Thoughtful breeding with a few surprises...

[SE_Gardener]

Guess who we’re talking about…

I typically hatch out a few chicks from new roosters/hens as a part of my meatbird program as a part of ongoing selection and culling. Many of you know I maintain two breeding flocks – NH Rooster w/6-7 hens that are crossed on a Delaware Rooster. From Jan to midApr the Delaware Roo is placed with select NH/White Ranger/White Ply Rock hens. Those eggs are collected and hatched out for meat birds. The rest of the year I keep the NH Roo with NH/White Ranger hens and the Delaware w/White Ply Rock (laying flock). I was forced to completely depopulate my stock due to Mycoplasma SV. I did treat the flock but because survivors are carriers I did not want to breed that into my stock. So these birds are a couple of those replacements. I also raise white ranger broilers for meat until I can get my meatbird breeding program back on track. Last year I held back a couple hen - one a broiler type and the other a heritage type. To my surprise this week among the hatchlings I had been incubating was this little black guy. I thought I’d have fun asking folks to suggest how this may have happened. Within a week or two I’ll come back with my research and findings. This pic was focused only on the black guy who was 2 days and the chicks around him 4 days. This is my inhouse temp brooder and at 1 wk they all go out to the main brooder - 40 in all. I thought this would be a good exercise for folks new to chicken breeding and a helpful chicken genetic discussion for all.

 

[Molpet]

Bet he ends up barred.
I had CX pullet who had white sons who produced a couple barred

 

[SE_Gardener]

That's obvious - but my question is "How do you explain that"?

 

[Molpet]

That's obvious - but my question is "How do you explain that"?

White covers other colors

 

[SE_Gardener]

White covers other colors

Nope. White is recessive but depends on several other genetic genes that take priority.

 

[BlackHenCoop]

could be some type of genetic mutation, or a hen carried a gene that never showed through until bred with a rooster with the same gene. I have a couple of barred in an all white flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's obvious - but my question is "How do you explain that"?

White covers other colors

There are two different genes that can give you a solid white chicken, Dominant White and Recessive Write.

Dominant White modifies what would be a black feather to be white. DW is a dominant gene so you only need one copy of DW at that gene pair to get a white chicken. If the chicken's normal colors were not black then DW does not have an effect. What would normally be a red chicken with a black tail becomes a red chicken with a white tail if DW is present.

RW is a recessive gene. Unless both genes at that gene pair are RW it has zero effect. RW will turn any feather white.

@SE_Gardener with that convoluted mixed up description of what you had I have no idea what the parentage of those chicks might be. But one parent was obviously split for DW and Not-DW at that specific gene pair and the recessive Not-DW version was passed down to a chick that also had the Extended Black gene. That's one of the problems with dominant genes, you don't know what recessive might be hiding under it.

I don't see any reasonable way that could be from Recessive White genetics.

 

[SE_Gardener]

There are two different genes that can give you a solid white chicken, Dominant White and Recessive Write.

Dominant White modifies what would be a black feather to be white. DW is a dominant gene so you only need one copy of DW at that gene pair to get a white chicken. If the chicken's normal colors were not black then DW does not have an effect. What would normally be a red chicken with a black tail becomes a red chicken with a white tail if DW is present.

RW is a recessive gene. Unless both genes at that gene pair are RW it has zero effect. RW will turn any feather white.

@SE_Gardener with that convoluted mixed up description of what you had I have no idea what the parentage of those chicks might be. But one parent was obviously split for DW and Not-DW at that specific gene pair and the recessive Not-DW version was passed down to a chick that also had the Extended Black gene. That's one of the problems with dominant genes, you don't know what recessive might be hiding under it.

I don't see any reasonable way that could be from Recessive White genetics.

You're on the right track. I'll post the genetic path this weekend...