The Poultry Keeper

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3202 Location: Monmouthshire

Five new chicks this morning. Three with completely naked necks and two with one feather each. As only one of my four hens has a completely bare neck, as has the unrelated cock, I can hardly believe my luck. More eggs in the incubator.

Hen-Gen · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:03 am Post subject:

Great news, henwife. The geneticists would say that the expectation from that breeding pen (assuming all hens lay the same number of eggs and are equally fertile) is 60% pure NaNa chicks with clean necks and 40% impure Nana+ chicks with the tassel on the throat.
Hope the rest of the hatchlings continue to realise your hopes.

Clucky · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2182 Location: Shropshire

Ooooh Henwife, that's good! What colour pray ? Very Happy

I have a bantam with a bib and a rose comb, but she is cute more like a pekin in shape Smile

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3202 Location: Monmouthshire

Beetle black. I shall try to get a goodly flock of these I think before getting more adventurous. The two who hatched 10 days ago are 'mothering' the new ones which is rather sweet.

JustChickens · Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 855 Location: Sussex

Congrats on the new chicks! Just my opinion, but i find naked necks really ugly ! they look so odd.

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2474 Location: South Cumbria

so sorry me too !

Clucky · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2182 Location: Shropshire

Wait til they gobble a worm!!!!! Laughing

Lovely colour, the sheen would be stunning!

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3202 Location: Monmouthshire

TNNs are a love them or loathe them bird. The chicks are really endearing, but then I rather like vultures too. There are a lot of people who even consider guinea fowl too vulture-like to keep.

JustChickens · Joined: 24 Mar 2008 Posts: 855 Location: Sussex

Is the "naked neck" a natural occurance, or have they been bred to get like that? because if they have then why would anyone want a chicken with a naked neck.

Hen-Gen · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject:

Depends what you mean. The first one must have happened naturally because we have no way to make genes spontaneously mutate. But from then on it would have been deliberately bred to increase numbers with the same mutation.
Whilst naked necks don't particularly appeal to me either one of the subsidiary effects of this gene is that it reduces by about 50% the number of feathers on the rest of the body aswell. This makes the breed very heat tolerant and productive in hot climates and so is widely kept in some countries eg Israel.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I cannot abide Frizzle chickens or Sebastopol Geese but each to their own! Very Happy

Clucky · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2182 Location: Shropshire

Henwife · Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 3202 Location: Monmouthshire

When one considers the rather chilly part of Eastern Europe from which they originate, it's easy to understand why they do well in cold climates. I believe it was the Israelis who tried to breed a completely naked chicken to save the bother of plucking......they suffered from sunburn.

sunnyside · Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 245 Location: Birmingham

they are an old breed that was kept by peasents in eastern europe as a straight utility bird-not for showing nor for looks but because they are very practical. cope very well with hot summers and poor feed but equally well with very cold winters. lay a lot, good broodies, good natured in flock, reputed to have good disease resistence and of course very quick and easy to pluck!

I really am impressed with my lot (large fowl version). eggs are big and very plentiful. sweet natured to extent that my grower gang at one point ranged from two week to 14 weeks old in one pen-with babies using older growers as heat sources. don't eat you out of house and home. mothering skills..well one of mine went broody on Sunday-I gave her a 4 day old chick on Tuesday and shes now raising it within the flock.