Ameraucana blue x lavender.. why or why not?

[KhalSancho]

So.. I’ve been scouring and still can’t find a clear answer.. I’ve raised chooks before but this will be our first attempt at breeding and I want to get it right..

Why is it that you don’t want to breed blue to lavender? Does it weaken genes? Is it just because of the colour they produce (if so what is it)? What happens and why or why shouldn’t you do it? Asking because my Ameraucana Roo is blue and MY BEST structured hens are all lavender and I want to keep towards breeding for correct structure. But if blue x lav will be to my detriment, I’ll have to try n find a POL blue or black?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

It's just that they are different colors/genes. There is a lot of confusion when it comes to Lavender aka self blue. It's not Blue. I don't know much about breeding Lavender other than black is used to correct feather quality. My hope is you are going to create a blue flock. With that you must keep an eye on lacing, work to improve it. Consider the lavender hens as if they are black. The blue to (black) will beget blue and black chicks and darken the shade of blue.

I should edit to add all chicks will also be split for lavender which mean if you mate the F1 bird onto themselves next year half the birds will be lavender. I'd weed them out and stick with Blue, work on lacing. To avoid continual crossing of Lav and Blue for generations to come choose the K and few pullets with most lacing to move forward. Lav. does not have lace so you know it's Blue. Continue each year after with blue lace mated to blue lace, F3, F4 generations. The Lavender will be weeded out and you'll be improving SOP of Blue.

 

[KhalSancho]

It's just that they are different colors/genes. There is a lot of confusion when it comes to Lavender aka self blue. It's not Blue. I don't know much about breeding Lavender other than black is used to correct feather quality. My hope is you are going to create a blue flock. With that you must keep an eye on lacing, work to improve it. Consider the lavender hens as if they are black. The blue to (black) will beget blue and black chicks and darken the shade of blue.

So blue x lavender is ok to do?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The problem is split lav moving forward. I edited my first post to shed some light on that.

 

[KhalSancho]

It's just that they are different colors/genes. There is a lot of confusion when it comes to Lavender aka self blue. It's not Blue. I don't know much about breeding Lavender other than black is used to correct feather quality. My hope is you are going to create a blue flock. With that you must keep an eye on lacing, work to improve it. Consider the lavender hens as if they are black. The blue to (black) will beget blue and black chicks and darken the shade of blue.

I should edit to add all chicks will also be split for lavender which mean if you mate the F1 bird onto themselves next year half the birds will be lavender. I'd weed them out and stick with Blue, work on lacing. To avoid continual crossing of Lav and Blue for generations to come choose the K and few pullets with most lacing to move forward. Lav. does not have lace so you know it's Blue. Continue each year after with blue lace mated to blue lace, F3, F4 generations. The Lavender will be weeded out and you'll be improving SOP of Blue.

Yes, that is my goal.. I want a strong blue flock!

“To avoid continual crossing of Lav and Blue for generations to come choose the K and few pullets with most lacing to move forward”

what’s the K here?

awesome, glad to know I can breed Sax To either of my Lavender hens as they have the best structure!

also, had a poll on this but maybe you can chime in.. this is my cockerel Sax. Would you say he’s blue or splash? Most say blue but as he develops his base colour looks lavender and the blue is looking more patchy than uniform. If he is splash.. how will this effect moving forward towards a blue flock as far as breeding decisions? Again, thank you so much! I’m pretty new to breeding and I just want to try and produce the best quality blue birds I can! (I think the first pic with her in my hands is the one I had on the poll, which does look blue, but yeah the others are full body shots so a better understanding of his full coat

 

[keesmom]

Do you plan to breed the F1 offspring back to your blue male or breed them together? If you breed them together you can get black/blue/splash as well as blue/splash lavender. A bird can be both lavender and blue, and it can be tough to tell those apart from the ones that are just blue.

 

[KhalSancho]

Do you plan to breed the F1 offspring back to your blue male or breed them together? If you breed them together you can get black/blue/splash as well as blue/splash lavender. A bird can be both lavender and blue, and it can be tough to tell those apart from the ones that are just blue.

I don’t really know what I plan on as I’m LOST with genetics and trying to better understand.. but, maybe you can point me in the right direction? I’m trying to get a full blue flock. As saturated as possible.
So first off.. do you think Sax is Blue or Splash based on above pictures? And secondly based on that and where I sit now (best hens are all lavender) what route would you take?
And thanks heaps for chiming in! I can use all the help and info I can get!

 

[AusHen]

I work with Lavender Araucana, nothing worse than finding a blue. Same as blues, having lavender pop up from a blue black splash pen can be a real headache. If you do mix them and plan to sell eggs/birds please make is very clear to buyers that the colours have been mixed

 

[KhalSancho]

I work with Lavender Araucana, nothing worse than finding a blue. Same as blues, having lavender pop up from a blue black splash pen can be a real headache. If you do mix them and plan to sell eggs/birds please make is very clear to buyers that the colours have been mixed

So basically if I do blue to lav it’ll be harder for me to get where I want (blue flock) with my breeding program because the lave will be recessive split in the offspring? Does the same count for splash to lavender? From the pics above do you Think my cockerel is blue or splash? And if my goal is a blue flock.. if he is splash what should i breed him to or if he is blue what should I breed him to? Thanks heaps! You guys are great!

 

[NNYchick]

Do you have a book of poultry standards of perfection for your country? If you want to breed I highly recommend it. This will describe the visual difference that you look for in each color. Not only that but it will help you choose which birds meet breed type and help you wean out any defects or faults that would make the bird inferior for the breed.