2 white chickens made a black chicken?

[Chickencollector]

We just had a chick hatch 2 days ago, the mom is a white leghorn and the dad is a white crested Polish. Well we didn’t get what we thought we would. Got ourselves a black/grey-ish chick with some white. We don’t have any black chickens that lay right now, so I’m thinking it’s something in the roosters dna maybe? Any thoughts?

 

[NatJ]

Posting a picture of the father and the mother usually helps in cases like this.

Genetically speaking, that is not impossible, but it is relatively rare. There are several different genes or combinations of genes that can cause white in chickens, and crossing them will sometimes produce colored chicks (including black.)

Are there any other possible mothers? White Leghorns usually do produce white chicks, with just about any rooster, due to what genes White Leghorns most often have.

 

[Chickencollector]

This is the Polish and one of the white leghorns, I’ll get more photos of them all, we have 2 white leghorns, 2 Rhode island reds and a light bramas (pretty sure). We get white (the chick came from a white egg) brown and pink/brown color eggs. We also had 2 more eggs hatch, one white egg and one brown and they look identical to this chick

 

[NatJ]

This is the Polish and one of the white leghorns, I’ll get more photos of them all, we have 2 white leghorns, 2 Rhode island reds and a light bramas (pretty sure). We get white (the chick came from a white egg) brown and pink/brown color eggs. We also had 2 more eggs hatch, one white egg and one brown and they look identical to this chick

I think I know what must be happening.

Since the one from a brown egg also came out black, we know something about the rooster's genetics. I think he must be genetically black, with the recessive white gene making him look white. Since it is recessive, it does not show in his chick.

The Leghorn hen must have one copy of the Dominant White gene (which turns black into white), and for each chick so far she gave them the not-Dominant-White gene. That lets them be black, rather than white.

That is a bit odd for the Leghorn hen. White Leghorns usually have two copies of the Dominant White gene, which would force her to pass it on to all her chicks, and they would be white. Leghorn-crosses often have one copy of that gene, but then they usually show some leakage (black feathers in places), and I'm not noticing that in the photo.

Definitely not what I would have expected from those two!

 

[Plant_Hoarder]

Same situation happened to me but swapped roles! I have RIRxJG hens that bred with same cross roosters (black with patches of gold, red, or silver on necks) and all the chicks came out black with a bit of white like normal. Then all the sudden, a white one hatched! How odd

 

[NatJ]

Same situation happened to me but swapped roles! I have RIRxJG hens that bred with same cross roosters (black with patches of gold, red, or silver on necks) and all the chicks came out black with a bit of white like normal. Then all the sudden, a white one hatched! How odd

There is a gene (recessive white) that makes the whole chicken white, but ONLY when the chicken inherits the gene from both parents. Otherwise, that gene seems to have no effect at all.

Recessive white is the usual reason for white chicks appearing from colored parents. If both parents carry that gene, approximately 1/4 of their chicks should be white, with the other 3/4 having other colors.

 

[Plant_Hoarder]

There is a gene (recessive white) that makes the whole chicken white, but ONLY when the chicken inherits the gene from both parents. Otherwise, that gene seems to have no effect at all.

Recessive white is the usual reason for white chicks appearing from colored parents. If both parents carry that gene, approximately 1/4 of their chicks should be white, with the other 3/4 having other colors.

Good to know, thank you! So far he is the only one who is white