PoultryDan wrote:
Really interesting stuff 
So how do you know you have a sport? How could you tell if its just a recessive trait or if its a naturally occurring mutation?
Also how breeders go about creating a whole new breed from 1 bird with a mutation? Wouldn't you then have to cross it with another breed?
So how do you know you have a sport? How could you tell if its just a recessive trait or if its a naturally occurring mutation? Also how breeders go about creating a whole new breed from 1 bird with a mutation? Wouldn't you then have to cross it with another breed?
I think that the only way to tell whether the "sport" is a new mutation or the emergence of an inherited recessive gene is by test mating the parents to see whether more of the different type are produced.
If the "sport" is the result of a new genetic variation which is capable of being passed on and is recessive then inbreeding would be required to establish the new variety.
I am fairly certain that inducing heritable mutations in higher animals has never been achieved even by the best scientists. The only way to breed "sports" is to bring out hidden recessive genes which would most easily be achieved by a program of concentrated inbreeding.
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