Eight Weeks and Genetics

Nothing quite like the cuteness of these chicks. I have been cross breeding them for a year now. Mabon and her sister are my f1's. mabon is a male orust with a female wells, and sister is a male wels with a female orust. you will see below with opal(f2) she has recessive traits already. Orust, though striking, is subjected to inbreeding, whereas other chickens of Sweden have a larger genetic pool to play with. Photos are surfacing of beautiful black dominated plumage. A contrast from the White dominated that Green Fire Farms has. Hopefully they are able to import a 3 genetic line. Native Swedish Chicken Link or Genetic Diversity of Five Swedish Chickens and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Analysis.

Iggi is heterozygous for the bl dilution gene. Though she has 'black' plumage on her head and neck, the rest of her feathers on her body are significantly more diluted. This is normal to see on a heterozygous bl.

here are the side shots  (not as beaut and dramatic as those above)

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opal

sophie looking a very proper hen

iggi again, bl dilution is seen very nicely

jina and Goose

Mabon and the curious egg..

Hello everyone! The last 2 hatchlings just appeared this morning. The pips last night were the giveaway of their arrival. I slept right through the hatch, well, for these last two at least. I have been waking up at 2am for the other 4 hatches and coupled with work and home life schedules, I am beat!

mabon

mabon

All my hatches went according to plan except for one little guy whom i was EXPECTING a welsummer. I collected an egg i assumed was an egg from the Welsummers. It was in the Welsummer coop, it was a brown egg, and it was very large, even a little bit larger than the normal welsummer eggs i had been getting. For sure it was a welsummer egg!


 But when this little guy/girl started to hatch i saw the color of the down was NOT a welsummer. It was black. link to my welsummer parent flock.

After he pooped out it reminded me of my silver-laced pullet i have whom at the time of lay, would have been only 19 weeks. So, Is it possible on of the Orusts got to her on my watch for those couple hours the boys got out on the 16th of Sept?? And then is it possible for the Silver-Laced Wyodette, named Samantha to go up to the nesting boxes in the welsummer coop to lay an egg the very next day instead of the only coop she has known?? Oh the webs we weave!


As i can not be certain why or whom or when, BUT I am so very curious (and enthralled by this cuteness) to attempt a second hatch of this colouration. :) So, as soon as my incubator is disinfected and dry. I will be looking to plan out a November hatching date :)

Enjoy!