Author Topic: Partridge Rock x Black Ameraucana  (Read 3467 times)

angora831

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Partridge Rock x Black Ameraucana
« on: January 03, 2011, 03:00:35 PM »
I have a few birds from my first year matings of Black Ameraucan crossed with Partridge Plymouth Rocks.  I only was able to hatch out 10 eggs due to weather and other variables.  I had the fortune to get 9 cockerals and 1 pullet.  Needless to say I don\'t need all of these males and want to get the number down to 1-2 for this year.  Hopefully next year willl take care of itself with the crosses from this spring.
All of the cockerals show some red/mahogany coloring in the neck hackles, wings and sides.  Most actually have some muffs and beards.  Eyes appear to be the right color along with the beak.  Where things start to differ are in leg coloring and wattles. All birds are from the same hatch and the more robust males  have large wattles, much like the Partridge Rock cock that was used in the initial cross.  The others do not have these large wattles.  One or two other larger males ,without the wattles, show yellowing on the shanks and feet.  It does not appear to be solid though because there also appears to be black to slate coloring throughout.
My question, at this point, are either of these traits harder to remove down the line with a partridge Ameraucan in mind?  I realize the numbers are small, but I wanted to see if I could get this one pullet to breed with one of these cockerals that I will keep.  I know that one has to weight the pros and cons of each trait when looking at the goal in mind, but will one hurt more than help in getting the partridge color into Ameraucanas?

Thanks for the advice in advance,

Ken

Mike Gilbert

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Partridge Rock x Black Ameraucana
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2011, 09:17:22 PM »
Ken,
I don\'t believe size of wattles or yellow feet have anything do do with the feather coloring.    If you had used Black Ameraucanas with proper muffs and beards, you should not have gotten any clean faced birds from the cross.  Those with muffs will have much smaller wattles.   Yellow skin epidermis is recessive, so you will need to do future test matings to get rid of it, as you will not be able to determine the carriers visually.  If you use birds with yellow skin, they will throw those genetics to 100 percent of their offspring.   It would be good to start using those with white skin (no yellow in the legs or toes) early on, and you might get lucky and not need the future test matings.  Good luck!

angora831

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Partridge Rock x Black Ameraucana
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2011, 10:08:22 PM »
Thanks Mike,
This brings another question to mind.  If the yellow in the epidermis is recessive and shows up only when the offspring gets a recessive from both hen and cock, then it appears at least one of my black hens that I used is heterozygous for the trait???  If this is the case then I don\'t want to use her in any future matings to keep away from the yellow epidermis.  I have not seen any odd colored legs in chicks that I have hatched in the past with a black x black cross and may never see one if I don\'t use her with the Rocks.
I\'m going to have to look at these cockerals again and re-evaluate what to choose.  Have to do this in the daylight.  Getting home from work when it is dark and trying to use the limited lights in the chicken house won\'t be good enough.

Ken

Mike Gilbert

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Partridge Rock x Black Ameraucana
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2011, 08:44:11 AM »
Quote from: angora831
 If the yellow in the epidermis is recessive and shows up only when the offspring gets a recessive from both hen and cock, then it appears at least one of my black hens that I used is heterozygous for the trait???  If this is the case then I don\'t want to use her in any future matings to keep away from the yellow epidermis.
Ken


That would be correct.  But at this point it makes no difference since all the F-1\'s are the same way due to the Plymouth Rock side of the mating.