unexpected colouration in both chicks

[jeffmannza]

Hi Adam. Parent hen is standard looking blue bar. Parent cock is standard looking T-check ash-red. These are their first chicks. Was expecting standard colouration but instead got this. Perhaps this is opal?

[jeffmannza]

On the other hand, possibly the ash-red cock is homozygous for indigo (which look like ash-reds) - hence the all chicks will be be heterozygous indigo, which is what I am getting (so far, although only 2/2). Am not entirely sure what indigo looks like however.

[MADad]

I am most definitely NOT an expert, but I would think they are indigo.

[AdamArcher]

Looks like indigo to me

[jeffmannza]

thank you and all the best for 2024 !!

[jeffmannza]

got two more chicks and these are also indigo - so the ash red parent is very likely homozygous indigo - you cannot distinguish this bird from an ash-red T cheq. One day perhaps we can find out the molecular basis of this semi-dominant mutation. Obviously it is switching eumelanin (blue/black) to phaeomelanin (ash-red) production somehow. Probably in the heterozygous state the indigo allele results in phaeomelanin prouction while the wild-type allele results in eumelanin production (so both types of melanin, eu- and phaeo-, are present in the same melanocyte). The result of this mix is the indigo colour.