Are All 5 Of These Chicks Blue Andalusian Roo's?

[Patchesnposies]

Last year I picked up some Blue Andalusian chicks at our feed store. They said they were straight run and since I got 12 I was sure there would be at least ONE rooster in the bunch. It turns out there was not. (Figures when you want one there wouldn't be any, LOL)

So I added four BA rooster's to an order I had already placed with McMurray and they arrived today. However, they are all different colors! There is only one that looks like the pullet chicks I picked up last year. They sent me an extra BA rooster, soI should have 5 little BA roo's.

These are the only babies in today's order that could possibly be the Blue Andalusian roosters. Are there that many variations within the breed?

Anyone out there who raises Blue Andalusian's that would care to comment?

This is what I remember my pullets looking like:

There were two of each of these colors, black w/yellow & yellow w/a bluish tint:

Here is a close-up of the largest yellowish baby:

I guess I am just surprised by the differences in their coloring.

 

[Whisper]

Blue on blue matings produce 25% black chicks and 25% splash chicks along with 50% blue chicks, if I recall correctly. Blue to black matings also produce blue chicks. It's Mendelian genetics, recessive genes and whatnot.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

They aren't all blue. I see some splash, I think, some black, and some blue. Blue is genetically weird, and not all of the chicks labeled 'Blue Andalusian', will be all blue. Whisper's got it down better than I do.

 

[Patchesnposies]

I think I have a vague understanding. Thanks, so much Whisper and Polish Princess. So what happens if I use a splash or black rooster with one of my blue hens? If I mate the blue roo with a blue hen then the percentages Whisper gave is what I should expect no matter the gender of chick, correct?

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Correct . The value of the splash and black is that splash X black = 100% blue .

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
These are the different combinations when breeding Blue, Black, and Splash (BBS) birds:

Blue x Blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash
Blue x Black = 50% black, 50% blue
Blue x Splash = 50% blue, 50% splash
Splash x Black = 100% blue
Black x Black 100% black
Splash x Splash = 100% splash

 

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
These are the different combinations when breeding Blue, Black, and Splash (BBS) birds:

Blue x Blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash
Blue x Black = 50% black, 50% blue
Blue x Splash = 50% blue, 50% splash
Splash x Black = 100% blue
Black x Black 100% black
Splash x Splash = 100% splash

Wow, thanks, you guys are awesome! I was just getting ready to ask SteveH what would happen if I crossed a blue hen with a black or splash roo and here comes Brad with all of the information. Fantastic!

This is fascinating stuff!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
These are the different combinations when breeding Blue, Black, and Splash (BBS) birds:

Blue x Blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash
Blue x Black = 50% black, 50% blue
Blue x Splash = 50% blue, 50% splash
Splash x Black = 100% blue
Black x Black 100% black
Splash x Splash = 100% splash

Wow, thanks, you guys are awesome! I was just getting ready to ask SteveH what would happen if I crossed a blue hen with a black or splash roo and here comes Brad with all of the information. Fantastic!

This is fascinating stuff!

No problem!

 

[bigblues]

if you want some really nice blues, order from WELP hat. i've raised blues for 30 + years and if breeding is a concern or desire, it is very hard to produce what you "want" with blues, because regardless of all the facts above, if you original stock is slightly off, your chicks will be as well. but remember the chick you purchased are still chickens, and all this "breed" stuff is better left to folks who think they care, enjoy them. as for pets, blues are not a great choice, they are "too Royal" to let a human play with them, they are poor settters, so without an incubator, get you a chochin hen, they will set on a rock..

feeding 200 + bues daily....

 

[Patchesnposies]

Quote:
BigBlues, I agree about them not being good pets! The grown hens we have already (raised from chicks) are some of the most "feral" chickens we own and ALL of our chickens are handled a lot from day one. The BA's just have a wild streak in them. Still, that in and of itself, makes me an admirer of the breed. I think you hit it on the head when you said they are Too Royal. They are an aristocratic breed.

Living here in the desert SW, one of our hens "fell in love" (don't shoot me for anthropomorphizing a bit) with a local Quail male, they would roost together every night (another example of their wildness-mine LOVE to try to roost in trees) and hang out together all day. Due to predation we had to stop free ranging our hens, and the little quail could never overcome his fear and refused to go into the coop at night.....instead he would roost on top of the coop and wait for her.....sadly he was eaten one night.

I dunno, there is just something about Blue's that I really love. I have serama's too, that are incredibly broody. I usually let one of them sit the eggs of non-setters.