Dark feet in chicks

[Susan Skylark]

I know homozygous EB birds have dark feet at hatch (tibetan), how about other color variations? In my latest hatch I have two pharaoh striped birds with blackish gray feet, one is out of an Italian rooster. I do have a Blau (blue) hen or two in that particular pen. I did have a Blau bird that had dark feet at hatch bit she’s also EB so could be homozygous. Any ideas or experience with Blau chicks? Thanks! This would be my first Blau pharoah if so:

Not a great pic, was thinking falb fee but too dark plus those feet!

Sorry had to update this, caught this cute little bugger napping, definitely a Tibetan! Another bad pic!

 

[Nabiki]

Whenever I've seen chicks with dark feet, they have always been tibetan or tibetan pieds/tuxes.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Guessing this is the mother, looks like an Italian chick but with charcoal stripes, grew into an EB Blau. I marked the egg as coming from an Italian rooster (so no EB so it shouldn’t be tibetan) but I could have mislabeled it. It will be interesting to see what it feathers into. I thought I had the genetics of my little flock figured out but I’ve got several puzzles in this batch!

 

[007Sean]

This is why it's imperative to keep records, tag or band the birds so there can be no mistake of their lineage. The only way to know for certain what bird is pure is to buy from a breeder that also does the same meticulous record keeping....unfortunately, few do!

A mutation may occur but it is much more not likely to happen if records are kept and banding is a followed protocol.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I’d love to keep records and know what is out of what but we’re a hobby operation with 20 birds in group pens with a busy family life to boot. I don’t know which eggs come from which hens and then 10 chicks hatch at once in my dinky incubator you can’t tell either. In an ideal world I’d love it, but in reality and practice it’s a lottery (and also fun to see what does hatch instead of knowing it will be Italian every time). We breed for temperament and health, color is more for fun! Though happily the hens I’ve had to cull for various reasons were also brown and top on my replacement list anyway!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Better picture!

 

[Pipsnchicks]

So! EB is the gene that dilutes skin pigment in the feet and legs. It basically increases the overall amount of eumelanin (black and brown) across the bird, including the feet. It's really the only gene that changes the feet and leg color. Other genes like Fee and Blue/Blau also change the eumelanin pigment, but they usually restrict the brown or make the bird have less of it. So when you layer those on top of the EB, it takes away from some of the brown pigment that goes to the feet.

That was a really runaround way to say that Blau EB will also often have dark feet, just not as much brown as a normal EB will have (usually more pink toes, etc). That bird looks like a Blau EB or other EB mix.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Makes sense, thanks! So why did mom look like an Italian chick with dark feet and charcoal stripes (picture above somewhere)? I totally see the EB under the Blau in this guy but his mom was quite yellow (fee maybe?).

 

[Pipsnchicks]

Makes sense, thanks! So why did mom look like an Italian chick with dark feet and charcoal stripes (picture above somewhere)? I totally see the EB under the Blau in this guy but his mom was quite yellow (fee maybe?).

Do you have pictures of the mom full grown?

 

[Susan Skylark]