Is this chicken expressing mottled feathering?

[Manningjw]

Out of the 20+ chicks I have hatched some a similar cross breed, this one stands out with a very different feather pattern. He was hatched out May 5th so is a little over 6 weeks old and as more feathers grow in, he is gaining more and more white coloring.



These are the parents, the rooster pictured and the Red Star which I wouldn't expect to carrying the mottling gene which is why I don't think it it mottling but the pattern is different than any of my others of the same cross.


I suspect this hen, who is the parent of the rooster pictured of carrying a single mottling gene now. She has occasional white flecks on the tips of her feathers and off white flecks where here beard would be if she had one. She hatched from a mixed flock of mostly austra-whites but also included a Speckled Sussex hen covered by White Leghorn/Ameraucana cross rooster.




Your input is very much appreciated, I am trying to decide which young rooster I am going to keep for my next cross.

 

[ramirezframing]

Not mottled, but "grandma" hen, farther, and mother all have the silver gene in them. Mottled is a mostly black bird with odd white feathers (not tipping on the feathers). Hope this helps and hopefully the people better at this will show up to help you more.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Not mottled, but "grandma" hen, farther, and mother all have the silver gene in them. Mottled is a mostly black bird with odd white feathers (not tipping on the feathers). Hope this helps and hopefully the people better at this will show up to help you more.

Agreed. Your Red Sex Link hen is the product of a red factor mother over a silver factor hen.

Chicken feather genetics are so complex, and much more so when you're working with birds that are mixed from multiple breeds. Have you seen the chicken genetics calculator?
http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

 

[Manningjw]

Agreed. Your Red Sex Link hen is the product of a red factor mother over a silver factor hen.

Chicken feather genetics are so complex, and much more so when you're working with birds that are mixed from multiple breeds. Have you seen the chicken genetics calculator?
http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

Thank you both for your responses.

I have used that calculator before for many of my crosses and you are right, I have a LOT of different variables going into the pot but this chick was a very different pattern from everything else i have seen in the 3 different hatches from a similar mix While I was wondering if it was silver because of the Leghorn - he doesn't look like any silver I have seen and his feathers are more splochy which is why I was wondering if this was a (poor quality) mottle expression.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

The white in a white Leghorn is different than the white in a bird like a white Plymouth Rock. The white in the white Rock is in reality a silver factor while the white from a white Leghorn is a true white.

Your white Leghorn/Ameraucana cross rooster--what does he look like? He should be mostly white all over with some leakage that's based on whatever color Ameraucana you used (it was a true Ameraucana, not an Easter Egger, right?). Any first generation white Leghorn cross will be white with some leakage because the white genes carried by a white Leghorn are extremely dominant.

 

[Manningjw]

The white in a white Leghorn is different than the white in a bird like a white Plymouth Rock. The white in the white Rock is in reality a silver factor while the white from a white Leghorn is a true white.

Your white Leghorn/Ameraucana cross rooster--what does he look like? He should be mostly white all over with some leakage that's based on whatever color Ameraucana you used (it was a true Ameraucana, not an Easter Egger, right?). Any first generation white Leghorn cross will be white with some leakage because the white genes carried by a white Leghorn are extremely dominant.

Yep, most of the offspring in the F1 cross are exactly like you are saying - single gene of dominant white causing mostly white with black leakage through on occasional feathers. The original cross was blue Ameraucana over White Leghorn and i don't have pictures of him. I specifically selected those that didn't inherit dominant white (expressed black) - the 'grandma' chicken. There was one speckled sussex in the flock but I tried to select only the off white color eggs that came from the Austra-whites.

I assumed you were talking about the "silver" that is under the White Leghorns dominant white but it would also be under the recessive white of the Red Star from the Rhode Island White used in the cross.

 

[Manningjw]

Ok - I have a followup question now.

If this chick is expressing silver - what are my nearly pure white with occasional black feather chicks expressing? They seem to be expressing the 'silver' white pattern from the Rhode Island White or White Rock part of the Red Sex Link.

 

[Chris09]

Ok - I have a followup question now.

If this chick is expressing silver - what are my nearly pure white with occasional black feather chicks expressing? They seem to be expressing the 'silver' white pattern from the Rhode Island White or White Rock part of the Red Sex Link.

The Rhode Island Whites that are used in Red Sex-Links are not true Rhode Island Whites. With that being said I would say that the chicks carry the Dominate White Gene.

 

[Manningjw]

The Rhode Island Whites that are used in Red Sex-Links are not true Rhode Island Whites. With that being said I would say that the chicks carry the Dominate White Gene.

I didn't think any sex link could be produced using dominant white in the cross?

Being a hybrid for commercial egg production I imagine anyone interested in them is interested in egg production over whether or not the original stock met APA standard for Rhode Island White and RIR.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Ok - I have a followup question now.

If this chick is expressing silver - what are my nearly pure white with occasional black feather chicks expressing? They seem to be expressing the 'silver' white pattern from the Rhode Island White or White Rock part of the Red Sex Link.

Wait, you've confused me. I thought you said that your white-with-leakage birds were out of a White Leghorn /Ameraucana cross rooster.