White Orpington Leg Color? Pic added

[JoanneNC]

Any ideas on this since I added the picture?

Thank you everyone.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
I would not consider the Orpingtons. If they were in a class I was judging I'd have no option but to disqualify them because of their leg colour.
That said, leg colour isn't their only problem. Their type is so little like what an Orpington should be that they could reasonably be disqualified for type even if their leg colour was right.
The CW is buy from an individual "breeder" & you'll get better birds than you get from a hatchery. This is only true if the "breeder" a] knows what they're doing and b] is honest.

 

[seriousbill]

Is it possible that somebody just got their White Rock eggs switched with their Orpington eggs? They look more like Rocks to me, and white legs are genetically dominant, so it seems a little unlikely that if they are Orp crosses they'd all end up with yellow legs, since even if the parents were both heterozygous, you should still end up with some chicks with white legs.

I once had a breeder send me some Black Australorps instead of the Delawares I had ordered. Imagine my surprise when those coal black chicks popped out! He explained that he'd let the kids gather the eggs that day

Edited to add:

Okay, sorry, I just read what the seller wrote. It still seems odd to me. Those birds don't look at all like Orpingtons. I'd say they're Rock Crosses.

 

[JoanneNC]

I am sure it is possible to mix up your eggs but don't think that is the case this time based on her response back to me when I ask her about it. The sad part is she is still listing more of the same eggs.

Thanks for your help.

 

[seriousbill]

Well, then, I'd say either somebody lied to her, or she's lying to you. But, however that may be, from the looks of it, there's been a Rock in there pretty recently.

 

[ksacres]

Those looks like white rocks.

ETA: Yellow is recessive, so it's possible to get yellow legs from white legged parent stock. BUT, you should not get 100% yellow from that. Top percentage you should get from two white legged birds is 25% - as in 1 out of your 4.

 

[ksacres]

When we had purchased our original breeding stock, they had white but we did notice as we got into further generations that some young chicks carried the yellow then as time went on, the yellow seemd to fade, which could be resessive genetics, as though there had been yellow legs further back generations.

This is also misleading, because as egg production continues, pigment in the hens body will be depleted (to help color her egg yolks) from legs, beak, etc. Which means that a yellow legged bird (like a Leghorn) can end up with white legs after a period of egg production. Just because legs appear white (phenotype) doesn't mean they ARE white (genotype).​

 

[seriousbill]

Theoretically, that's right, ksacres, but with such a small sample, only 4 birds, you could come up with all 4 with yellow legs. It would just average out to 25% over time. BUT, I agree that it seems unlikely that this is something WAY back that's just cropping out now. If that were the case, then only one hen and the roo would be carrying the recessive gene, and it'd be a stroke of bad luck. But a recent cross is going to give you more likelihood that your birds are going to be carrying and throwing recessives all over the place.

 

[speckledhen]

Now that the pics are up, I have to agree with seriousbill. Those really do not look like Orpingtons. Rocks, I'd say.

 

[Buster]

I agree about the white rock thing. I have two white orp hens and they have both white beaks and white legs. If the OP would like me to, I can post pics.