Ameraucana Cross

[troy007ramz]

I have brown red Ameraucana hens and recently purchased a Lavender roo. Will potential chicks be a mix of the 2 colors or will I have some lavender and some brown red? I don't know enough about their genetics to predict and haven't done this before. Anyone know?

 

[QueenMisha]

Lavender is a recessive gene which dilutes black; think of Lavender birds as black with a coat of paint over the top. Because it's recessive, it won't show if a Lav bird is bred with a non-Lav bird, but the black will, since black is dominant to nearly everything. Red tends to bleed through a bit, so I'd say you'll get offspring that are mostly black, potentially with red bleed through in the saddles, wing bows, and hackles of males. However, the offspring should all carry a recessive Lav gene; if these birds are bred back to a Lavender, some of the offspring (I believe around 75%, someone correct me if I'm wrong) should be Lavender, probably with some straw color in the saddle and hackle since any remaining red bleed through will be diluted to a straw color.