Chicks with silver down...genetics question?
Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 6:46 am
Every few hatches, I will end up with a chick with a down colour that's almost true silver. Always from hens with production Leghorn grandparent or great or great-great grandparentage. All can be traced back to the prod. leghorn rooster I used over Ee hens so that I would get great blue egg layers from average green layers. When I say the chicks in question are silver, I do not mean shades of blue or gray or iridescent white or lavender pinkish gray. I mean the chick pops out of the egg and once dry, is a shiny silver. Like a coin, silver. An astonishing colour that I would LOVE to see in an older bird! It's been impossible for me to capture this colour on a camera, mostly because I'm a crappy photographer, but also because I have a very limited time with chicks hatched this colour. Without exceptions, these guys die as young chicks. 3-5 days old is usual, but I think I had one that lived a whole 8 days once.
Everybody else, healthy as oxen, but these rare shiny guys just crap out and die. I would love to know if anyone has thoughts, insights, information or even just theories about this. I think it's a strong possibility it's some strange genetics at work, and my best theory is that whatever makes the shiny down colour, also makes a dangerous problem elsewhere, perhaps digestive tract...a few never eat, but most start off seemingly normal but then go off food and act as if their bellies hurt. I have not necropsied any, for several reasons, first being that I've never done small chicks before, second being that these silver guys are VERY few and far between, and third, because unless there's something grossly obvious such as an intestinal blockage or missing organs, I'd never see it, Fourth, I'm not sure I could even bring myself to dissect a tiny baby. It's emotional when I lose one or have to cull, and I'd rather just dispose and move on a.s.a.p.
But, if anyone has ever heard of anything like this, I'd love to know. I've heard about the lethal tufted gene in Auracanas, this I believe is similar but different lol, and although I've only had *maybe* 10 chicks like this, total, in the past 7 years, I'd liketo narrow the 5 W's down if I can.
Everybody else, healthy as oxen, but these rare shiny guys just crap out and die. I would love to know if anyone has thoughts, insights, information or even just theories about this. I think it's a strong possibility it's some strange genetics at work, and my best theory is that whatever makes the shiny down colour, also makes a dangerous problem elsewhere, perhaps digestive tract...a few never eat, but most start off seemingly normal but then go off food and act as if their bellies hurt. I have not necropsied any, for several reasons, first being that I've never done small chicks before, second being that these silver guys are VERY few and far between, and third, because unless there's something grossly obvious such as an intestinal blockage or missing organs, I'd never see it, Fourth, I'm not sure I could even bring myself to dissect a tiny baby. It's emotional when I lose one or have to cull, and I'd rather just dispose and move on a.s.a.p.
But, if anyone has ever heard of anything like this, I'd love to know. I've heard about the lethal tufted gene in Auracanas, this I believe is similar but different lol, and although I've only had *maybe* 10 chicks like this, total, in the past 7 years, I'd liketo narrow the 5 W's down if I can.