Chocolate colored chickens

[Sonoran Silkies]

The standards describe phenotype, not genotype, so it is the colour of the bird that is important, not which genes you used in creating it when you are talking about showing. Breeding, however is more the other way around.

 

[Blue Hen]

Hello, I realize this thread is older but wanted to reply to it anyway.

I have a couple of black/chocolate Silkie hens who are out of a chocolate Silkie roo. And he was visually brown/chocolate throughout. He was out of a blue Partridge roo and a black with sable undertones hen. I don't know much of anything about color genetics but was wondering how I would go about furthering my quest for chocolate in the Silkies by using these hens? Both hens carry a lot of chocolatey untertones, I guess you would call it. One more so than the other. Their mama was a neat colored partridge hen that had lots of brown... actually I think she was totally brown with a darker crest and of course the partridge markings. I lost their chocolate father a few years back so I can't use him on his daughters. I do have a very light blue with a few dark splashes chick out of one of the hens. He hatched a cream color with brownish tips on his down. He was fathered by a splash carrying the lav gene. To me, I would think mating him back to his mama and auntie would give me a better chance of producing that elusive chocolate or at least get me a little closer. What would you guys do in regards to choosing a mate for these hens? I sure would love to move forward in my quest for chocolates.

The 2 above mentioned daughters are 4 years old now and so hoping to get this project movin' on.

Thanks all!

 

[DANNY]

Here are some of my chocolate colored but dun genetic cochin project birds.

 

[Mr. Ree]

Quote:
VERY nice. Was just talking with someone lastnight about working on chocolate cochins.


~Casey

 

[DANNY]

This is an old picture but they are coming along.

Mr. Ree :

Quote:
VERY nice. Was just talking with someone lastnight about working on chocolate cochins.


~Casey​

 

[Mr. Ree]

Would it be possible next Fall or even the Spring of '13 to maybe acquire some birds from you to be able to work with this variety as well?

~Casey

 

[billiejo21]

Quote:
This is on my list of projects as well! Hoping to start in the spring. Did you introduce dun via orpingtons?? Are your cochins standard?? I'm looking at obtaining some chocolate orpingtons to add to the mix...just bought some dun orpington eggs. Wondering what everyone else is doing.

 

[lildinkem]

While there is a difference in how the genetics passed down with Chocolate and Dun brown chickens. I agree a judge, iF there ever will be enough of a given breed to become part of the accepted varieties in the APA, will not view any differently between the 2 Brown varieties. Just like Lavenders would have to compete against true Self Blues at a show. Chocs will have to compete against Duns. Some, had said on BYC there is a noticeable difference between Chocs and Duns. I don't see it.
I have a Dun Birchen cockerel. He looks like a true Brown chicken to me. I have him in my plans to make some more. I like the novelty of the color. But, think it will be a short term fad like it is in the UK.
He is right near 6 months old. I breed Orps. So, that is what I am shooting for.

 

[smoothmule]

I didn't want this thread to die off, I hope others will post some chocolates too. I have one split for chocolate rooster and 5 pullets that have just begun to lay, some by my rooster and some I bought. I hope to produce at least one actual chocolate cockerel this spring but I also have a silver duckwing rooster I'll be using to tone down any red in the cockerels hackles so my chocolate will be better on the roosters. I understand that no one has produced a truly solid chocolate Serama rooster so that's my goal. I have a lot of other genes to deal with to get down to some good, self chocolates but that's going to be the fun of it. I believe mine to be true chocolate, recessive. I'll know for certain once I have a single chocolate male that I can breed to my hens because true chocolate will breed true. Chocolate to chocolate matings will produce chocolate chicks 100% of the time. That said, with the number of other genes that the Serama's have, some may be chocolate mottled, chocolate this or that but they will be chocolate if they are true chocolates.

Here is one of my better hens
Kiss

My hen with red leakage
Latte

My mottled hen
Dottie

My chocolate mottled/frizzled
CocoPuff

I have some others I suspect may be too but not as obvious and a couple of cockerels that may be carriers that are just now breeding and I have set a lot of eggs so I'm hopeful I'll have a chocolate cockerel of some sort.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

I'm having trouble seeing the appeal of the chocolate birds. They just kind of look sun-bleached to me, but I haven't seen them in person...I'm not a fan of solid black birds, either, though!