Question about Naked Necks and getting fully feathered chicks hatch

[r4eboxer]

I purchased Naked Neck/Turken chicks last year, this year I have incubated A LOT of eggs. At least 50 eggs have been incubated, I am getting about 65 percent fully feathered chicks come out. I'm not sure how this is possible. I separated my roo and 5 hens in late February (more than 2 months now) , they are in a breeding pen with woven wire with a NET covering the entire coop and run so there is no way another rooster is getting into the run, All the hens do not look the same, they have different feathering, different combs but are all bow ties, not completely naked necks. Does anyone know why I am getting fully feathered birds, I thought Naked Neck chicks would inherit the traits of the parent. I can post pics of my breeding stock if anyone would like to see them.

Completely Confused

 

[sourland]

Although your chickens are phenotypicaly (physical appearance) naked neck, they are geneticcally heterozygous - they carry the 'fully feathered' gene as a recessive. I am surprised that the % of fully feathered birds is so high, but I am 'weak' on chicken genetics.

 

[Kev]

Yep the birds are not pure for the naked neck gene. If a pair is both not pure, the ratio of chicks will be one pure, 2 not pure and 1 fuzzy neck. I agree your result is very much not what's expected- should be less than half. 65% is typical result of not pure naked neck gene bred with feather neck.

I looked at your website and all pictures show birds not pure for the NN gene. They have bowties with lots of feathers covering most of their front necks. Pure NN gene birds have either no feathers on neck or a small bowtie with only a few feathers and the neck below the bowtie is plainly visible. Like a bib vs bowtie. Also, do not believe those who insist only the totally bare necks are the pure ones.

You could solve this issue by using roosters pure for NN gene, that way 100% of the chicks would have naked necks even if the hens are not, even if there's feather necked hens, all of the chicks would come up with naked necks. Also to date have never seen a flock of birds pure for NN gene, maybe theres some reason all flocks continue to have 'bibbed' birds.

 

[r4eboxer]

Thank you both for the response. I paid 10.00 a chick and thought I was getting Naked Necks, I think what I got was a barnyard mix? I'm pretty disappointed. I thought I'd found a reputable breeder of NN and considering the high price per chick I was expecting Naked necks not crosses. Oh well, that brings me to another question. If I cross the chicks I hatched that are bow tie (i've not gotten a clean neck in all the hatches) will the offspring of those most likely be naked necks or will I still get some fully feathered?

Thanks so much again for taking time to give me such great responses!!

 

[sourland]

By selecting only naked neck progeny, you are increasing your chances of 'stumbling upon' some birds that are homozygous or 'pure' for the necked neck gene, but in reality it is a crap shoot. The quickest way is to do what Kev suggested - obtain a rooster/roosters that are pure for the NN gene - perhaps easier said than done.

 

[Kev]

it's actually extremely easy once you know what to look for. the difference is obvious even before the chicks dry off. I'll put up pictures of my chicks and point out the signs to look for:

Pure, this one has bowties on very small size, just two tiny puffs on each side of neck. Also note the bare spot between eye and beak.



Not pure on left, pure on right. Pure one has the more typical size of bowtie fuzz, notice bare spot by eye/beak. Not pure on left has a fully fuzzy face, no bare spot by beak also the bowtie is larger and very fuzzy, can't easuly see naked neck if viewed from front. Compare that to chick on right- easy to see bare neck below bowtie.



OK let's see if you can tell which one of below is pure or not pure(opening pic in new window brings a larger size):



The idea is same for adults, the big patch of fuzz translates to big patch of feathers hiding most of the front neck. I'd post more pictures but might be too many pictures already for this post.

It'd just be easiest to keep the pure chicks and use the pure naked neck gene roosters as the breeders, that way the hens being pure/not pure does not matter as all of the chicks will be naked necked- half will have bowties, half will have "bibs" and no feather necks at all. Some people prefer the bibbed look.

I can't say anything about the seller other than re-mentioning I have never seen a flock of naked necks with all pure for the gene. Not even the show breeders, they keep the bibbed ones and breed from them also. The stock you have has the body type that appeals to a lot of people and your stock should throw a consistent type.. so as long as they are meaty and good layers they will be winners.

 

[r4eboxer]

it's actually extremely easy once you know what to look for. the difference is obvious even before the chicks dry off. I'll put up pictures of my chicks and point out the signs to look for:

Pure, this one has bowties on very small size, just two tiny puffs on each side of neck. Also note the bare spot between eye and beak.



Not pure on left, pure on right. Pure one has the more typical size of bowtie fuzz, notice bare spot by eye/beak. Not pure on left has a fully fuzzy face, no bare spot by beak also the bowtie is larger and very fuzzy, can't easuly see naked neck if viewed from front. Compare that to chick on right- easy to see bare neck below bowtie.



OK let's see if you can tell which one of below is pure or not pure(opening pic in new window brings a larger size):



The idea is same for adults, the big patch of fuzz translates to big patch of feathers hiding most of the front neck. I'd post more pictures but might be too many pictures already for this post.

It'd just be easiest to keep the pure chicks and use the pure naked neck gene roosters as the breeders, that way the hens being pure/not pure does not matter as all of the chicks will be naked necked- half will have bowties, half will have "bibs" and no feather necks at all. Some people prefer the bibbed look.

I can't say anything about the seller other than re-mentioning I have never seen a flock of naked necks with all pure for the gene. Not even the show breeders, they keep the bibbed ones and breed from them also. The stock you have has the body type that appeals to a lot of people and your stock should throw a consistent type.. so as long as they are meaty and good layers they will be winners.

YOU are pretty awesome KEV!!! Thanks so much. The chick on the right is pure, is that right? I am going to look for chicks with these traits and try to get my flock in better shape feathering wise. I am getting some really pretty blues out of my hens with my white roo over them so I'll keep working on it. I am just having customers come back to me and ask about the fully feathering and I was stumped I thought I had stock that was pure for the gene as that is what I thought I was getting and why I paid such a high price for them. I wanted a self sustaining meat bird that is easy to pluck and now I'm getting all these feathers LOL.

 

[r4eboxer]

By selecting only naked neck progeny, you are increasing your chances of 'stumbling upon' some birds that are homozygous or 'pure' for the necked neck gene, but in reality it is a crap shoot. The quickest way is to do what Kev suggested - obtain a rooster/roosters that are pure for the NN gene - perhaps easier said than done.

Thanks so much, you are helping me in a BIG way. I'm going to work on that and set more eggs.