Which comb type is dominant?

[Cowgirlgrace]

If I have a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte hen with a straight comb should she be culled from breeding? Or if bred to the rose comb roo would it still be a 1/4 chance of a straight comb or more?

 

[happytxchick]

Cowgirl: seems like if the girl has pretty lacing that you might still use her for that purpose, knowing that you can breed out the single comb gene.

Others, who are experienced breeders, may say differently. Hopefully, they'll chime in an answer, too.

Good question!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
What happens when she's bred to your RC roo depends on whether he himself is carrying the singlecomb allele. If he IS -- if he is Rr -- then half the offspring will be singlecombed (rr) and half the offspring will be rosecombed but carry the singlecomb allele hidden (Rr).

If OTOH he is not carrying any copy of the single comb allele, then all the offspring will be rosecombed but carry the singlecomb allele hidden (Rr).

Whether you want to do this depends on whether the hen has other outstanding characteristics that it's really important to you to preserve and pass on; and also on how much you mind perpetuating the singlecomb allele in your flock (which can be kind of a pain to have to weed out).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I had a Light Brahma bantam rooster, and he was the dominant roo! I have abunch of cochin bantams that have his face and everything!!!! Now, that I don't have him anymore I don't know how is the dominant roo!

 

[TimG]

cushion or walnut comb, I forget exactly.

There are four main types of comb: single, pea, rose and walnut.

(p,p)(r,r) = single comb; (P,-)(r,r) = pea comb; (p,p)(R,-) = rose comb; (P,-)(R,-) = walnut.

Pea(P) is incompletely dominant; Rose(R) is completely dominant.

There are also comb modifiers, one of which is rough or rugged (He)/smooth(he).

From Poultry Breeding and Genetics by R. D. Crawford:

[Walnut] comb type is characteristic of Chantecler, Kraienkoppe, Malay, and Orloff breeds. In the Chantecler breed, it is generally referred to as a 'cushion comb' and in the Malay breed as a 'strawberry comb', these names being descriptive of the slight conformational differences between them.

So, 'cushion' is simply a description of a walnut comb in a Chantecler. From the same source:

Although it has not been investigated, these two alleles [rugged/smooth] probably also influence the phenotype of walnut combs. For instance the smooth allele may well be responsible for the smooth-surfaced cushion comb.​