Where Are My Foot Feathers?

[NatJ]

She wasn't clean-legged, just sparsely feathered.

Oh, the "like that" meant feather stubs, rather than like the cockerel with clean legs. I misunderstood.

But you probably still have at least one FCM with the genes for clean legs, while also having dominant genes for feather legs so she can fool you

 

[3KillerBs]

Oh, the "like that" meant feather stubs, rather than like the cockerel with clean legs. I misunderstood.

But you probably still have at least one FCM with the genes for clean legs, while also having dominant genes for feather legs so she can fool you

And I don't really have a means of telling who lays which either.

Except for the color of the bands, which is largely hidden by the feathers unless I pick them up to look, I can't tell the two FCM girls apart. I can see 2 different eggs consistently (and I hatched both), but don't know who lays which one.

 

[NatJ]

And I don't really have a means of telling who lays which either.

Except for the color of the bands, which is largely hidden by the feathers unless I pick them up to look, I can't tell the two FCM girls apart. I can see 2 different eggs consistently (and I hatched both), but don't know who lays which one.

If you track which chick comes from which egg (in future, if you didn't yet), you might get the answer anyway. A clean-legged chick from each kind of egg will prove that both hens are producing some with clean legs. But if all clean-legged chicks come from one kind of egg, it might be worth caging one of the hens for a few days to see who lays which egg.

 

[3KillerBs]

If you track which chick comes from which egg (in future, if you didn't yet), you might get the answer anyway. A clean-legged chick from each kind of egg will prove that both hens are producing some with clean legs. But if all clean-legged chicks come from one kind of egg, it might be worth caging one of the hens for a few days to see who lays which egg.

I know that I do need to figure out how to use breed baskets in my incubator so I can figure out which blue chicks are Australorps and which are mixes.

 

[NatJ]

I know that I do need to figure out how to use breed baskets in my incubator so I can figure out which blue chicks are Australorps and which are mixes.

Baskets or bags.
Some shapes of incubators work better with one or the other.

I tried tulle bags in a Brinsea Maxi, because I could not see any way to put baskets in that size/shape. It worked fairly well. The chicks did not get to stumble around the incubator playing football with the eggs, but they did not seem unhappy sitting in their bags beside their eggshells. (Very simple bags: fold a rectangle in half, sew the side and one end, put in eggs, tie a string around the open end. Open by untieing the bow or cutting it off.)

But if you like to take chicks out while other eggs are still hatching, any kind of bag or basket will be a bother because you have to open & reclose it.

 

[3KillerBs]

Baskets or bags.
Some shapes of incubators work better with one or the other.

I tried tulle bags in a Brinsea Maxi, because I could not see any way to put baskets in that size/shape. It worked fairly well. The chicks did not get to stumble around the incubator playing football with the eggs, but they did not seem unhappy sitting in their bags beside their eggshells. (Very simple bags: fold a rectangle in half, sew the side and one end, put in eggs, tie a string around the open end. Open by untieing the bow or cutting it off.)

But if you like to take chicks out while other eggs are still hatching, any kind of bag or basket will be a bother because you have to open & reclose it.

I've got an NR 360 and a LOT of scrap hardware cloth.

 

[3KillerBs]

Absolutely clean legs.

White skin, but I don't think that says anything since white is dominant, right?

 

[NatJ]

Absolutely clean legs.

White skin, but I don't think that says anything since white is dominant, right?

Yes, white is dominant.

There are two genes involved in skin color, but "white" is what happens when you have both domiants (white not yellow, and light not dark.)

So as long as one parent contributes the right genes there, it doesn't tell you anything about the other parent.

 

[3KillerBs]

What about white earlobes?

Since I'm delving down this rabbit hole.

 

[NatJ]

What about white earlobes?

Since I'm delving down this rabbit hole.

I've seen chickens with both white and red in the same earlobe, so I think it is not a simple dominant/recessive trait. But if both parents match, I would expect the chick to match too.