Inheritance in Chicken Feathers: Exploring Codominance

What is the mode of inheritance when crossing white, black, and tan chickens?

What determines the outcome of chicken feather colors when different colored chickens are crossed?

The mode of inheritance in this scenario is codominance.

The mode of inheritance described here is known as codominance.

When crossing a white chicken with a black chicken, the offspring is a tan chicken due to codominance. Codominance is a mode of inheritance where two different alleles for a trait are both expressed fully and equally in an individual.

In this case, both the white and black alleles are expressed fully, resulting in a mixture of the two colors to produce tan feathers in the offspring. When two tan chickens are crossed, the offspring will inherit a mix of white, black, and tan feathers because both sets of alleles are expressed equally.

Codominance allows for the expression of multiple traits in a single individual, leading to the variety seen in the feather colors of the offspring. It highlights the equal influence of both alleles in determining the phenotype of the offspring.