BBS Orpington

[Crazy_Beautiful]

A genetic question

I’d like to breed BBS Orpingtons can I accomplish this with a Lavender Roo and he’d act as the black?

Or what other combination can I do with him?
I like my roo.

Currently with him I have 3 black Orpingtons but 2 of them look to have some white specks on them.
4 Lavenders but they have terrible feathers… so may rehome those ones.
And 1 buff as I do like the look of a lavender crossed with a buff.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

And I’ve spent months trying to find black Orpingtons to no avail. Everyone around me seems to do mixed flocks. And both hatcheries near me only sell Buff or Lavender Orpingtons

 

[The Moonshiner]

You can use your lavender as black but it's not the best plan. Most people don't want to get lavender and their BBS lines and a lot of people won't buy chicks from a BBS line that have Lavender in them.
Lavender is recessive so one copy can go side unseen from generation to generation it's hard to get rid of once it's in. And then once it starts popping up in a BBS line lavender and splash get real confusing.
But besides all that you can't breed BBS without having a blue or splash. You've only mentioned black so I don't know if you have blue or Splash or can get those and just aren't mentioning in them. But if you can then you don't need black anyways.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

So Lavenders are really only good as Lavenders? I really do like my Roo he’s like a dog lol. Just so friendly and protective of his girls.
Breed black lavender spilts? To try and improve feather quality?
Could I show the blacks in the county fair?
Not looking to breed for any other reason then I enjoy it. But want to breed something people actually want.

 

[NatJ]

And I’ve spent months trying to find black Orpingtons to no avail. Everyone around me seems to do mixed flocks.

Do they have black/blue/splash? A black from such a flock would work.

Or get two blues, breed them, and 1/4 of the chicks should be black.

So Lavenders are really only good as Lavenders? I really do like my Roo he’s like a dog lol. Just so friendly and protective of his girls.
Breed black lavender spilts? To try and improve feather quality?
Could I show the blacks in the county fair?

Most chicken shows care how the bird looks, not what genes it may carry. So showing a black (with lavender ancestry) should not be a problem. If the chicken is black, it is black, and that's all there is to it.

(But if someone wants to buy a black chicken like that, do tell them about the lavender in its ancestry, because that will matter if they intend to breed with it.)

 

[Janet Brad]

So Lavenders are really only good as Lavenders? I really do like my Roo he’s like a dog lol. Just so friendly and protective of his girls.
Breed black lavender spilts? To try and improve feather quality?
Could I show the blacks in the county fair?
Not looking to breed for any other reason then I enjoy it. But want to breed something people actually want.

Hi, would you call this 4 month old a Black-Lavender split or a blue? I have to reduce my rooster numbers and he's a bit hard on the girls. Not sure I'll keep him.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

Hi, would you call this 4 month old a Black-Lavender split or a blue? I have to reduce my rooster numbers and he's a bit hard on the girls. Not sure I'll keep him.

I’d say he’s a blue.

 

[NatJ]

Hi, would you call this 4 month old a Black-Lavender split or a blue? I have to reduce my rooster numbers and he's a bit hard on the girls. Not sure I'll keep him.

A black-lavender split would look exactly like a black chicken.

Your rooster looks blue.

It is possible for a blue chicken to also carry the lavender gene, but a blue chicken who carries lavender would look exactly the same as a blue chicken who does not carry lavender-- so there is no way to tell by looking at him.