Unfeathered Friends

NOT THE PRETTIEST CHOOK IN THE FLOCK, BUT THE NAKED NECK MAY ADAPT BEST TO HOTTER TEMPERATURES

- Megg Miller

You’re sure to be taken aback by the appearance of a Naked Neck chicken and not question the fact this breed has been known by names like Rubber Necks, Turkens and even Churkeys. Rest assured, it’s a dinky-di chook — no foul play has taken place with turkeys. It seems a random gene mutation centuries ago has resulted in birds with reduced feathering.

This scientific explanation puts a damper on the normal reaction, “Is it a victim of dog attack?” “Has the bird got a disease?” Along with the featherless areas on neck and breast, the skin turns a deep shade of red, and so the casual observer can be forgiven for wondering if something horrible has caused the unusual appearance.

GENE ACTION

The genes responsible for the different characteristics in poultry occur in pairs and may code for the same trait or contrasting ones. When the genes for the naked neck both code for reduced feathering, the result is a chicken that has a decrease of around 40–45 per cent in plumage cover compared to normal birds.

As the gene for the naked neck is a dominant one, only a single gene of the pair is needed. That is, the dominant gene for reduced feathering will overcome the less powerful recessive gene for normal feathering.

This means there are birds classed as Naked Necks that have originated from parents that both carry and express the unique feather restriction gene. These are of a recognised quality for showing and technically are known as homozygous or pure for the naked neck.

But there are also fowls that have resulted from the influence of just one feather reduction gene (the other partner of the pair representing normal feathering). Such birds are classed as heterozygous and display less-reduced feathering, only around 30 per cent feather loss.