Chick Down Color

Hi, Some colours seem to have significant markings as chicks. Like I've heard the chipmunk stripe used. Does a black dot on top of the head mean anything? What chick down gives evidence of colours it will grow into or genetics?

Down color: Chick Down comes in various colors, including yellow, black, or a mixture of colors, depending on the breed and chick's genetics. The color of the down is not indicative of the color of the adult plumage, as it may change significantly as chicks mature. Adult feathers can be a completely different color or pattern from the chick's initial down.

Therefore, a yellow chick might mature into a white, black, brown, or multi-colored chicken, depending on its breed and genetic inheritance. The down color/pattern and shank/leg color can help identify the e-locus a chick is based on. E and ER Ameraucana chicks will have dark shanks, while e +, e Wh & e b will have flesh colored shanks generally.

Yellow chicks, for instance, can grow up to be white, buff, wheaten, or even mille fleur. Examining chick down colours and considering the colours of their parents can help narrow down the possibilities, but the exact adult colour can only be determined with time. A chicks down color is a very good indicater of what will come.

* I think what would really be helpful is to identify what we see in the adults and apply what those breeding genettics paired can produce. This Forum will be interactive, if you post pics of your chicks, PLEASE re post pics at least a month laiter to others can see feather. What can we learn from chick down color? Those of you who have been following my page for some time know that I devote some of my energy and breeding effort toward color breeding, research, and development.

The chick down seems darker though. In a recent visit to the dutch Serama empire there was a pullet harbouring both Dun and Chocolate. She was a lighter but prominent brown.

Sexlinked brown dilution is the most common eumelanin dilution among birds and poultry, but still very rare in chickens. Breeding tip: how to breed with chocolate. This is why chicks are yellow: It actually has to do with the yolk staining their white down feathers.

Because these chicks will eventually be white as they get their juvenile and adult feathers, their down is colored by the same pigment that makes a yolk yellow, and it is proven. Discover how a yellow chick's down transforms into adult feathers, revealing its final color, influenced by genetics and growth.