Genes in hatch mates

[Sharon Yorks]

Can someone explain how genes work in hatch mates? Are they exactly alike or are there variations of what they may end up with from the same parents? Example, if a hen is a good layer, will her sister be also? If a male is aggressive, will his brother be, too? I know if you breed a black to a blue, you get either a black or a blue chick, so I'm assuming different genes come into play. Is there a certain number of genes that can get split up different ways? (Don't know if that even made sense.) I'm just trying to understand genetics a little better.

[Mike Gilbert]

Sharon, many traits including egg laying are polygenic.   That means there are multiple genes involved.   Add to that environmental factors that come into play when it comes to laying, aggression, size, feather condition, and others.    Some color genetics are pretty simple, such as the predictability of outcomes when breeding blue to black or blue to blue.  Others, like the penciled and laced colors involve multiple genes working in concert.   Add to that some genes are dominant, others recessive, some inhibit the manifestation of others, homozyosity versus heterozygosity - well I think you get the picture.  Nobody ever said it was easy.   For those who would rather play it safe - well there are always the white and black colors to mess with. 

[Birdcrazy]

Sharon, I'm not an expert on chicken genes, but I just look at my siblings. I am a little over 6' tall, my older brother is 5'8". He has blue eyes, mine are brown. Out of 3 brothers our dispositions are not the same. I still have most of my head hair, my one brother has only about half. Three kids wear corrective glasses one did not. I don't think I can blame this on the milkman as my dad had red hair and so did all 4 kids. WE do have some similarities, but probably just as many differences. I do think the more you line breed chickens the more you can selectively achieve desired results, but  probably not in just one generation. This is only my opinion-not gospel!

[Birdcrazy]

Thanks Mike! You posted while I was typing. Your reply was much more scientific and to the point than mine. I humbly acknowledge yours as a better reply! Thanks for the info.

[Sharon Yorks]

Yeah, I figured that was a loaded question and there would be many variables. I will have to Google what "homozyosity versus heterozygosity" means. I never expected it to be easy and am actually glad it isn't. I think the blue variety is quite a challenge and I'm having fun trying to breed some really nice ones. I feel I'm off to a good start. Just trying to understand genetics more.

Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

[Mike Gilbert]

Sharon, here is a website that gives you all the basics.   
Part III is a table of common genes that tells you what they do.   Once you get the basics down, there are more websites that go into more detail, giving you recipes for certain colors etc.   Even this one has a few of those.    Happy reading!

http://sellers.kippenjungle.nl/page0.html

[HarryS]

Sharon,
   There are suppose to be 39 pairs of chromosones and over 12,000 different genes in a chicken so for any to be genetically 100% identical is like winning a lottery.  Just don't use two birds with the same defects, but generally speaking don;t use any with obvious defects anyways.

[Sharon Yorks]

Thanks, Harry. I can relate to that a little better. I had an Amniocentesis done with my last child and found he has a triple chromosome so I learned a lot about those. I didn't realize chickens have so many genes. Wow! And I already figured if one has a bad comb you should breed it to one that has a good comb, and if this one is little small breed him to something that is big...stuff like that.

Thanks for the link, Mike. So much to learn! Looks interesting. I read somewhere...don't know if it was there or not...but that most of your hatches should be 50-50 on male and female (on an average) but that if something goes wrong with your hatch, it's usually the females that die. If so, that may explain why it seems like we hatch more males. I found that quite interesting. Anyone know how to sex dead chicks to see if that is correct?

[HarryS]

Well breeding a small bird to large is generally only my last resort since it will come back to haunt you.  Size is something that seems difficult to regain especially if you loose it in the entire flock.  I still get bantam ameraucana chicks hatching rarely but it is not impossible out of the large fowl.

[Jean]

Sharon,

Just had to share this photo.  My middle child has an extra chromosome too. 

[Sharon Yorks]

What a nice, nice picture! Is your child a trisomy 21? Caylum is a trisomy 20.

[Jean]

The picture is not my daughter, but yes mine does have trisomy 21 too.

[Susan Mouw]

Sharon, I wrote an article a couple of years ago for the Labrador Quarterly that puts how genes are combined in offspring in fairly simple terms. It was written to address an inherited heart problem in Labs, but might be helpful in understanding the basics of genetics. I could post it, if you'd like to read it.

[Sharon Yorks]

Sharon, I wrote an article a couple of years ago for the Labrador Quarterly that puts how genes are combined in offspring in fairly simple terms. It was written to address an inherited heart problem in Labs, but might be helpful in understanding the basics of genetics. I could post it, if you'd like to read it.

Yes, please do. I'd like to read it.

[Susan Mouw]

Ok..here it is. Just ignore all the stuff about tricuspid valve dysplasia and Labrador Retrievers.  lol

http://www.ameraucana.org/docs/Genetics%20of%20TVD.pdf