Bird Color

[PeasChisGuis]

I raise quality birds and haven't had any new blood in my line for some time now. I raise blue/black/splash Ameraucana's and my line was started by reputable people. I was just wondering if it was normal to see light blue (on my roos) edged neck feathers, ticks of red/yellow here and there....not in all my birds, mostly my young roos (doesn't show up until they mature). I have only ever had pure bred Ameraucana roos and only hatch the blue eggs. I do have brown egg layers.
I will try to get some pictures of the roos in question.
Also, the blue roos have a kind of dirty blue/brown appearance (on their back) if you look closely, is this just sun bleaching?

Frustrated

 

[tadkerson]

Keep track of the females that produce males that have the colors you posted. Females will be solid black and produce males that are black with some non-black color. If you cross a black male with a black female and if some of the male offspring develop non-black it is the female that is causing the non-black.

Tim

 

[PeasChisGuis]

My black Roos are all black it is just my blue Roos.
My main roo is blue, the next in charge is also blue....I do have some black Roos that are on the bottom of the order...even the hens fight them. I know that's a lot of Roos but I have a lot of hens.
So, with what you said could it only come from the black birds? The Roo with the light blue lacing(neck feathers), will it be passed on, do I need to cull them?

The first picture is the rooster with the blue lacing on his neck feathers (sorry not a great size picture) and brown "wash" on his wing feathers.

The next three pictures are the other rooster that has a brown "wash" look. Is this just sun bleaching???? These guys were hatched last year and none of the girls b/bl/sp show any of these colors.

Neither of these two roosters are used for breeding and my main rooster is solid blue.

 

[tadkerson]

Females do not show non-black like males do. Blue chickens are genetically black. The females will not show red/brown/reddish because of the female hormones they produce. Males will show non-black because they do not have female hormones. I tried to explain this in my previous post. It makes not difference if the birds are blue or black.

Females will not express non-black or non-blue but can produce males that do show non-black or non-blue color. Use a male that is solid black or solid blue to mate to the females. Keep track of which female produced which chicks. Do not use a female for breeding that produces males that express a non-black or non-blue color.

The blue color in a chicken is due to microscopic cellular structures that contain the pigments found in a feather. Blue birds have round structures and fewer structures in certain parts of the feather than black birds. This is why the red is showing in some of your males- not enough structures to cover the red pigments.

Tim

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Females do not show non-black like males do. Blue chickens are genetically black. The females will not show red/brown/reddish because of the female hormones they produce. Males will show non-black because they do not have female hormones. I tried to explain this in my previous post. It makes not difference if the birds are blue or black.

Females will not express non-black or non-blue but can produce males that do show non-black or non-blue color. Use a male that is solid black or solid blue to mate to the females. Keep track of which female produced which chicks. Do not use a female for breeding that produces males that express a non-black or non-blue color.

The blue color in a chicken is due to microscopic cellular structures that contain the pigments found in a feather. Blue birds have round structures and fewer structures in certain parts of the feather than black birds. This is why the red is showing in some of your males- not enough structures to cover the red pigments.

Tim

Interesting!