wyandotte hen with single comb?

[RisingSpring]

i have 2 silver-laced wyandottes. for the longest time i couldn't tell them apart, i just called them the twins. until a few weeks ago (not sure why it took me so long haha) i noticed that they have different combs!! i looked it up, and sure enough i read that wyandottes normally have a rose comb. my one girl has a rose comb, but the other girl has a single comb! the hens are identical otherwise, and i got them from the same farm last summer when they were already a few months old. i don't think they were hatched at that farm, but i think they come from the same place.

so is this just a fluke, the one hen maybe coming from a different mom or something?

 

[BlazeJester]

Yup.

 

[Coop de Grille]

I have four Wyandottes and one of them also has a single comb. But I'm pretty certain all four of mine are cockerels.

 

[BlazeJester]

If they're hatchery birds, apparently this is pretty common. Of two columbian wyandottes, one of mine has a straight comb and one has a rose comb.

 

[speckledhen]

Actually, it's fairly common among hatchery stock. One of my Wyandottes, all hatchery hens, had a single--coincidentally, she was also the worst body type of all the Wyandottes I had, much too lean.

 

[Coop de Grille]

Mine are not hatchery chicks. I got them from a local guy that hatches them.

 

[chickened]

I know with the BLRW breeders will use RIR with straight combs for color adjustments. If it is hatchery stock most likely white leghorn is in its lineage giving the chance for straight comb while trying to improve laying or the breeder used another color of bird to enhance the silver.

Sometimes when collecting eggs for pure breedings there is not a long enough time waited for the eggs that are fertilized by a previous rooster to have been laid and the birds are not pure but are similar.

 

[hdowden]

Quote:
depends on were his stock came from but every now and agian some pop out with single combs nothing to be alarmed about just wouldnt use her for any type of breeding(unless you want barnyard mixes then its fine).

 

[farmerChef]

Quote:
His birds may have come from a hatchery.

 

[Cowgirl71]

I once had 5 GLW hens from Cackle and 3 had single combs. Personally, I prefer the single comb even though it's not the Wyandotte breed standard. With single combs it's easier to sex chicks when young and to help tell whether or not a hen is laying or if she's sickly (all by size and redness).