Talk frizzle with me... beginner breeding that is

[bkreugar]

Okay I LOVE my frizzles, Just adore them as they seem cuddlier, and more personable.

So I was talking to a guy in the next town over who raises various breeds.

He told me that to breed the frizzles, you have to one frizzled parent and one non frizzled parent.

So I have some questions:
If I breed my frizzle rooster to my polish hens should I get a 50/50 ratio of frizzled versus non frizzled?

If I breed my non frizzled cochin roo to my frizzles what do I then do with the babies?

If the chick from this match is frizzled I should breed to frizzled or non frizled?

If the chick from this match is smooth but obviously carries the gene I should breed to a frizzle?

I'm a little confused. Please don't go complex genetic on me it makes my brain hurt.
TIA

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

So I have some questions:

If I breed my frizzle rooster to my polish hens should I get a 50/50 ratio of frizzled versus non frizzled?

Yes.

If I breed my non frizzled cochin roo to my frizzles what do I then do with the babies?



If the chick from this match is frizzled I should breed to frizzled or non frizled?
Yes, always breed frizzle to smooth (non frizzled.)


If the chick from this match is smooth but obviously carries the gene I should breed to a frizzle?

As far as I know, chicks can't *carry* frizzle gene. They are either frizzled* or not frizzled (smooth)

*can have 1 copy or 2 copies of the frizzle gene. 2 copies is undesirable for several reasons.

Good luck! I love frizzles too!
If you have any more specific questions, just ask!
Lisa

 

[AinaWGSD]

I'll try to keep this non-complex genetics, but I don't know how great a job I'll do. On the bright side, basic genetics is all I know about frizzle genetics in general! Frizzle is a trait that requires one gene to show up. A "normal" frizzled bird has one copy of the gene for frizzled feathers and one copy of the gene for smooth feathers. A non frizzled bird has two copies of the gene for smooth feathers.

So...if you breed a frizzled rooster to a non-frizzled hen (or, conversely, a non-frizzled rooster to a frizzled hen) then each chick has a 50% chance of inheriting the frizzle gene from the frizzle parent. Which means that statistically speaking, you should get approximately a 50/50 mix of frizzled and non-frizzled chicks.

If you breed a frizzled rooster to a frizzled hen, then there is a 25% chance that any one resulting chick would inherit no copies of the frizzle gene (only two copies of the smooth gene). About a 50% chance that the chick would inherit one frizzle gene from one parent and one smooth gene from the other parent (resulting in a "normal" frizzle). And about a 25% chance that the chick would inherit two copies of the frizzle gene (one from each parent).

Two copies of the frizzle gene is undesirable for several reasons, but the biggest reason is that it causes the feathers to be too brittle and break when they shouldn't. Since feathers are a bird's main source of protection from temperatures, weather, sunlight, and injury to the skin (like scrapes and cuts), the feathers breaking too easily is a big problem for obvious reasons. This is why breeders say that in order to breed frizzled birds you need to have one frizzled and one non-frizzled parent. It is to prevent hatching chicks with a serious defect that affects their quality of life.

A non-frizzled bird bred to another non-frizzled bird will result in 100% non-frizzled chicks, regardless of whether the smooth birds came from frizzled parents or not. The frizzled gene is an incompletely dominant gene, which means it is impossible for a bird to carry the gene and not have frizzled feathers.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Well, just to add confusion, there IS a separate, recessive gene that UNfrizzles the feathers. So, it is POSSIBLE to have a bird that carries frizzle, but it does not show. One copy of frizzle plus two copies of the frizzle modifier causes a bird that does not look frizzled, and two copies of frizzle plus two copies of the modifier and the bird looks like a normal frizzle.

There is disagreement on how common or rare this is.

 

[bkreugar]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.

You answered all my question, and you didn't so it too complexly.

2 more questions:
I have a month old frizzle chick who is NOT very frizzled. I bought them as day old chicks from the local feed store. We call it "the defective frizzle. While she (I think) is not smooth, she sure isn't very frizzled. She looks like a cross. So her I breed to a smooth roo I gather.

Always before I bought my frizzles at the feed store as day old chicks that just had fuzz. SO HOW do the big hatchereis KNOW it will be a frizzles if it is a 50/50 thing? how is that evident when they are just fluff? U can see the feathers frizzling at about 3 days, so how do they know?

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

Always before I bought my frizzles at the feed store as day old chicks that just had fuzz. SO HOW do the big hatchereis KNOW it will be a frizzles if it is a 50/50 thing? how is that evident when they are just fluff? U can see the feathers frizzling at about 3 days, so how do they know?

Most of the big hatcheries have both frizzled and smooth feathered birds in their breeder pens, and whatever happens happens. This 5 month old Cochin bantam hen came to us in a hatchery bantam assortment and she has the double expression of the frizzle gene that AinaWGSD was talking about.

 

[ValleyPoultryFarms]

You got the basics. Follow these rules:
Never breed a frizzle on frizzle, this results in curliest, which harms e bird.
Always breed with the same color Cochin if you want pure bred ones. I.e white Cochin with white frizzle


You'll do great!