Breeding for Variation in Color& some pics of my birds

I received an email from a member who wanted to know what cross would produce color variation in the offspring. This is my response to the email.

Cross a male black sex linked with rhode island red  females ( could be any black tailed red , a new hampshire would work also). To get the greatest variation, you must use a male black sex linked.  I am assuming the black sex linked is not carrying the pattern gene. This cross will produce the following:

black birds

black birds leaking red (females will look like black sex linked)
black birds leaking silver

black and barred ( females look like barred rock, males look like black sex linked)
black tailed silver and barred (delaware like with red and black on back)
black tailed red and barred (rhodebar but smutty)

columbian (fully columbian restricted, females silver with red on back, males silver with black on back or black and red on back)
black tailed red (fully columbian restricted,  like a rhode island red some black on back and hackles)

black tailed silver with partial columbian restriction ( black feathers on a silver  breast on males, females will have some black and red on the back)
black tailed red with  partial columbian restriction (( black feathers on a red breast on males, females will have some black on the back)

male black tailed silver with heavily melanized (black feathers) pyle zone, females with silver breast with the remainder of the bird black mixed with white
male black tailed silver with heavily melanized pyle zone, females with red breast with the remainder of the bird black mixed with red

barred male black tailed silver with heavily melanized (smutty black  feathers) pyle zone, females barred with silver breast with the remainder of the bird smutty black  mixed with white
barred male black tailed silver with heavily melanized (smutty black  feathers) pyle zone, females barred with red breast with the remainder of the bird smutty black mixed with red

In all of the above phenotypes that are silver males, the males could carry a silver gene and a gold gene. In this case the males will have more red on their backs and shoulders and will develop straw colored hackles. (similar to golden duckwing)

Tim

This is how I do it in my head.

1. the male is barred therefore every chick will be barred.    B/b+ or B/_ no problem

2. The male is extended black ( should have two E genes but not always) and the female is E/ewh = chicks that are black (E/E or E/ewh) or E/ewh chicks that are like a  black sex link

3. Barred rock are normally silver and the female is gold= silver females and silver males

4. Both the male and female parents carry melanotic so all of the chicks will at least carry one melanotic and some will carry two.  This will cause the chicks to be black or they may leak some color (usually on the breast).

5. If the mother carries dominant white ( does she have a white tail and white in he wings) then half of the offspring will be white.

6. The sex linked bird will carry one mahogany and also one columbian gene ( the barred rock may also carry columbian- the columbian(s) gene will cause leaking of  color on the breast and the mahogany gene will cause any leaking red to be a darker red.


Put it all together with the assumptions and you get

1. barred black or barred black leaking silver (females) or straw (in males) or if the barred rock carries gold then you will get some barred black leaking gold.

2. some may be clean white or some may be white leaking black( females or males) - males will leak buff , if the male parent carries gold then some may be white leaking red (red pyle like but with not as much red). The red may be dark in some of the birds.

you may also get some more birds that look like the red sex linked female but with more white

3. If the barred rock is not pure for extended black then you will get some dark silver columbians birds ( some will have red on their backs)  or dark black tailed reds. Some of the males will show white or red breasts with black feathering at the top of the breast

4. Every bird will be barred so any bird that is red ( even if it is leaking red ) will be lightened by the barring gene to a buff and the barring gene will add white to the silver birds.


Tim

Yes you could produce better type in a red bird.

Cross red to black = F1  black leaking red and  red with smut (black);   pick the offspring with the best type and the most red

If you hatch an  F1 roo that is red then back cross the red F1 to the  black female= F2 much better type and some that are black and some that are red.

another option is to do an F1 cross producing some birds with better type- pick the birds that  have the best type and least amount of black or most red

Continue to pick birds that have the best type and red color and cross them together

You should have some nice red birds in 3-4 years.

Tim

The leaking of color can be caused by certain genotypes ( genes in a bird) but can be over come in future generations.

If the bird is the only blue cochin you have to use, use it to breed with another self black (solid black female). Pick a female that has the darkest head and hackle feathers to cross with the male. The cross will produce more leaking males  but it will also produce birds that are self black. Then use the self black birds to breed in the future. The genetics behind the problem will determine how many chicks you will have to hatch. If you can hatch 25 or so it would be great but hatch as many as you can. If you hatch too few you may not get the correct gene combination to produce the bird you want.



Tim