Albinism in chickens is a rare condition usually inherited in an autosomal recessive Mendelian pattern. The pigmentless "white" phenotype is determined by a mutation in the gene coding for a pigment synthesizing enzyme, combined with the clear sperm of a rooster whom is a heterozygous carrier of the mutated gene. This combination results in the inability of the body to make melanin. Albinos are generally homozygous recessive "aa" with white skin & feathers and pink eye pupils (this is due to the unmasking of the red hemoglobin pigment in the blood vessels of the retina).
Statistics show that one in every forty thousand hatchlings is a recipient of the homozygous recessive gene which causes the albino mutation. For more information on the albino chicken, visit www.poultryscience.org/psa/toc/abs/00/Jan00ab46.html
