Backyard Poultry Forum

Genetics of Chickens and other Poultry

Genetics can be a daunting topic. It can also be fascinating. This page is designed to get you to the topics which discuss various aspects of genetics that you are interested in. You can then find the topic which best explains it for you. It is broken down into simple genetics areas, so as to allow the beginner to search for the major theme they are looking for, without needing to know what the gene is actually called. A lot of the information in these links is available elsewhere on the web, but where a website has been used, it is referenced if possible. So, search below using the major topics to put you in the right direction.

Note for users - if its underlined, its a link, if not, it either hasnt been covered yet, or I havenet found it yet

Firstly though, some links and books.

Website 1 - A great website for beginners - poultry Genetics for exhibition breeders
Website 2 - Also very good - Poultry Genetics for the non professional
Book 1 -The best chicken genetics book ever (in my opinion) - Genetics of Chicken Colour - the basics



General Topics

Genetics for Beginners

A great BYP beginnner thread where people can ask simple questions
A webpage summary of basic genetics - Genes - Alells - locus
Basic Genetics From Poutlry genetics for the non professional



Feather Patterns

• Primary Pattern – the pattern of the overall bird, black head, different wing and tail colours etc, these are based on the e locus.

o Different e-locus genes - Chick down comparison of e-allel and other genes

 Extended Black (E)

 Birchen (Er)

 Wheaten (eWh)

 Wild Type or Duckwing (e+)

 Brown (eb)

• Secondary Pattern genes

o Columbian – Black neck and Tail

o Barring – Sex linked (B) - Dark Barred vs light barred Dominance of Barring

o Pencilled / Partridge (based on Pg)

o Double Laced (Pg requiring the addition of Melanotic Ml) - General Discussion

o Single Laced (Pg, Ml and the addition of Columbian Co)

o Mottled

o Spangled

o Mille Fleur Mille Fleur Pattern

Feather Colour

• White – Dominant White

• White – Recessive white - Leaky?

• Gold

• Silver (sex linked)

• Black

• Blue - Comprehensive Topic ; Dun vs Blue

• Lavender - General Discussion on breeding

• Chocolate

• Dun - Dun vs Blue

• Red

• Buff

• Cream

• Champaigne Blonde

Feather shape

• Frizzle

• Silkie

• Soft feather / Hard Feather

Feather placement

• Foot feathers - General discussion

• Stubs

• Vulture hocks

• Crest

• Muff / bearded

• Naked neck

Feather Growth

• Slow feathering - General

• Henny feather

Leg/Skin colour

• Id locus Dermal Inhibitor and Barring linkage

• White/yellow W locus

• Sex-linked white/yellow

• Plumage colour influences (dominant white, mottled, sex-linked barring)

Physical Mutations

• Comb types

o Single

o Pea

o Rose -

Summary of Rose comb infertility

Summary of Genetics of Rose comb

General topic on Rose comb with Pictures

o Buttercup

o Other

• Albinism - General -What is it topic ; Sex linked incomplete

• Ear lobe (turquoise, white, Spanish, red)

• Spurs (multiple spurs, hen spurs)

• Bantams genes

• Egg Shell Colour External website with a few details

Duck Colour Genetics

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Breeder of Blue Laced Red Wyandottes.

See www.bluelacedgold.wordpress.com for details

A great sticky to springboard from.

I plan to go through it at length, when I have a spare moment. Thanks for putting it together.

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Christine

Orpingtons & Araucanas...bantam
Gold Lace Wyandottes...standard

Hi Raf, great sticky, Thanks!
A couple of the links arent working down the page the Lavender and the Foot feathering links. It says the topics cant be found.
Cheers, Wendy

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There comes a time in life when you must walk away from all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus on the good

Looking forward to studying it all.

Great idea keep up the good work I take it the links are still being worked on as they say the topics dont exist when I click on them

Great sticky there Rwood.

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I,ve Changed a Fair Bit Since The Explosion of fury in mid 2010 on BYP - But im back - bit more relaxed the usual - more funnier - and im now a DJ - How good can u get!!

I look forward to finding the idiots guide for begginers (well i hope i do)
mandi

Hi Mandi,

There is a book The Colour Genetics of Chickens a Beginners Guide, Look in the Library section on where to get the book from.

Cheers

Christian

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Interested in Plymouth Rocks, Breeder of Light Barred Standard

Love the forum! typo in website 1 under 'genetics theory' for definition of allele it has "One of two alternate forms of a gene that has the same locus on homologous chromosomes" should be 'multiple' as may be more than two, mark

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not dead yet, but a hell of alot closer than i used to be

Thanks Mark.

Yes, bad grammar

Maybe I'll change it to 'one of alternate forms of a gene....' - ie drop the 'two'

A definition I just read was "of a pair (or series)", but I think I'll skip defining plurals altogether.

Later on I emphasise that diploid organisms (eg chickens) can only have two alleles at any given locus (on homologous chromosomes), but that there may be multiple mutation alleles that may have occurred on some loci (eg E locus). Well I think I explain that better on the website .

Thanks again .

No, that one is correct. You have one allele on the gene's locus on one chromosome and "another" allele on its sister chromosome.

Goodaye KazJaps, yep it was only that one typo, the rest looks great, mark

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not dead yet, but a hell of alot closer than i used to be

HELP. On the 'Poultry Genetic' download under the 'Chicken Variety Genotypes' the blastard thing wont' go beyond the first page, so we only get up to B for Barnevelder!
Thanks, Mark

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not dead yet, but a hell of alot closer than i used to be

Yep, Ive never gotten past that page either. Im not sure its actually there.

Blackdottes book has it. What are you after?

Raf

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Breeder of Blue Laced Red Wyandottes.

See www.bluelacedgold.wordpress.com for details

What page is that?
Not one of my pages I hope, at edelras.nl or kippenjungle.nl