Genetic questions!

[Gigachad poultry]

So over the past few months I've learned a TON of new stuff about poultry genetics... and I won't and never will say I'm 100% right about any of it, but I'd still consider myself fairly knowledgeable... that being said... during my research I've had some questions recently and thought I might as well ask if anyone knows the answers!

To begin with... what would happen if I crossed a Spangled bird like a Sicilian Buttercup hen for example, to a mottled rooster like an Ancona? I'm pretty sure Spangle is a dominant gene and mottling is a recessive gene... but would the general pattern in the feathers change at all? and since Sicilian Buttercups carry the gold gene and Anconas carry Silver then would it be possible for some of the male offspring to be Heterozygous Silver split to Gold?

Another thing I've been wondering is what would happen if I crossed a Cream Legbar rooster to a hen from another breed that laid white eggs? Blue is dominant over white, right? So if all F1 pullet offspring lay blue eggs... and I crossed them back to a rooster of original breed that their moms were to reinforce the look of the breed... would the F2 pullets still all have the gene for blue eggs? I know that if the gene for blue eggs is crossed with the white egg gene then the pullets will end up laying much lighter eggs... but is it possible that they return to being completely white?

And what makes a landrace a TRUE landrace? Are Icelandic's technically a landrace? Or... are they a heritage breed? What's the difference?

I need some of that fellow bird nerd knowledge y'all!!!

 

[FowlProtector]

1. Spangled Sicilian Buttercup x Mottled Ancona:
   • The spangled gene is strong, so most of the chicks will have the spangled pattern. But since mottling is a hidden gene (recessive), some chicks could carry it, but it won’t show unless they get it from both parents.
   • The gold (from the Sicilian Buttercup) and silver (from the Ancona) genes can mix. The male chicks could be “split,” meaning they’ll carry the silver gene but look gold.
2. Cream Legbar Rooster x White Egg-Laying Hen:
   • The blue egg gene is strong, so all the pullets (females) will lay blue eggs.
   • If you breed the F1 pullets back to the original breed rooster, the F2 pullets will still have the blue egg gene and lay blue eggs. They won’t go back to white eggs unless both parents carry the white egg gene.
3. Landrace vs. Heritage Breed:
   • A landrace is a breed that naturally adapts to its environment without much help from humans.
   • Icelandic chickens are a heritage breed, but they have some landrace traits because they were developed in Iceland over a long time. They’re not really "true" landrace because they’ve been selected by humans to keep certain traits.

 

[FowlProtector]

I hope that answered your questions.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

1. Spangled Sicilian Buttercup x Mottled Ancona:
   • The spangled gene is strong, so most of the chicks will have the spangled pattern. But since mottling is a hidden gene (recessive), some chicks could carry it, but it won’t show unless they get it from both parents.
   • The gold (from the Sicilian Buttercup) and silver (from the Ancona) genes can mix. The male chicks could be “split,” meaning they’ll carry the silver gene but look gold.
2. Cream Legbar Rooster x White Egg-Laying Hen:
   • The blue egg gene is strong, so all the pullets (females) will lay blue eggs.
   • If you breed the F1 pullets back to the original breed rooster, the F2 pullets will still have the blue egg gene and lay blue eggs. They won’t go back to white eggs unless both parents carry the white egg gene.
3. Landrace vs. Heritage Breed:
   • A landrace is a breed that naturally adapts to its environment without much help from humans.
   • Icelandic chickens are a heritage breed, but they have some landrace traits because they were developed in Iceland over a long time. They’re not really "true" landrace because they’ve been selected by humans to keep certain traits.

Thank you so much for clearing that up! That is incredibly informative!!!

 

[Gigachad poultry]

I hope that answered your questions.

it definitely did!

 

[The Moonshiner]

Sicilian Buttercup aren't spangled.

If you breed a silver based bird to a gold based bird all female offspring will be whichever the father was and all male offspring with be silver/gold.

If you cross the F1s back to the white egg breed on average 50% will carry a blue shell gene and lay blue eggs and 50% will not carry a blue shell gene and will lay white eggs

 

[Amer]

1. Spangled Sicilian Buttercup x Mottled Ancona:
   • The spangled gene is strong, so most of the chicks will have the spangled pattern. But since mottling is a hidden gene (recessive), some chicks could carry it, but it won’t show unless they get it from both parents.
   • The gold (from the Sicilian Buttercup) and silver (from the Ancona) genes can mix. The male chicks could be “split,” meaning they’ll carry the silver gene but look gold.
2. Cream Legbar Rooster x White Egg-Laying Hen:
   • The blue egg gene is strong, so all the pullets (females) will lay blue eggs.
   • If you breed the F1 pullets back to the original breed rooster, the F2 pullets will still have the blue egg gene and lay blue eggs. They won’t go back to white eggs unless both parents carry the white egg gene.
3. Landrace vs. Heritage Breed:
   • A landrace is a breed that naturally adapts to its environment without much help from humans.
   • Icelandic chickens are a heritage breed, but they have some landrace traits because they were developed in Iceland over a long time. They’re not really "true" landrace because they’ve been selected by humans to keep certain traits.

This isn't correct...

 

[The Moonshiner]

This isn't correct...

X2. It's completely off

 

[Amer]

I don't know if Anconas are silver or gold based but they are extended black based. Sicilian Buttercups is autosomal barred, which just like spangling, is not a simple dominant gene, but rather a phenotype comprised of many genes working together. Regardless, they are partridge based.
Extended black is dominant over partridge, therefore, the chicks will be black with gold, or golden, or silver leakage depending on if Anconas are gold or silver based.
Obviously they won't be mottled because as you have said, the mottling gene is recessive.

 

[Amer]

If you cross the F1s back to the white egg breed on average 50% will carry a blue shell gene and lay blue eggs and 50% will not carry a blue shell gene and will lay white eggs

This