Are some of my "blue" Cochin chicks actually black or splash?

Redhead Rae · Mar 2, 2018

First off, I know how the genetics B/B/S coloring works, so I don't need a lesson on that.

Blue gene dilutes black. Blue = one blue gene. Splash = two blue genes. The birds are all the same breed, just different coloring.

I ordered from Cackle. They sell blue, black, and splash Cochins separately.

I'm just wondering if (based on the wing feather coloring) if I can tell if my if my 2.5 week old "blue" chicks are actually "black" or "splash" or if it just normal color variation.

I don't really care if I got a mixture of B/B/S. I chose blue, so I can breed with my black (avatar) who is from a different source and eventually have 3 different colors and not have to have extra breeding pens.

Here are the two chicks that I think might be splash. They are much lighter than the other chicks and have greyish/white wing feathers coming in.

I'm also thinking that two more of the chicks might be black since the wing feathers are coming in so dark. Here are pics of one of them.

Here are pics of two of the middle of the road (in color) chicks for comparison. Oddly enough, it looks like their wings have faint barring.

Sagey_7878 · Mar 2, 2018

I think you have some blue and splash!

Folly's place · Mar 2, 2018

CUTE! They will be beautiful! Blue can vary in shade too, so see how their feathers come in, and maybe their second set of feathers will also change a bit.
Mary

Redhead Rae · Mar 2, 2018

Yeah, I've seen pictures of really dark blues, and some more steely-gray blues.

We'll have to see how they grow out.

I was just wondering if anyone knew enough about B/B/S LF Cochins to give me a more definitive answer sooner.

sylviethecochin · Mar 2, 2018

Yep, you definitely have blue and black and splash. Cackle says (in the small print) that you can expect to receive a percentage of each. I was sniffing around their cochins too. But I wanted blues only, so I passed on the unsexed bantam chicks.

Redhead Rae · Mar 2, 2018

sylviethecochin said:
Yep, you definitely have blue and black and splash. Cackle says (in the small print) that you can expect to receive a percentage of each. I was sniffing around their cochins too. But I wanted blues only, so I passed on the unsexed bantam chicks.

That's odd, they could guarantee their coloring just by selective breeding.
Blues = 1 Black and 1Splash parent
Splash = 2 Splash parents

Redhead Rae · Mar 2, 2018

sylviethecochin said:
Yep, you definitely have blue and black and splash. Cackle says (in the small print) that you can expect to receive a percentage of each. I was sniffing around their cochins too. But I wanted blues only, so I passed on the unsexed bantam chicks.

Is the the line you were talking about?

ABOUT BREEDING BLUE:

Breeding blues to blue do not produce all blue offspring, they produce roughly 34% blues, 33% dark blues/black and 33% splash.

That seems to me a warning to people breeding their blues to blues....... not that I should expect to receive those percentages.

sylviethecochin · Mar 3, 2018

Redhead Rae said:
Is the the line you were talking about?

That seems to me a warning to people breeding their blues to blues....... not that I should expect to receive those percentages.

No, that's not the line I was talking about. I just looked, and I can't find it anymore either. But it was along the lines of "sometimes we send a few black and splash with the blues." I thought, at the time, that it was because they couldn't tell their paler blues from their splash. (since their video of their breeding pen clearly shows mixed blue and splash.)

Redhead Rae · Mar 17, 2018

Well here is the answer. The chicks are now almost 5 weeks old. I just went out and got a representative of each color type I have.

I definitely have black. I think this one is a little cockerel.