Lavender Orpington project .... - Page 159

Neat pictures/examples--thanks.  I'm guessing that developing visually mottled lavender orpingtons is not as simple as breeding my mottled chicks to each other??

so nice to hear some our still working with our lav mottled orps..

We are still working with just black mottled orps at this time. they are coming along slowly, goal is for apa type.....

very young bird pics from our farm..they actaully have more white in them now since the last molt.. esp the roo, incubation will begin very soon for the next gen of these..












2008 early mottled lav and black mottled orps..link
http://www.hinkjcpoultry.com/jubileemottledorps.htm

Wow, those are going to be pretty. 
So, how would I go forward from here?  Breed my mottled chicks to each other, choose the offspring with the most mottling and keep breeding back?  Or could I ever get there without breeding out to a true mottled variety? 
BTW, 6 of my 26 hatched were mottled (more than the 10% I originally posted)

It is actually, we'll sorta...

Your chicks are split to or recessivly carrying the Mottled gene.

Breeding the recessive Mottled chicks together will produce Regular (no Mottled gene) Lavs, recessive Mottled Lavs and finally true Mottled Lavender birds. At least that is how I understand it.

So, make sure you mark and keep track of which chicks carry the Mottling then breed them together and you're well on your way.

Do you mean in three more generations I would have true mottled birds, or that when I breed these mottled chicks to each other, a percentage of their offspring would be regular, a percentage would have the recessive, and a percentage would be true mottled?

just take your 6 visual lav mottles to each other..that should keep them going.. as you go along select your most typey for apa orp looks (body type).


heres links to check out dealing with mottling
http://www.keiths-orps.co.uk/categories/large-fowl/mottled/the-mottling-gene.html

http://keiths-orps.co.uk/categories/large-fowl/mottled.html

Matte, the cream colored chicks you hatched are pure for mottlling (carry 2 copies of the gene).  That tells me that both the father and a mother (at least one hen) is split for it.  Your solid lavender colored chicks that hatched may or may not carry the gene.  The only way to know would be to test mate them.  Even though the cream colored ones are pure for it, it will be hard to tell once they mature except for their legs will stay white.  The mottling is hard to see on them in the first mature year, but when they moult it will increase and become more visible.  If you breed the cream chicks to each other, they will breed true.  I have been through all of this and much more test mating on these before we decided against working with them.  If you intend to keep working on them, I'd be happy to help.

Boy, this sounds interesting.  Thanks for the great explanations.  Do you have any pictures of yours before you decided against working with them?  And, I would be very grateful for your help and advice!

Yes, breed the Mottled birds together. Then you should get offspring that is visually Mottled, meaning that they will "keep their spots" as they mature, the reason being is because they then will have 2 copies of the Mottling gene.

Correct, at least that is my understanding of the way the gene works.

If the Mottling all but disappears on the bird, wouldn't this mean that they were only split for the gene?

I know that with each molt a Mottled bird's plumage can change but if they are pure for the Mottling gene shouldn't they stay mottled through adulthood? I thought only the splits lost their spots...