Tardy feather growth

[Lee G]

Out of 40 chicks, I have one silver chick that is not like all the rest.  It has wing feathers, but none anywhere else except a few stubs along the spine. Could this be tardy (t) retarded feather growth? But why only the one chick?  The others are from the same parentage and are feathering in fine... Has anyone else ever experienced this? I'm a tad disconcerted as they all share the same sire....

[DeWayne Edgin]

I have a Silver chick just like this! I think i had 3 total but the older ones featherd fine.

[Mike Gilbert]

Slow feathering is the result of a sex linked gene.   It shows up the most on male chicks, so this one will probably be a cockerel.   His father is probably split for this trait, so throws the slow feathering to half his progeny.   So you have been lucky not to have seen more of it.   If you don't want to perpetuate this trait you will want to cull this one and any others you get like it.

[Lee G]

Thank you Mike. Not surprising because I seem to be having a year of the rooster.  (or so I thought...so much for my sexing skills, haha)

I've been researching this and have discovered chickens can be (K) as well as (t) at the same time, which is what I think I may be dealing with now. Or is that even possible? K is sex linked and tardy is an autosomal recessive. I'm a novice at chicken genetics at best, but find it all utterly fascinating. I just wish most stuff didn't go over my head...I often feel like the answer is right under my nose, if only I could understand it.

And I was wrong about this chick being the only one...Tardy expresses to different degrees, from extreme, to moderate, to mild. I can see a few others have mild cases, so are likely t/t. This chick is probably super slow tardy (t^s/t^s) along with K (?) I will definitely be culling the chick once it's grown enough to confirm my suspicions. Birds with tardy will have normal feathers by six weeks, where as birds with K will still be growing in their feathers at that age.

Here's the same chick next to some of his faster feathering siblings.


My other concern is that I've used the same silver cock over some of my best splash hens with the intent of creating a strain of blue and splash Ameraucanas that are based on S/S instead of s+ or S/s+. So far all the offspring from these matings have feathered in fine...and fast. But now I'm worried it may come back to haunt me in the next generation...having a large quantity of chicks to select from will likely be the key. I hope anyway. 

Breeding for improvement while maintaining what you’ve already accomplished is a fine balancing act that is for sure. There really are no short cuts to experience I am learning! That and there is nothing easy here. And there is always something more to learn. 

[Mike Gilbert]

According to the Sellers website ( http://sellers.kippenjungle.nl/page3.html ) there is not one but three different K genes, all dominant to fast feathering (k).     If you did not see the slow feathering in any of the parent birds, then you are likely indeed dealing with the recessive autosomal (t) gene.   
I'm surprised you went with the silver variety for your project, as there are already a lot of blue and black birds in large fowl and bantams that are sex linked silver based.  It would have been easier to test mate and identify a few of those.   A bigger problem in the blues is lack of true lacing.   The edging we see on most of them is due to the feather structure around the edge of the feather, and not true lacing.   A couple of people have/had projects going to cross in the Blue Andalusian to improve the blue Ameraucana coloring.  The Andalusians almost certainly would be S based. 

[Lee G]

Mike, this is my first year working with the silvers. I purchased them off another breeder as adults last summer. I will ask the breeder and see if she recalls how they feathered in...as for why I went with an outcross within the breed, I was simply working with what I had available.
There are not that many pure strains of Ameraucanas up here in the great white north, let alone ones based on sex linked silver.  So when the opportunity presented itself to purchase a mature silver flock (and descendants of birds originally imported from John) I jumped at the chance. Am I going about this the wrong way? I realize it will take me a few generations to breed out wildtype (e+), but I figured outcrossing between the varieties will also help me to improve my silvers, as well as help keep type true.

No doubt finding a strain based on silver and test mating would be the easier road, but I don't think they exist here in Canada. And the majority of blue poultry I’ve seen (including my own flock) lack the necessary pattern genes to ever achieve true lacing. (Not without going outside the breed.) The best I can hope for is nice edging, which well pretty enough, isn’t the real deal. And I do want the real deal, and am slowly working towards it....

The formula I have down for lacing is: the pattern gene (Pg)  melanotic (Ml) and Columbian (Co) in homozygous form; on either birchen (ER) or extended black (E), and preferably sex linked silver (S)

I've been following along with Christie's progress and would give my right toe to get my hands on a pair Blue Andalusian's like she is working with. Unfortunately I've found no breeders in my country or any willing to import into Canada....and so I trek on with what I have available.

I am considering using SL Wyandottes, but the yellow skin, brown eggshell genes and rose combs are making me hesitate. And for good reason, ugh...Just not a lot of other options...do you have any suggestions? I would love to hear some others if so. Thank you 

[Mike Gilbert]

I would not do the SL Wyandotte cross, as it would be such a long, tedious road back, and you would be dealing with unwanted recessive genes for many years, each one needing test mating of all breeders to totally eliminate them.   For example, there are up to a dozen or so brown eggshell genes alone, and some are no doubt recessive.  My suggestion would be to keep looking for the Andalusians.   Maybe put a wanted ad in Feather Fancier?

[Lee G]

Thank you for the suggestion Mike. I will try placing an ad in Feather Fancier. 

Last year I inquired about the subject with a Canadian poultry judge who travels in show bird circles, and was disappointed to learn she knew of no one raising exhibition quality Andalusians in Canada.  Or any Andalusians for that matter. Not surprising, as their large single combs would not do well without heat in the winter. Funny enough, I did manage to find a pair in my home province, but they were from hatchery stock and hardly had edging, let alone true lacing. The cock also leaked gold, and the hen never laid a single egg in all the months I had her. On processing day I discovered why. She had a 1/4 inch thick layer of yellow fat coating her organs.  It was pretty gross. Never seen anything like it, and hope I never do again. I doubt she would ever have laid again either.

'Long, tedious road back' is exactly why I keep putting the brakes on using SL Wyandottes. And yet the inner (stubborn) scientist in me wonders what if... I believe I have the time and am more than willing to commit for the long haul. And I'm fairly certain I could find a single combed version, because I often see them for sale as culls. If enough chicks were hatched to select from, it may not be as tedious a process as I imagine...the trick would be knowing what to look for and excessive test mating of each generation. There were be tons of culls though. Good thing we like to eat chicken around here! 

Another option I was considering was ordering 100 chicks from a hatchery, growing them up and hoping there is something in the mix I could use...definitely a gamble though....and unfortunately I missed my window for this year. Besides, I'm out of space in my grow out pens anyway.

Thanks again for your help Mike. It's nice to get another opinion on the matter.

[Max]

My suggestion would be to keep looking for the Andalusians.   Maybe put a wanted ad in Feather Fancier?

I got a start of Blue Andalusians this spring from Dick Horstman for my lacing project. So far they look pretty good as far as lacing goes but it is still too early to judge. You might try him...

[Lee G]

Thank you Max  I appreciate the lead. 

And I have to say I think it's wonderful that so many of us our working towards real lacing on our birds!  Because nothing is more beautiful in my mind than a sharply laced blue in good condition...well, except for a large flock of such elusive blues running on the green...now that would be a stunning sight to behold! 

[Carrie Gildersleeve]

Slow feathering is the result of a sex linked gene.   It shows up the most on male chicks, so this one will probably be a cockerel.   

My LF Black chicks that were slow feathering are hens...

[Lee G]

Slow feathering is the result of a sex linked gene.   It shows up the most on male chicks, so this one will probably be a cockerel.   

My LF Black chicks that were slow feathering are hens...

Interesting.... I had one slow feathering silver female, the rest were male.