Tell me what you think of this Hypothesis, please...
Backstory: I was chatting with a breeder working on Blue Ear Mosaics, she told me in her most recent generation, her selected males lost the blue ears after they had developed. This was after they were fully mature, they had blued up in the way it happens, then faded back to red. It created a real headache for her as she had to source a replacement male from another breeder to get back on track.
This got me to thinking about how that could possibly work genetically. Timed genes? No, not on fully mature birds. (right?)
Then one day I'm out watching my favorite Genetic Hackle rooster, Custard, who has lemon yellow ears... and I look again.
He has a thicker appearance to the skin on his ears!
I study a nearby red eared bird, and sure enough it looks quite thin in comparison.
So, I go analyze my Blue ear Mosaics.
Even the White Eared Leghorn.
It's the same thing!
Of course, I wondered if it was just the color interacting with light, playing tricks on me... so I watched some more. In real life you can see angles that are hard to photograph. In pictures it's just the color that shows. But I'll throw some up here anyway.
All my red eared birds seem to have a shallower, delicate looking earlobe.
My hypothesis then is this: Mediterranean genetics add an extra layer of skin on their ears, that red eared birds don't have, which makes the colors possible (red being simply vascularization? therefore "uncolored."?)
Custard:
As my Mosaic (then cockerel) ears were "coming in" at sexual maturity...
One of our pullets at 3-4 months old (I really need to get adult pics as they are more vivid now)
Then we look at this White Faced Black Spanish (borrowed pic online). We know it's supposed to be the case that their ears have extended onto the face (Errr, right?) but look at how thick that skin is, the only way it could go so wrinkly, and extends out past his eye.
So... make thoughts at me.
* If someone says this is already well known, well I couldn't find such information anywhere...
Backstory: I was chatting with a breeder working on Blue Ear Mosaics, she told me in her most recent generation, her selected males lost the blue ears after they had developed. This was after they were fully mature, they had blued up in the way it happens, then faded back to red. It created a real headache for her as she had to source a replacement male from another breeder to get back on track.
This got me to thinking about how that could possibly work genetically. Timed genes? No, not on fully mature birds. (right?)
Then one day I'm out watching my favorite Genetic Hackle rooster, Custard, who has lemon yellow ears... and I look again.
He has a thicker appearance to the skin on his ears!
I study a nearby red eared bird, and sure enough it looks quite thin in comparison.
So, I go analyze my Blue ear Mosaics.
Even the White Eared Leghorn.
It's the same thing!
Of course, I wondered if it was just the color interacting with light, playing tricks on me... so I watched some more. In real life you can see angles that are hard to photograph. In pictures it's just the color that shows. But I'll throw some up here anyway.
All my red eared birds seem to have a shallower, delicate looking earlobe.
My hypothesis then is this: Mediterranean genetics add an extra layer of skin on their ears, that red eared birds don't have, which makes the colors possible (red being simply vascularization? therefore "uncolored."?)
Custard:
As my Mosaic (then cockerel) ears were "coming in" at sexual maturity...
One of our pullets at 3-4 months old (I really need to get adult pics as they are more vivid now)
Then we look at this White Faced Black Spanish (borrowed pic online). We know it's supposed to be the case that their ears have extended onto the face (Errr, right?) but look at how thick that skin is, the only way it could go so wrinkly, and extends out past his eye.
So... make thoughts at me.
* If someone says this is already well known, well I couldn't find such information anywhere...