Wyandotte shank colour

[WildType]

I crossed a Wyandotte x rooster with bright yellow legs with a buff x hen with pale grey legs. Of the 30 offspring only one chick has inherited the yellow legs. I’m disappointed. Most of the chicks have white or grey legs. I’m looking to breed towards only having yellow legs in the flock.
Please can anyone tell me whether introducing a yellow legged roooster for the next generation is likely to result in yellow legged chicks or will the white and grey legs prove dominant?

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

White-gray is your dominant set. Take your yellow leg rooster and cross it with the chicks, so that they have more yellow leg genes that white-gray.

 

[WildType]

i’ve Located a leg colour genetics chart. it looks like some of my pullets have green legs and if I breed those to a true bred yellow leg rooster I should get all yellow legged chicks. The chart also also suggests that the white and blue legged pullets should be carrying the yellow leg gene and I should get 50% yellow leg chicks if I breed those with a true bred yellow leg rooster. Can someone tell me if this sounds right?

 

[Bo Garrett]

I can tell you from experience that willow "green" shanks are dominant over yellow and it takes a few generations to get it removed and then from time to time you will get birds with yellow shanks that have a tinted willow overlay. I believe you must have both copies of the yellow gene in order to produce 100% yellow legged offspring.

 

[WildType]

Thanks for your input. obviously it’s not what I hoped to hear.

 

[Amer]

I crossed a Wyandotte x rooster with bright yellow legs with a buff x hen with pale grey legs. Of the 30 offspring only one chick has inherited the yellow legs. I’m disappointed. Most of the chicks have white or grey legs. I’m looking to breed towards only having yellow legs in the flock.
Please can anyone tell me whether introducing a yellow legged roooster for the next generation is likely to result in yellow legged chicks or will the white and grey legs prove dominant?

All wyandottes genetically have yellow legs unless crossed with other breeds, so it is likely that the fading of leg color from egg production (and just that females typically don't have brilliant leg color either way) is what caused this.
Another male won't change much. I'd try and find a female with bright yellow legs and add her to the breeding pool. Those are hard to find.

 

[WildType]

Thanks for the comment.
Apart from the one yellow shanked bird, I have two pullets that show a hint of yellow in their shanks. Do people who understand genetics better than me think that it might be enough to see a predominance of yellow shanked offspring?

 

[Amer]

Thanks for the comment.
Apart from the one yellow shanked bird, I have two pullets that show a hint of yellow in their shanks. Do people who understand genetics better than me think that it might be enough to see a predominance of yellow shanked offspring?

It depends on how much you want to breed away from it. Entirely unrelated birds without that characteristic in their families will probably produce the best offspring.

Flat combs in Buckeyes has been a major problem. We started with one, but after we bred her, we kept getting them. We culled her and bred her nice combed daughter to her brother but we still get them. And her aunt to the brother. (The aunt actually layed more eggs.) Should have kept the original cock. That may have prevented it. But maybe not, since the cock was the brother of the poor combed hen, and he had to carry the recessive.