Orpington Breeding - Blue, Black, Splash, and Lavender

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drsteik84

drsteik84

In the Brooder
Oct 7, 2015
27
0
22
Blackfoot, Idaho, USA
If I understand correctly, I can breed black and splash orpingtons and get a blue. So, I thought I might try a flock of blue, black, and splash to have a little variety. My question is if lavender acts the same as the blue factor. Would it be possible to have a flock of all blue, black, splash, and lavender and know that the offspring will always be one of those 4 colors?
 
Lavender birds have a different gene entirely. It's a recessive blue, not the dominant blue of the BBS. Lavender and Lavender/Black split birds should be kept and bred separately from the BBS.
Lavender requires two copies of the gene to express. A single copy of the gene results in a solid black bird.
With the dominant blue gene, a black bird has no blue dilute gene, a blue bird has a single blue dilute gene, and a splash has two copies of the blue dilute gene.
If you add in Lavender, the dominant blue will override the recessive blue, and you won't be able to tell which birds are carrying the Lavender gene. And you won't be able to tell which black birds have a recessive blue gene, and which ones don't have any dilute genes at all.
 
Along these same lines. I have a "lavender Orpington" that is not a true Lav (she came from a hatchery so no back ground). She has white legs and beak but is the Lavender color. As a chick she was mostly yellow. Am I correct to assume she is a splash and carries the Blue gene? If so what would I get if I crossed her with my Black Orpington rooster?
 
ForLoveOfLuna said:
Along these same lines. I have a "lavender Orpington" that is not a true Lav (she came from a hatchery so no back ground). She has white legs and beak but is the Lavender color. As a chick she was mostly yellow. Am I correct to assume she is a splash and carries the Blue gene? If so what would I get if I crossed her with my Black Orpington rooster?
Click to expand...
If she is truly Lavender (light grey without splotches of darker color), then she has two copies of the recessive blue dilute gene for black. With your black rooster, she will produce black chicks that are 'split' for Lavender. The chicks will be carrying one copy of the lavender gene.
If she is splash, then she has two copies of the dominant blue dilute gene for black. With the black rooster, all of her chicks will be blue. They will have one copy of the BBS gene, and it will express as blue.

If you post a picture of your bird, I may be able to help you figure out which color she is.
 
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I will attempt to get a picture of her. Her is a picture of her as a chick.
 
ForLoveOfLuna said:
Is being yellow as a chick and having white feet and beak just undesirable characteristics then? I believe I've heard it called leakage?
Click to expand...
Orpingtons are supposed to have white skin. It would be a major fault if they were any other color. Lavender chicks are pale grey with yellow around the face, front of the neck, and belly. Leakage is when a male is not solid light grey, but has gold or yellow hackle and saddle feathers. Females do not express leakage, but they can be carrying the genes that cause it and pass them to her chicks.
Your hen's biggest faults lay in her conformation. She's not really the classic 'beach ball' shape of good Orpingtons.
 

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