don't understand why I can take a rooster out of a pen of five females that he is beating up with aggressive breeding, and put him into a pen with just one of those hens and presto, overnight they become a couple, no more overbreeding or broken feathers. I have to think there's maybe some instinct that tells him he's got only one, so better take care of her if he wants offspring.

Full disclosure, I am talking about adult roosters, not cockerels.

I prefer pairs and trios, but sometimes I get unlucky and can't sustain that

 

[ackie]

A one-rooster-one-hen-one-pen ratio works out just fine in most cases. The same for ducks.

yeah but then you have a zillion pens and I just wanna free range lol

 

[ackie]

There is when the chicken has a pea comb and the blue egg gene. The genes are very close together on the genetic code, so they become linked. When offspring are hatched from a split blue egg layer with a split pea comb, the chicks that inherited the pea comb very likely inherited the blue egg gene as well because of the linkage.

This doesn't mean every pea combed breed has the blue gene, or should. The egg color link only happens when both blue eggs and pea combs are present.

kind of but see my post for a more full explanation

 

[FuzzyCritters]

kind of but see my post for a more full explanation

Yeah, your's was a lot better than mine.

 

[ackie]

Yeah, your's was a lot better than mine.

I had to dig around until I found that post. I was starting to think I dreamt the connection so I'm glad you knew what I was talking about haha.

 

[FuzzyCritters]

I had to dig around until I found that post. I was starting to think I dreamt the connection so I'm glad you knew what I was talking about haha.

Thanks for digging it up! It was an interesting read.