#chicken genes

[homeofhousechickens]

Interesting chick posted to the Livestock Born Different facebook group. The fuzzy chick on the left is siblings with the feathered chick on the right.

Some people are speculating that this is somehow a silkie or a failure to thrive chick but that is not that case, this is actually just a slow feathering gene likely the sexlinked K delayed feathering gene to be specific.

This gene exists in many breeds especially patterned breeds because slower feathering helps create a bird with a crisper and cleaner pattern then a bird that feathers in normally. High quality barred rocks for example have slow feather genes to make their bars crisp and clear, Thats right the difference between clean clear barring and messy cuckoo is whether or not the bird has the slow feathering gene.

Anyway the chick in the picture looks to be a Lavender Orpington and i know for a fact that slow feathering is prevalent in multiple orpington lines due to the ability to use it to sex chicks at hatch and these are likely hatchery birds.

Take a normal feathered rooster and breed him to a hen who has slow feathering and all the pullets from that pairing will feather in normal while the cockerels feather in much slower. Now we can also assume this slow feathered chick in the picture might also be a cockerel but they could also be a pullet depending on their parents. Them showing up with a fast feathering sibling doesnt help their case though haha

This gene is also very common in meat birds. Here you can see my two cockerels are much more fuzzy and have less feathers then their two siblings (ignore Curry on the left he is zooming)

[homeofhousechickens]

saw your post about brachydactyly and checked the feet of my chickens, alot of which have feathered feet and atleast one looks like he's got a shortened toe. does brachydactyly hurt affected chicken or otherwise negatively affect their QOL? i'd guess that it could impact their balance, but idk how bad it could be. my chickens seem alright and not to be in pain and so does your beepers, but i thought i should ask, just in case?

It may help cause arthritis in the feet when the bird is a senior in my opinion because of how it changes the foot anatomy but beyond that it really doesnt impact the bird to much. Beepers shortened toe actually has no joint in it so she cant bend it normally on her own but its still flexible, this means if Beeper was an outside chicken she might struggle to stay on a perch. Also one toes is shorter then the other so it gives her a funny walk but it doesnt cause pain and Beeper is still a speedy little chicken.

Most feather footed birds will have it in some degree unless a breeder has specifically selected against it heavily. You can assume hatchery birds like Beeper are not going to be carefully selected like that. Below is a bird i bred named Nebby and while she also has the gene from her father (who also had good toe length) you can see she has nice long toes and nails

[homeofhousechickens]

Baby Bird has an interesting "negative" gene known as Split Wing.

Split wing is basically where the feathers have a gap between the primary feathers and the secondary feathers.  It is a recessive gene or collection of genes so its important to not breed birds with it since their children will be carriers. In many breed standards its considered a serious fault but it some hard feathered game varieties it is part of their breed standard.

Split wing doesnt hurt the bird health wise but will severely impact the birds ability to fly and can be a sign of other structural feather issues coming up in a line such as twisted feathers which are basically feathers incorrectly lined in their follicles.

Baby bird has twisted feathers, the twisted feathers can be tender and painful for the bird sometimes so its important to weed these issues out of your breeding pool so you have happy healthy birds.