Best Way to Get Wheaten Brahmas?

[Alia]

Actually if it's co-dominant, that significantly expands what I can do with it. I might decide I like the heterozygotes better and keep the partridge gene in my personal flock for variety.

If it can be recessive, I could get extremely lucky and pick an Easter Egger who is carrying it. (As far as I see, almost every Easter Egger is some form of partridge with different things modifying it.) If it exists in these mutt flocks of Easter Eggers (and I know it does) it could be the reason it doesn't show - it's actually acting as a recessive to the normal partridge. I can work with that. I've made good picks before. I happened to find a satin mouse in a bin of 100+ mice. I bought a male to breed with it and it happened to be carrying the recessive trait.

As far as silver or gold, I'm leaning towards silver at the moment, unless that turns out to be too light to really show the depth of the wheaten colouring. Yet I look at the Marans and think they're too ruddy. I got turned onto wheaten because I saw a wheaten Easter Egger in person, and oh my those are pretty. This is as close as I can find to a picture of what I saw:

http://www.critter-cages.com/index....ID=891&zenid=b53412a94d1965d9b8d55e2e9b06d2ab

It has plenty of warmth to it, but it's not ruddy. (I'm avoiding using the word red, because the red gene just turns wheaten chickens to salmon chickens... I think.) This chicken is probably a silver wheaten. I drool when I imagine this plumage on a big, fluffy Brahma.

I'm trying to work within this:


Week of April 4th
Chicks Arriving at Kiowa Country Corner:
Araucana/Ameraucana Pullets (Easter Egg Ckn)
Black Australorp Pullets
Barred Plymouth Rock Pullets
Buff Orphington Pullets sold out
Black Sex Link Pullets
Dark Brahma Pullets
Golden Lace Wyandotte Pullets
Partridge Rock Pullets
Production Red Pullets
Speckled Sussex Pullets
Cuckoo Maran Pullets
Crevecoeurs Pullets
Buff Minorca Pullets
White Crested Black Polish Pullets
Silver Polish Pullets

...to get the Dark Brahmas. I have plenty of options that are carrying wheaten from there. Even though it might make it harder to breed for it if it can act as a recessive, I can definitely take home a copy of the wheaten gene. Ideally I'd like to pick out a wheaten Easter Egger but the wheaten babies just look white. If it's really acting as a recessive, that's a bonus! I would then achieve not only a homozygous wheaten just by picking a wheaten, I'd also get the blue eggs at the same time, which I would very much love to have if I can. What I probably should do is look to see if they have a nice little white Easter Egger with buffy feathers budding off its wings, and if they don't, just get all Brahmas and buy a wheaten Maran later. I have absolutely no (intentional) experience breeding for egg colour so I'll get some either way, whether I cross in a Maran or an Easter Egger. Right now I'm leaning toward Easter Egger for the ease of obtaining, egg colour, green legs (yes I know they won't be standard but I just love green legs!), the pea comb is already there, and it's a breed I've had good experiences with before - friendly and intelligent. And I kind of want the grab bag factor.

I am also thinking of getting a Wyandotte just so I can take home a copy of the melanistic gene. I know I'm just getting sidetracked and I have no idea what I'd use it for except to mess up my project. Those laced Brahmas are pretty too. With that gene, I could even make quail or double-laced Brahmas.

Sigh. This is just how I am. After looking at pictures I'm now convinced I want wheaten Brahmas, Extended-black-leaking-colour Brahmas, Laced Brahmas, maybe even Quail Brahmas, and if I can snag something silver duckwing without the lacing, that too. My priority is still wheaten though. I can do it, it'll just take me a while and a partitioned coop where males stay in their partitions and females get to free range together, then get visitations with the males. And if I'm not collecting incubator eggs, they can all be together. (Anyone know how long I have to wait to flush out sperm from unintended matings? I thought five days to a week but some people say it's a lot more.)

And yes I'm aware they're all pullets, but if there's one thing I CAN do, it's to take a cockerel home out of a "pullet" bin. I get to have 10 total, and there will probably be one (at least).

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
I Really like the way Salmon Faverolle pullets look, they are based on silver but that has been enhanced by Red(mahogany/and or autosomal Red) here is a pic of a "Splash" Salmon Faverolle pullet, mated to normal Faverolles would produce all blue wheaten which is also very nice and the contrast between them and blue golden duckwing males would look very nice peach salmon which can be achieved by selecting pinkish looking salmon hens(Mahogany can help) like the salmon faverolle bellow, the thing is that with silky feathers this is alot nicer..

 

[Alia]

That really is pretty too. I could probably have both silver wheatens and salmons by having a mixed flock where the red gene is present in some of them. This would be another reason to use the Black Sex Link pullet, since she carries a copy of it from her Rhode Island Red father.

At this point I think I should get five Brahmas and just reach randomly into the bin five more times and get whatever happens to be near my hand. Breed for Brahma type and let the colours flow lol. Then again the salmon flavour roll (anyone else think of this every time they see that chicken?) might be a good pick to use in and of itself if I can get one.

The blue is a REALLY good idea. I'm going to try to see if I can snag an Easter Egger carrying it at the very least. It really makes the males of wheatens and salmons look nice, whereas otherwise the wheatens pretty much look wild-type. Blue wheaten males have this lovely rising-from-the-ashes thing going on.

 

[tao chick]

Considering a project like this so I'm subscribing for reference.