What caused this? Could my hen become a fertile rooster?

[Spongegirl]

Lavender birds are not always black based. Lavender birds can be made with any color as the base.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Actually, solid Lavender like the original poster's bird would have a black base. Lavender is a color dilution and if it's applied over anything, it makes that color paler. The best example I can think of is Mille Fleur and Porcelain d'Uccles. The only difference between these two colors, genetically, is that Porcelain d'Uccles have two copies of lavender:

Not my pictures, pulled off of Google.


As you can see, the porcelain (in the second picture), even though it carries Lavender, is not solid lavender, but the parts on it that would have been black without that gene are lavender colored. That's because the lavender gene makes black into lavender, but it does not make any other color into lavender; it simply dilutes that color to a paler color.

 

[keesmom]

Actually, solid Lavender like the original poster's bird would have a black base. Lavender is a color dilution and if it's applied over anything, it makes that color paler.

I agree the OP's lavender is black based. However lavender is a diluter of red and black only. It changes red to a buff color, and buff into a straw color. It changes black to a pale grey. It has no effect on blue, white, etc.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yes, good point. Since blue (and chocolate and dun) affect black as well, lavender doesn't really touch them, but instead overrides them, right? (As in, if lavender is present, those others won't show up as a result, correct?) And white can't get any more diluted (as well as silver, it basically appearing white), so Lavender doesn't do anything to them, either. Always learning--thanks for pointing that out!

 

[keesmom]

Yes, good point. Since blue (and chocolate and dun) affect black as well, lavender doesn't really touch them, but instead overrides them, right? (As in, if lavender is present, those others won't show up as a result, correct?)

One diluter does not override another, and lavender will not prevent another diluter from showing. For example a bird can be both lavender and blue, or lavender and splash. It can be difficult to tell the difference between those birds and ones that are just blue, splash or lavender. That is why breeders try to keep all those colors separate.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, gotcha! I had heard not to mix lavender and blue, but I assumed it was because of lavender being recessive so you don't know when it will show back up in a line. Never thought of the colors combining. Thanks for taking the time to explain!

 

[schatze]

This chick hatched out of a blue egg. Only my ameraucanas lay blue eggs, and this was the only egg anyone had been incubating. The one thing I know for certain is that the mother is an ameraucana.