Understand columbian is not a recessive gene, what is possible is anything that was in the past crossed into the blood line , no matter how little is left mathematically , can and will show up when inbreeding happens ! Everything is made from crosses at some point!
I have been breeding chickens for 40+ years , from several variety’s of show birds when I was younger to game birds and now back to a mixed flock for hobby and egg production.
I doubt breeding them together would cause inbreeding depression, considering that hatcheries tend to breed pretty indiscriminately. But I suppose it's possible. I have had to make an outcross because one of my males was producing offspring with subpar health before. Or it could just be the conditions at the time. Some birds' annual reproductive cycles are a bit goofy.
Columbian, which is a dominant gene, is a result of immediate crossing, not impurity in the background. Columbian would never emerge unexpectedly through inbreeding.
Wrong, I have seen a columbian pattern come out on other breeds because they were crossed into the family years ago and only have 1/16 mathematically left in the family ,
What breeds and varieties were these chickens? Do you have pictures?
White rocks and even white Cochins were some of the best I have seen, came out strong ! And back in the day most people didn’t keep pics of there chickens , and we never carried a phone /camera in our pocket
White varieties are either recessive or dominant white, and if a recessive white is crossed with a dominant white you are likely to eventually see the colors that were under the recessive white come out.
There is a lot of good reading on the internet, I would recommend this to everyone interested and understand that strange things will happen the longer you breed chickens , rules do not always apply, especially when to much of the same blood/genes are involved
Could you link some of that reading? I’m always looking to learn more about chicken genetics.
