How does "blue" work?

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In the Brooder
8 Years
Feb 8, 2011
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You breed black to splash and get approximately 50% blue. So say you have dark blues and light blues...what do you breed the light blues to in order to darken the color? Black? Dark blue? Don't breed them at all and stick to only breeding your dark blues? Anyone have pics they can share of excellent blue coloring (for show ring)? Is it more important to have consistency of color throughout the bird, or the darker of blue the better? Thanks in advance for your time.
 
Black x splash = 100% blue

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

From what I've read the blues from the black x splash mating are random blues from light to dark. Breeding the 'correct' blues to each other is supposed to increase the chance of them producing that blue but over several generations they will get paler. I'll be starting to breed blues myself in a few months when my birds are old enough. I believe there is always a high number of incorrectly colored blues when aiming for show quality.

I'd say it's more important to have consistent color throughout the bird. Can't help with pics of show quality as all my blues are pretty mutts.
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There are lots of threads discussing the breeding of BBS birds so a search should bring you up heaps of info.
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Oops, I had that color ratio backwards. I've got some gorgeous blue Wyandottes and one is uniformly colored but pale blue. One is darker blue but has a handful of almost black feathers across it's back. The rest are a gorgeous dark blue and very uniform. So I'm looking at my pale blue pullet and wondering if crossing her on a black roo would darken that color in her chicks. I'm off to find the blue thread, thanks so much for you answer.
 
I have the same questions about selecting good color breeding stock. The threads I found tended to have lots of pictures (LOTS) with very little expert evaluation. Could someone with some really nice blues AND show experience please share their expertise
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? I have quite a bunch of little blues and splash chicks that I am starting to sort out.
 
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I get it all mixed up too so wrote it down
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Blue X blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash
Blue X splash = 50% blue, 50% splash
Black X blue =50% black, 50% blue
Black X splash = 100% blue
Splash X splash = 100% splash

Some have mentioned that breeding splashes leads to lighter colors. Does breeding back to black lead to a darker blue? What shade (s) of blue are ideal? Are darker splashes more desirable, or should splash be considered a byproduct? would you get better blues from a black blue cross than from a splash black cross?

Thanks to any who can shed some experienced light on this
 
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You get more "color enhancers" when you bred blue to black or splash to black. In my flock I have found that breeding blue to blue results in lots of varying shades of washed out blue.
 
Most judges, from what I have learned/been told, prefer a uniform lighter blue color laced with darker blue throughout the entire birds plumage.

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I feel my Orpington Alice is a good example of this. She has darker hackles that are also laced. Most importantly I feel is that you want an even color throughout the birds feathers.

ETA: Like everything else, the shade of blue is a personal preference. You may love a certain color and a judge may like something else.
 
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Thanks for the picture, Jeremy. So it's more about an evenly colored bird with darker lacing? I've been online quite a bit today looking at different blues and it's amazing how hard it is to find what blue to breed for that is correct. My next step is to contact two or three poultry judges. It will be interesting to see if their preferences are the same.
 

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