What's wrong with their feathers?

[CatKai]

I have a Line A splash cockerel with a Line A smooth blue hen, Line A fluffy blue pullet and a Line B smooth blue pullet. Both smooth girls are splits. Alicefeldown is where my birds came from, she did not know if the fluffy cockerel and fluffy pullet were brother/sister or cousins... I decided to incubate 2 of her eggs to see what I got and how they did. I got a fluffy splash and a SMOOTH blue from her eggs, hatched a week ago with no help, doing great at a week old. She was separate from the other 2 girls when those 2 eggs were laid and there is no chance that there was a mix up.

Anyone else have a fluffy x fluffy turn out smooth?

Edited to remove eggs for sale info - sold this batch.

 

[TinyBirds]

Alicefeldown is where my birds came from, she did not know if the fluffy cockerel and fluffy pullet were brother/sister or cousins... I decided to incubate 2 of her eggs to see what I got and how they did. I got a fluffy splash and a SMOOTH blue from her eggs, hatched a week ago with no help, doing great at a week old. She was separate from the other 2 girls when those 2 eggs were laid and there is no chance that there was a mix up.

This confirms my suspicion that something funky is going on with the fluffy genetics here! I have a fluffy boy that mated to a split-fluffy hen, with those being the only 2 birds in the pen at the time, with her laying infertile eggs until she had been with him for 1 week, so I'm POSITIVE the chicks are all from that pair and should have produced 1/2 fluffy and 1/2 split chicks. BUT so far I have only gotten chicks with regular feathering from the pairing. This could be something different than the silkie feathering found in silkie chickens I'm thinking. Maybe the genetic dice are weighted toward the smooth-feathering side and the fluffy feathering is even more recessive than a normal type of recessive gene. Otherwise how is it that 2 fluffy-feathered birds can produce a smooth-feathered chick, like you got and what I'm seeing from getting all smooth-feathering from a fluffy mated to split-fluffy......so far at least based on 5 chicks - we'll know more in 1 week once the latest 6 chicks start showing their feather type.

Interesting stuff!

 

[CatKai]

This confirms my suspicion that something funky is going on with the fluffy genetics here! I have a fluffy boy that mated to a split-fluffy hen, with those being the only 2 birds in the pen at the time, with her laying infertile eggs until she had been with him for 1 week, so I'm POSITIVE the chicks are all from that pair and should have produced 1/2 fluffy and 1/2 split chicks. BUT so far I have only gotten chicks with regular feathering from the pairing. This could be something different than the silkie feathering found in silkie chickens I'm thinking. Maybe the genetic dice are weighted toward the smooth-feathering side and the fluffy feathering is even more recessive than a normal type of recessive gene. Otherwise how is it that 2 fluffy-feathered birds can produce a smooth-feathered chick, like you got and what I'm seeing from getting all smooth-feathering from a fluffy mated to split-fluffy......so far at least based on 5 chicks - we'll know more in 1 week once the latest 6 chicks start showing their feather type.

Interesting stuff!

If you are mating a fluffy to a smooth that is split to fluffy, you have a 50/50 chance at either. No idea what ratio others are getting. Although there is the 50/50 on the chicks, really nothing to say you can't just get all smooth splits. My only hatch so far as a week ago. 4 of the eggs were the fluffy cockerel x the 2 smooth splits and all 4 chicks are smooth splits.

 

[CatKai]

If those who have been doing this for awhile tell me that there is no way to get a smooth split from 2 fluffies then that would mean my fluffy pullet would have been with a smooth split roo before I got her from alicefelldown. The 2 eggs I incubated were laid the 1st few days after I got her. Alicefeldown told me that she had been with the fluffy cockerel I got before she was shipped and he had started mating so if she kept laying, the eggs would have been fertilized by him. So from what I had been told, he was the only male she had been with...

 

[TinyBirds]

If those who have been doing this for awhile tell me that there is no way to get a smooth split from 2 fluffies then that would mean my fluffy pullet would have been with a smooth split roo before I got her from alicefelldown. The 2 eggs I incubated were laid the 1st few days after I got her. Alicefeldown told me that she had been with the fluffy cockerel I got before she was shipped and he had started mating so if she kept laying, the eggs would have been fertilized by him. So from what I had been told, he was the only male she had been with...

I honestly don't think your fluffy pullet was with a split roo. I doubt she even kept any split roosters for the project since there would've been plenty of fluffy roosters to pair up with fluffy and split hens. I'm sure it was with a fluffy rooster like she said. I really think something strange is going on genetically, as we move further from the original fluffy pair that started the project. It's almost like the gene is being overridden/disappearing (for example one of the fluffy genes could be mutating back to normal in some cases like the smooth chick that came from 2 fluffy parents). I'm serious guys! Please everyone should post what percents they're getting on a fluffy x fluffy and on the fluffy x split matings. As we get more data, maybe we can figure it out together. If nothing else, it's at least a fascinating possibility that the genes are acting differently than we expect.

 

[CatKai]

There were for sure 4 blue smooth split roos, I almost got 1 of them. No idea on how many of anything else though. Eggs in my bator now are several more of these and she's been with this same fluffy cockerel since I got her and he is the only one in the pen. Those are due to hatch in 2 weeks.

I honestly don't think your fluffy pullet was with a split roo. I doubt she even kept any split roosters for the project since there would've been plenty of fluffy roosters to pair up with fluffy and split hens. I'm sure it was with a fluffy rooster like she said. I really think something strange is going on genetically, as we move further from the original fluffy pair that started the project. It's almost like the gene is being overridden/disappearing. I'm serious guys! Please everyone should post what percents they're getting on a fluffy x fluffy and on the fluffy x split matings. As we get more data, maybe we can figure it out together. If nothing else, it's at least a fascinating possibility that the genes are acting differently than we expect.

 

[wolftracks]

I need to know all this too and so confused on what gets what. Pretty sure my lone chick is smooth now. Darn it, so would be a split?? IDK. I do know I need to get hold of more eggs and soon. I hate to have one bird for months before being able to add. Makes no sense. I should know cause I've done it before. I don't know if using this one with a smooth is going to get me anything down the line.

 

[billiejo21]

So, I thought I'd chime in with my silkied vs smooth chicks. I am pretty sure I have my info right...my Nicole RM eggs were F1xF1 - I have 1 silkied and 1 smooth, from Alicefelldown silkied roo x smooth carrier hen - Line A - 1 silked chick, Line B - 3 silkied, 1 smooth feather chick. Hopefully I wrote down the parent birds correctly!!!

Everyone is doing great thus far! They are growing like crazy and look absolutely hilarious with their crazy, half-feathered selfs!!

 

[chick-among-us]

why must we BEG for pics from people with BABIES?!?!

Bring on the pics!!!

So, I thought I'd chime in with my silkied vs smooth chicks. I am pretty sure I have my info right...my Nicole RM eggs were F1xF1 - I have 1 silkied and 1 smooth, from Alicefelldown silkied roo x smooth carrier hen - Line A - 1 silked chick, Line B - 3 silkied, 1 smooth feather chick. Hopefully I wrote down the parent birds correctly!!!

Everyone is doing great thus far! They are growing like crazy and look absolutely hilarious with their crazy, half-feathered selfs!!

 

[KellyHM]

If those who have been doing this for awhile tell me that there is no way to get a smooth split from 2 fluffies then that would mean my fluffy pullet would have been with a smooth split roo before I got her from alicefelldown.   The 2 eggs I incubated were laid the 1st few days after I got her.  Alicefeldown told me that she had been with the fluffy cockerel I got before she was shipped and he had started mating so if she kept laying, the eggs would have been fertilized by him.  So from what I had been told, he was the only male she had been with... 

That would be my guess, that she was exposed to a split roo before you got her. If you get the same thing out of her after she is with the fluffy roo at your house for a month then I might think differently.

So far we've seen what would be expected of a simple recessive trait. These birds were crossed with a silkie to check and they definitely carry the same gene. I wouldn't say 5 chicks is enough to say anything odd is going on...just the luck of the draw since each egg had a 50% chance of being smooth. Just like families with 5 kids that are all one gender...nothing funny going on, just luck of the draw.