ameracauna genetics question-wheaton, blue wheaton

[ladyfaeden]

I am fairly new to Ameracaunas. I have blue and splash Ameraucana eggs that should hatch this week. I would eventually like to go wheaton/blue wheaton with this line and wondered if someone could tell me the best way to go about it. I'm guessing I should use the blue and not the splash? If I breed a blue to a wheaton or blue wheaton what would be the result? Also would love a recommendation for someone with really nice birds with that coloring. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Blue (E/E B/bl+) + Wheaten (e^wh/e^wh) = Black (or blue) with Leakage (E/e^wh)
To breed wheatens from Blacks, cross a wheaten and a black, then cross the offspring with another wheaten, to give you 1/2 wheatens from this cross.
To breed Blue wheatens, cross a Splash bird with a wheaten bird, then cross the offspring with another wheaten, giving you 1/4 wheatens, and 1/4 blue wheatens from this cross. Hope this helps.

 

[pips&peeps]

It's easier to just get some hatching eggs or chicks from someone who already has wheatens and blue wheatens.

 

[ladyfaeden]

It's easier to just get some hatching eggs or chicks from someone who already has wheatens and blue wheatens.

My.eggs are silkie feathered Ameracaunas- and I want to develop then in the wheaton colors. Right now they only come in the blue and splash. I know this will be a long project but appreciate finding out the genetics. Any suggestions on breeders?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
You are wanting to develop silkie feathered blue wheaten and wheaten ameraucanas? Bringing in/keeping the silkie feathering will add some generations into the project.

 

[Illia]

Sonaran I believe the OP is using Silkie-feathered Ameraucanas, which, already exist w/out Silkie introduction.


The easiest way to do it is Blue fluffy Am x Wheaten Am, . . then F1 x F1. 25% will be pure Wheaten, 25% will be silkie-feathered. Choose the pure Wheaten, Silkie-feathered ones and go from there.

Best though to use F1's who are at least partially unrelated, for example, using a blue fluffy male over different females from different sources/strains. Then using F1 from one strain to F1 from another.

 

[ladyfaeden]

Thanks! That's very helpful. And yes they are not silkie crosses. The gene for silkie feathers has popped up in various types of chickens and other birds including owls. It popped up in some splash Ameracaunas a few years ago.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Sonaran I believe the OP is using Silkie-feathered Ameraucanas, which, already exist w/out Silkie introduction.


The easiest way to do it is Blue fluffy Am x Wheaten Am, . . then F1 x F1. 25% will be pure Wheaten, 25% will be silkie-feathered. Choose the pure Wheaten, Silkie-feathered ones and go from there.

Best though to use F1's who are at least partially unrelated, for example, using a blue fluffy male over different females from different sources/strains. Then using F1 from one strain to F1 from another.

No, I got that she was already using silkie feathered birds. (Although I was a bit amused about the idea of silkie feathered ameraucanas since most ameraucana breeders are huge purists

) My point was that breeding them to birds that do not carry silkie feathering will require more generations to get both the colouring AND the silkie feathering correct.

 

[ladyfaeden]

I was going to breed to a few lines of smooth coated ameraucana anyway because the silkie feathered need a wider gene pool. Bringing in a new color or two while I'm at it makes sense to me. Besides.I've got a picture in my head of what a blue wheaton silkie feathered ameraucana rooster would look like and I really would like to see it happen.

 

[AquaEyes]

Here's my advice (from someone without chickens but with a love of genetics):

Breed a Blue Fluffy roo to two unrelated Wheaten Smooth hens. The F1 will be 50% Blue (with leakage) split to Wheaten and Fluffy, and 50% Black (with leakage) split to Wheaten and Fluffy. Let's call the unrelated Wheaten hens "A" and "B."

Take a Blue offspring from the A line and breed it to a Black offspring from the B line (or vice versa). You'll have a 1/32 chance of getting a bird that is a Blue Wheaten Fluffy this way.

OR

Take a Blue offspring from the A line and breed it to a Blue offspring from the B line. You'll also have a 1/32 chance of getting a bird that is a Blue Wheaten Fluffy this way, but you'll also have a 1/64 chance of getting a Splash Wheaten Fluffy (though I don't know how to tell apart a Splash Wheaten from a Splash or Splash with leakage).

Either method will result in a majority of birds that don't have the combination of traits you want, so be prepared to "deal with" the rest (either by sending them to freezer camp, or offering them as cheap "Easter Eggers."). But once you have that first Blue Wheaten Fluffy, you won't need any of its ancestors or relatives anymore, and you won't need to repeat the breeding that got you there.

Now, start over again with your Blue Wheaten Fluffy, to introduce a wider set of genes (the Fluffy line is very inbred). Breed it to two unrelated Wheaten (or Blue Wheaten) birds (call them "C" and "D.") If your first Blue Wheaten Fluffy is a hen, you'll have to wait a few weeks between breedings to be sure she's "purified." Again, pair the half-siblings together, but this time, you'll have a 1/4 chance of getting some kind of Wheaten Fluffy (since both parents are Wheaten already). If you do Blue Wheaten split to Fluffy X Blue Wheaten split to Fluffy, that means 1/8 will be Blue Wheaten Fluffy. And this new generation will also have 75% of its genes coming from healthy unrelated lines.

To continue adding fresh blood to your Fluffy birds, never go back to your original Fluffy stock -- keep moving forward by using only the first Fluffy offspring from half-sibling X half-sibling crosses you get, and repeat the outcross for a few generations. By doing this, you will diminish the original inbred Fluffy-line genes (except for the desired actually Fluffy gene) by 50% every other generation, and begin seeing increased vigor in your Fluffy stock. And this is a good thing, since in a few years, I'll be wanting some!

ETA -- OK, I just realized I went overboard with details. Here's the simpler version:

Breed Blue Fluffy roo to unrelated Wheaten hens (A and B).

Keep one Blue roo from A and one Black hen from B (or vice versa) and breed together.

Most of the offspring won't be what you want, but keep hatching until you get a Blue Wheaten (or regular Wheaten) Fluffy. Once you get that, you can proceed.

Take this Blue (or regular) Wheaten Fluffy and breed it to two unrelated Blue (or regular) Wheaten lines (C and D).

All offspring will be Wheaten and Smooth but split to Fluffy. Whether they are Regular Wheaten, Blue Wheaten or Splash Wheaten will depend on what the parents were, but the point is that you're fully in Wheaten territory now.

Take offspring from C and breed it with offspring from D.

This next generation will again be 25% Fluffy, but also have four new lines of genes in it. Keep outcrossing this way and you'll be breeding healthier Fluffies. The thing is to breed half-sib splits X splits, getting only a few that have the traits you want, and culling the rest. Then repeat to new unrelated lines. Only once you have healthy birds in the Blue Wheaten Fluffy combination you desire should you consider breeding Fluffy X Fluffy.