Newbie Breeding Questions

[MadGardener]

Howdy! I'm a new chicken nerd...well, a general all-around nerd who now keeps chickens.

I would like to work toward a self sustaining flock. But I'd like to select for dual purpose birds with somewhat camouflaged feathering and pretty eggs (blue, green, speckled).

I currently have 3 red sex link hens and 7 pullets I was told are Columbian Wyandottes. I'm unsure if they actually are since they are all single combed.

I do not plan to breed the sex links...something with the extreme breeding for meat or egg laying just doesn't seem right to me. I don't like the idea of breeding at the expense of an animal's health (like bracheocephalic dogs).

I would like to keep at least one or two of my "Wyandottes" for this project as one matured early and is a very large gal. Two consistently lay "pink" eggs with white speckles ❤

I will be ordering some chicks for the spring. Since I don't care much about pure breeds, I plan to have my future flock sire be an Easter Egger. I'd like to also add a few Easter Egger layers, Speckled Sussexes, and Welsummers.

So...questions:

• I'm planning to keep 2 of my older hens for social stability and possibly to help my future cockerel learn some manners. Am I on the right track here? One of the three is destined for the crockpot due to being a bully (can't resist crockpot jerk chicken here).
• I'd like more info on the genetics behind the "Columbian" pattern but I'm struggling finding anything. Will offspring possibly be base color white? Is there a barred or laced component that will be passed on?
• Can you differentiate dominate and recessive white before hatching offspring?
• How certain can I be that an Easter Egger male carries the blue egg mutation? Going Americauna is not out of the question, but solid colors may set me back farther from my goal. I'd prefer not to use a Legbar as I'm not a fan of crests. Muffs and beards are a-freakin-dorable.
• Am I on a good track with these 3 breeds? I'd like to see red/brown base with dark speckling, barring, or lacing eventually.

Chicken genetics seems to be a bit more complicated than other species I'm familiar with. Thank you in advance, BYC people have been such good people

 

[Amer]

Sounds like your “Wyandottes” are Columbian Rocks or light Sussex. Yellow or white legs? Rocks are partridge based with the silver and Columbian gene and yellow legs, Sussex are wheaten based with the silver and Columbian gene and green white legs. Columbian is responsible for the coloring though it behaves differently on different bases. It spreads gold all over the bird and restricts the black. The white is caused by the silver gene which cancels all the gold pigment from being produced which means white-no pigment.
You actually can breed the sexlinks. It wouldn’t be extreme breeding since they are a cross. Any of the offspring wouldn’t have the high production traits of their mothers, but they won’t look like their mothers.
Dominant vs recessive white… really depends. Some breeds have both but in some it has been determined whether it is dominant or recessive white, so it can be determined by breed. Most are recessive white. If the bird has white markings where it usually would have black that’s dominant white.
How certain can I be that an Easter Egger male carries the blue egg mutation? You can’t.
Ameraucanas… if you can find a blue/black/splash wheaten, silver, or buff male, you won’t have to worry about the extended black taking over the offspring but wheaten can be tricky to find and silver and buff can be very tricky to find.
If blue eggs, beards, and muffs are your thing, getting an Ameraucana male is probably your best bet.

 

[MadGardener]

Sounds like your “Wyandottes” are Columbian Rocks or light Sussex. Yellow or white legs?

Thank you!

My pullets have yellow legs and mostly yellow beaks. Most lay light brown eggs with a couple medium brown eggs.

You actually can breed the sexlinks.

I am hesitant here for a couple more reasons. The age of these hens is unknown. One is consistently laying soft shelled eggs (I believe it's the same gal that will be harvested, but it could be more than one hen). The red girls are much skinnier...not that they are undernourished, just their body composition. I'll be adding smaller birds that I'd like in order to get my pretty eggs anyhow. Maybe I'm anticipating size to be harder to select for than is realistic.

blue/black/splash wheaten, silver, or buff male, you won’t have to worry about the extended black taking over the offspring

Very good to know. I think this means I'll be getting a more expensive cockerel. I'm looking at Cackle Hatchery and these are all options.