we have more and more breeds that come in blue, black and splash, how is the color determined

[red egghead]

crossing black to black will get all black breeding splash to splash will get you all splash. I would like to see if anyone knows what colors to breed to get all blue? what cross gets all three colors in off spring? what colors get half black and half blue offspring? what colors to breed to get half blue and half splash. there is a true pattern to this, goes back to color rules for blue black splash chickens. Are these rules true. I say they are in most cases but not in unstabilized breeds. more likely in pure bred, inbred lines

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is one gene pair on the DNA that controls B/B/S. It doesn’t matter if the chickens are purebred or a backyard mix, breed means nothing at all in this context. It doesn’t matter if the parent chickens are different breeds. It doesn’t matter if the chickens are inbred or not.

The “blue” gene is a modifier of black. There has to be at least some feathers that would normally be black on the bird for the B/B/S gene to have anything to work with. If both genes at that gene pair are blue, you get a splash bird. If one is blue and one is not-blue, you get a blue bird. If neither gene is blue, you get a black bird. It does not matter which parent the gene come from, this is not a sex linked gene.

I’ll talk about percentages. These percentages are odds. If you hatch enough chicks for the odds to mean much, they work out pretty well. But in our typical hatches there are not enough chicks for the results to accurately reflect the odds. I often have hatches of about 20 chicks where the odds say I should have a 50-50 result but it’s often more like 75-25. 20 is not a statistically relevant number.

If both parents are pure for Splash, their offspring will inherit a blue gene from each parent and be splash. If both parents are Black, their offspring will inherit not-blue genes from both parents and be black. If you cross a Splash with a Black, you get all blue. Those are 100%, no worries about odds there.

If you cross a Splash with a Blue, about half will be splash and half will be blue. If you cross a Black with a Blue, about half will be black and half blue. If you cross a Blue with a Blue, about ¼ will be splash, ½ blue, and ¼ black.

If you want to see the math behind this, study Punnett Squares. It’s a graphic method that shows you what the odds are with any cross.

 

[keesmom]

Blue is an incomplete dominant gene, meaning it only takes one copy for the gene to express itself. It dilutes black only. A blue bird is essentially a black with one copy of blue. A splash bird has 2 copies of blue.

Breeding black to black will result in only black because the birds do not have the blue gene. Crossing splash to splash will always result in splash because each parent will contribute a blue gene to the offspring, giving them 2 copies. To get all blue offspring cross black and splash. If you want to get all 3 colors then breed blue to blue.

The rules for blue inheritance are as follows. These rules are valid for every chicken, not just certain breeds. The percentages are an average, but you can only get those colors.

black x black = 100% black

black x blue = 50% black, 50% blue

black x splash = 100% blue

blue x blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash

blue x splash = 50% blue, 50% splash

splash x splash = 100% splash

 

[donrae]

..

 

[red egghead]

brilliant, i couldn't have explained it better. usually when I tell someone that a splash crossed with a black will produce all blue offspring