Weird Hatches Earlier This Year

[ChickenDino]

So during school I was in a clasd that we hatched chicks. Since I have roos and hens my class used my eggs to hatch. I have 2 roos. One is an easter egger named Talon(idk his coloring but it looks the same as a salmon faverolle roo) and my other is an actual grey ameraucana named Storm. I also have a few barred rocks, production reds, a white crested black polish, and a black ameraucana as my hens. My roos dont fight at all and arent aggressive with anything. But I feel like Storm is the dominant one. So with this batch of eggs we hatched. I got a random white chick with only 1 feather on its tail that is partly black. It has a beard and a red pea comb. It also has white legs unlike any of my chickens especially the roos (Talon had green and Storm has blue) and it has very light eyes. I also got a pure greyish black chick that has a pure black beak and legs. It is more darker than Storm and lighter than my ameraucana hen (probably the mother) These chicks hatched on the 14th of May. And everyother chick has a pea comb and a beard and either has fully black feathering and a lighter normal beak and with blue legs or is barred like the barred rocks with yellow legs with blue front scales. So i have no idea where the white chick came from and im not sure if it is melanism for my greyish black chick. Can anyone help me figure it out? In the morning Ill post pics of my chicks.

 

[Sneebsey]

If you could post pictures of the chicks and the possible parents, we can probably identify what genes they are expressing. If your white chick is white with almost random black splodges, it is likely from one of your production reds as they have dominant white.

 

[centrarchid]

White legs dominant. Is it possible someone slipped another egg into the incubator outside what you supplied?

 

[Sneebsey]

Am I right in thinking you can get white legs from slate if a pigment inhibitor (id) such as that found in yellow legged birds is added, @centrarchid?

 

[centrarchid]

Am I right in thinking you can get white legs from slate if a pigment inhibitor (id) such as that found in yellow legged birds is added, @centrarchid?

Outside my experience. Does OP have slate and yellow legs to be crossed on mating group?

 

[Sneebsey]

I would presume that the barred rocks and reds would have yellow legs, though a lot of guess-work. The EE cockerel is likely impure for slate, too, from those that I've seen. The polish and ameraucana ought to have slate.

 

[centrarchid]

Then white legs should not be rare unless number of chicks hatched low.

 

[Sneebsey]

My guess would be that the EE has a single copy of the inhibitor; if his legs are willow, green, or horn, this will be the case. Half his offspring with yellow legged hens would have two copies and therefore white legs. If he also carries a recessive gene for yellow skin, then half of those would be yellow legged rather than white.

Can you confirm this, @The Moonshiner ?

 

[ChickenDino]

This is the greyish black chick.

The white one

Some other chicks. The one with the crest ajd big comb is from the one Polish I have.

Adult Barred Rock with the reds in the background too.

Talon. Idk why he lost his tail feathers because theres no blood or scabs on his tail from anyone pecking at him.

Storm who just lost his beard.

Also. Its been raining pretty much everyday which is why the ground looks terrible. I have to put down new hay too but idk if I should do it now or after the rain stops everyday.

 

[The Moonshiner]

My guess would be that the EE has a single copy of the inhibitor; if his legs are willow, green, or horn, this will be the case. Half his offspring with yellow legged hens would have two copies and therefore white legs. If he also carries a recessive gene for yellow skin, then half of those would be yellow legged rather than white.

Can you confirm this, @The Moonshiner ?

Yes I'd agree