White…Cuckoo Maran?

[Ashleyboz]

ISA Browns usually have one Dominant White gene, and one gene for not-Dominant White. So half of their chicks can show black. The same may also be true for the Smokey Pearls, but I don't know for sure.





He definitely has white barring.

I can see two possible explanations for his coloring:

#1, he could be Extended Black (=black all over) with lots of Silver leakage. That could come from any combination of parents, but is most likely to happen with an ISA Brown mother. Half of her chicks would have Dominant White turning black to white or Paint, but he would come from the half of her chicks that have no Dominant White.

#2 Or else he is showing some pattern of black & silver, which would mean inheriting that gene from both parents (it would be recessive to the Extended Black gene, so any of the black-based chickens could be carrying it without showing any effects.)

If this is the case, the ISA Brown is still the most likely mother, because she is the only parent that does not have Extended Black. That would mean his father would be the Cuckoo Marans (because of the barring), and it would mean the Cuckoo Marans rooster would be carrying some gene recessive to Extended Black. If that is true of the Cuckoo Marans, then crossing Cuckoo Marans with the ISA Brown hen would give chicks that split into three visually distinct groups: half would be white or paint with white barring (Dominant White), 1/4 would be black with white barring (Extended Black, no Dominant White), 1/4 would be other colors/patterns with white barring (no Extended Black, no Dominant White: like this cockerel.)

If the cockerel has a pattern of black & silver, but his mother is not the ISA Brown, that would mean both his father and his mother carry a gene that is recessive to Extended Black. Chicks from such a cross would have a 3 in 4 chance of showing Extended Black, and a 1 in 4 chance of showing the other pattern (like this cockerel does.)


As regards exactly which birds in the flock could be his parents:

He does have white barring, which rules out any pairing of Cookies & Cream rooster (no barring) with unbarred hens (ISA Brown, Black Australorp, Blue Cochin.)

The Blue Cochin would probably produce chicks with heavier leg feathering than he has, so I would guess she is not the mother, but I would not be certain of that. Half of her chicks would show blue, but he could be in the half that do not.

I don't think I can completely rule out any of the other combinations of possible parents (Cuckoo Marans rooster with any hen you have, or Cookies & Cream rooster with any hen that has white barring.)

Want me to throw in a curveball with the cookies and cream rooster I got sex linked blue Cochins. He was our first rooster we started to hatch eggs with. This is the first time I have ever hatched eggs and just didn’t for fun but in the meantime I really got into genetics and is probably one of my biggest hobby’s. This rooster has been probably the biggest lessons on everything I didn’t want in my chickens. lol! The blue boys start with white tips after 2-3 weeks. They never gave a white dot on their heads. The girls are beautiful with just a cool vibrant blue. Here’s the boys.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

This is getting deep, lol

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Want me to throw in a curveball with the cookies and cream rooster I got sex linked blue Cochins. He was our first rooster we started to hatch eggs with. This is the first time I have ever hatched eggs and just didn’t for fun but in the meantime I really got into genetics and is probably one of my biggest hobby’s. This rooster has been probably the biggest lessons on everything I didn’t want in my chickens. lol! The blue boys start with white tips after 2-3 weeks. They never gave a white dot on their heads. The girls are beautiful with just a cool vibrant blue. Here’s the boys.

And what do the pullets look like, pics? I would say this may be the sexlinked barring gene, boys barred females not, but I'm no expert, still learning. I'm curious to see what @NatJ has to say

 

[Ashleyboz]

And what do the pullets look like, pics? I would say this may be the sexlinked barring gene, boys barred females not, but I'm no expert, still learning. I'm curious to see what @NatJ has to say

A pullet in the first pic and 2 pics of the same boy!

 

[Ashleyboz]

This is getting deep, lol

It makes my head want to explode! Lol

 

[Ashleyboz]

I'm not sure what's going on with him, but that coloring is very cool! The color genetics of Smokey Pearls are a mystery because no one knows what breeds/varieties were used to create them as far as I know, and it could be the same situation with the Cookies n Creams. But I suspect one of those two breeds was crossed with a cuckoo Marans to create this guy. The only other possibility is that he's a color mutation.

Yes. Our cuckoo maran hens with our cookies and cream rooster

 

[NatJ]

And what do the pullets look like, pics? I would say this may be the sexlinked barring gene, boys barred females not, but I'm no expert, still learning. I'm curious to see what @NatJ has to say

I was thinking that too, barred hen with not-barred rooster to make barred sons and not-barred daughters.

A pullet in the first pic and 2 pics of the same boy!

But the male in this one doesn't really look barred to me. I think I'm seeing mottling on him.

The Cookies & Cream rooster should be mottled. Mottling is generally considered a recessive gene, only showing when a chicken inherits it from both parents. But for chicks that inherit just one mottling gene, especially if they are black, it is fairly common that they show mottling while they are young and that disappears as they grow up. Since blue is a diluted black, the same thing could easily happen with blues.

How many male and female chicks were there? I'm thinking it might just be coincidence that males showed some mottling and females did not.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I was thinking that too, barred hen with not-barred rooster to make barred sons and not-barred daughters.



But the male in this one doesn't really look barred to me. I think I'm seeing mottling on him.

The Cookies & Cream rooster should be mottled. Mottling is generally considered a recessive gene, only showing when a chicken inherits it from both parents. But for chicks that inherit just one mottling gene, especially if they are black, it is fairly common that they show mottling while they are young and that disappears as they grow up. Since blue is a diluted black, the same thing could easily happen with blues.

How many male and female chicks were there? I'm thinking it might just be coincidence that males showed some mottling and females did not.

Ok so what if the cookies and cream roo is the daddy (mottling) and the smokey pearls are the mom (white barred) wouldn't that give incomplete barring? I may be thinking about this all wrong, idk, but it's very interesting

 

[NatJ]

Ok so what if the cookies and cream roo is the daddy (mottling) and the smokey pearls are the mom (white barred) wouldn't that give incomplete barring? I may be thinking about this all wrong, idk, but it's very interesting

Hmm. That could work for ones that show black, but I see some with blue. Do we have any reason to think the Smokey Pearls have blue?

The one that looks most obviously mottled to me is a blue, so maybe it has a Blue Cochin mother and no barring, but maybe some of the others have the Smokey Pearl mother and do have barring?

It makes my head want to explode! Lol

It is definitely NOT an easy starting point for learning genetics!

 

[Ashleyboz]

Ok so what if the cookies and cream roo is the daddy (mottling) and the smokey pearls are the mom (white barred) wouldn't that give incomplete barring? I may be thinking about this all wrong, idk, but it's very interesting

With this combination we got paint hens, some with black legs and darker eyes, black hens, white boys with ghost barring. The offspring has been consistent with barring and paints. I even did a silkie combo. Dad blue silkie and mom paint pearl.