Lavender hen to black rooster

[karint]

If I breed a bantam lavender Cochin hen to a black bantam Cochin rooster any chance I will get any lavender offspring? I can’t find a lavender roo. Also if I do get a lavender offspring can I breed them back to increase my chances of lavender?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Lavender is genetically a solid black bird with two copies of the lavender gene. The lavender gene is recessive, so a bird must inherit two copies, one from the father and one from the mother, to express it. If inherited from only one parent, they will carry the gene and can pass it on to their own offspring, but will not express it because of it being recessive.

That means that, assuming your Black rooster is unrelated to any Lavenders and thus does not, himself, carry the gene, crossing him to a Lavender hen will just make Black offspring, all of which will carry a lavender gene from their Lavender mother. If you take one of their male offspring and cross him back to the Lavender hen, then about half of the resulting chicks from that cross will be Lavender.

Speckled can mean a lot of things, so I'd agree that we would need more details to know what the results would be in that cross. Most likely you would not get Lavender from a first generation cross in this case, either.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I would not get Splash, personally. That introduces a completely different plumage color gene that can complicate things. In your shoes, I would either look for a Lavender (also called Self Blue if that helps expand your search a bit) or just cross the Lavender hen to your Black rooster and cross back to Lavender to make more Lavenders.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yes, Self-Blue is the same as Lavender.

Self-Blue is an old term for the color that is still used in the standard for Lavender varieties of breeds. Lavender is my preferred term for it, personally, because not only is the gene called the lavender gene so it matches with the genetic terminology, but it's less of a confusing term in general, too, since there is also plain Blue in chickens, a color caused by a completely different gene. But, you'll find that a lot of Lavender birds are still advertised as Self-Blue, especially if they are accepted in one of the standards as Self-Blue, like Old English Games, d'Anvers, and Cochins.

 

[BGMatt]

How does lavender work with recessive white? Any tips for resources on poultry genetics?

I was asking pipd, I don’t know on that one.

Brian Reeder did a great book on color genetics. I’d recommend that.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

She called it mottled. I just added a photo.

That bird isn't mottled. Looks like someone tried making Mille fluer

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yeah, looks like a very leaky black mottled like what you might see out of Mille Fleur projects, I agree. Crossing him to a Lavender hen would most likely just produce black chicks with color leakage, all carrying mottling and lavender as both genes are recessive.

 

[karint]

I would not get Splash, personally. That introduces a completely different plumage color gene that can complicate things. In your shoes, I would either look for a Lavender (also called Self Blue if that helps expand your search a bit) or just cross the Lavender hen to your Black rooster and cross back to Lavender to make more Lavenders.

That helps immensely. I’m pretty sure there is a lady in my province who has self blue. Is that the same as lavender?

 

[karint]

Yes, Self-Blue is the same as Lavender.

Self-Blue is an old term for the color that is still used in the standard for Lavender varieties of breeds. Lavender is my preferred term for it, personally, because not only is the gene called the lavender gene so it matches with the genetic terminology, but it's less of a confusing term in general, too, since there is also plain Blue in chickens, a color caused by a completely different gene. But, you'll find that a lot of Lavender birds are still advertised as Self-Blue, especially if they are accepted in one of the standards as Self-Blue, like Old English Games, d'Anvers, and Cochins.

Wow I had no idea. There so much to learn about colouring. Thanks. That was extremely helpful.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Curious there is another lady with Mille fleur Cochin. Do those breed more true if I had a rooster and hen?

In that you should get a bird with red black and white somewhere on its body, yes. But the pattern and colors aren't solidified like they are in actual Mille fleur breeds