Will all my chicks have crests

[Shell from Zim]

Hi All,

I have 2 mixed breed hens who are wheaten with some black barring, no crests. The cockerel is a crested sulmtaler, with a pretty big fluffy crest.

15/16 of their chick's have hatched today. 1 still under one of the hens. They have hatched with the chipmunk striped pattern on the body, that these hens usually produce, but much much lighter overall colouration..ie platinum blonde heads.. some have the chipmunk v on their heads and some have spots. Some look like they have extra fluff on their heads already..some look uncrested so far.

What do you think I can expect? Will they have Mum or Dads colouring or a mix? Will they all have crests like Dad or only some of them? Could they be sex linked? Please chime in with your thoughts and expertise. Thanks so much.

These below chicks were the first 2 to hatch.. they both have spots on their head, others have the stripey V markings

Aren't they adorable?

 

[NatJ]

Will they all have crests like Dad or only some of them?

That depends on the dad's genetics.
If he has two genes for crest, then every chick gets one, and every chick should grow a crest (might be larger or smaller crests, but some amount of crest.)

But if the dad has only one gene for crest, then he would also have one gene for not-crest. And he would pass the crest gene to some chicks, and the not-crest gene to other chicks.
If that is the case, then about half of the chcks will have crests and about half will have no crests.

I have 2 mixed breed hens who are wheaten with some black barring, no crests. The cockerel is a crested sulmtaler, with a pretty big fluffy crest....
Could they be sex linked?

One common kind of sexlink requires the hens to have the silver gene (lots of white, no brown).
The other common kind requires the hens to have the barring gene (white bars on their feathers).

Based on your description, your hens do not have the silver gene or the barring gene, so you will not be able to sex the chicks by the color of their down.

Will they have Mum or Dads colouring or a mix?

Probably a bit of a mix, but the males are more likely to grow up sort-of like their dad's color, and the females sort-of like their mums.

 

[Shell from Zim]

That depends on the dad's genetics.
If he has two genes for crest, then every chick gets one, and every chick should grow a crest (might be larger or smaller crests, but some amount of crest.)

But if the dad has only one gene for crest, then he would also have one gene for not-crest. And he would pass the crest gene to some chicks, and the not-crest gene to other chicks.
If that is the case, then about half of the chcks will have crests and about half will have no crests.



One common kind of sexlink requires the hens to have the silver gene (lots of white, no brown).
The other common kind requires the hens to have the barring gene (white bars on their feathers).

Based on your description, your hens do not have the silver gene or the barring gene, so you will not be able to sex the chicks by the color of their down.



Probably a bit of a mix, but the males are more likely to grow up sort-of like their dad's color, and the females sort-of like their mums.

Thanks very much for your comprehensive response. Very cool. The cockerel's parents both had crests, as did all his siblings.. don't know if that gives him 2 crest genes. The hens both have black barring against wheaten but no white or white on any former chicks.. most chicks they have had before have black barring against wheaten.

Calendula, one of the Mamma hens.. her sister is almost identical

Ziggy the cockerel

 

[NatJ]

The cockerel's parents both had crests, as did all his siblings.. don't know if that gives him 2 crest genes.

I would say it's likely, but not certain, that he has two genes for crest.

The hens both have black barring against wheaten but no white or white on any former chicks.. most chicks they have had before have black barring against wheaten.

Pretty chickens!
Certainly no silver or barring gene in those hens, so no sexlinked chicks.

Chicks will almost certainly have some pattern of brown and black in their feathers, and they might or might not look like the previous chicks from those hens. There are a bunch of genes that can affect how the brown and black are distributed on the chicken, and I can't really tell which ones your chickens have and how they will look when mixed.

 

[Shell from Zim]

I would say it's likely, but not certain, that he has two genes for crest.



Pretty chickens!
Certainly no silver or barring gene in those hens, so no sexlinked chicks.

Chicks will almost certainly have some pattern of brown and black in their feathers, and they might or might not look like the previous chicks from those hens. There are a bunch of genes that can affect how the brown and black are distributed on the chicken, and I can't really tell which ones your chickens have and how they will look when mixed.

Cool NatJ. Thank you so much. I'll post updates as they grow, for fun. I'll be delighted if they are all crested with some cool black markings on them. Their pullets from the beginning of the season (Summer here) are very pretty. They would look rather cool with crests. I'm finding bantams so much fun and interesting.. I'm sure, more than I should and that I'm gonna end up as the crazy chicken lady haha

Thanks again for your info.

 

[Shell from Zim]

If the Dad has pink feet and the Mum has tealy/ slate feet.. would the feet colour of the chicks indicate sex in any way?

 

[NatJ]

If the Dad has pink feet and the Mum has tealy/ slate feet.. would the feet colour of the chicks indicate sex in any way?

No. If it was the other way around, a Dad with dark feet and a Mum with light feet, you might be able to sex the chicks by foot color. But not when the Dad has light feet.

 

[Shell from Zim]

No. If it was the other way around, a Dad with dark feet and a Mum with light feet, you might be able to sex the chicks by foot color. But not when the Dad has light feet.

OK interesting. Thanks again NatJ

 

[Shell from Zim]

I would say it's likely, but not certain, that he has two genes for crest.



Pretty chickens!
Certainly no silver or barring gene in those hens, so no sexlinked chicks.

Chicks will almost certainly have some pattern of brown and black in their feathers, and they might or might not look like the previous chicks from those hens. There are a bunch of genes that can affect how the brown and black are distributed on the chicken, and I can't really tell which ones your chickens have and how they will look when mixed.

NatJ Check these chicks out.. they're looking like there's both crested and barring to me.. What do you think?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I see bo crests, but they may get teeny little ones