Black, Blue and Splash (BBS) Marans discussion thread

[wife2abirdman]

Quote: Can I ask why you don't want to breed splash to blue, I know it is probably a preferance but just wondering.



Also I had asked about a month ago about my pullets but never put up any pics was wondering if you guys could all let me know what you think about my pullet. If she is still too young to judge when would be a good age-btw she is 7 mos old in these pics? Please if you think she's crap and I should sell her for pet quality let me know. She has not layed eggs yet so have no idea what color she will lay. I tried my best with the pictures but if you need more let me know

 

[Hens and Roos]

Can I ask why you don't want to breed splash to blue, I know it is probably a preferance but just wondering.



Also I had asked about a month ago about my pullets but never put up any pics was wondering if you guys could all let me know what you think about my pullet. If she is still too young to judge when would be a good age-btw she is 7 mos old in these pics? Please if you think she's crap and I should sell her for pet quality let me know. She has not layed eggs yet so have no idea what color she will lay. I tried my best with the pictures but if you need more let me know

Blue is a diluting gene so it lightens the color- if paired with a splash the offspring would become lighter and lighter in color. For birds that blue is the SOP color to show you are looking for a medium range of blue that you want the birds to be. The Splash could be paired with a Black and you will get all Blue offspring

I am not super good at pictures and hope someone can give you some feed back on her.

 

[wife2abirdman]

Blue is a diluting gene so it lightens the color- if paired with a splash the offspring would become lighter and lighter in color. For birds that blue is the SOP color to show you are looking for a medium range of blue that you want the birds to be. The Splash could be paired with a Black and you will get all Blue offspring

I am not super good at pictures and hope someone can give you some feed back on her.

Oh so if I have a hen that is too light and I breed back to a black will the off spring -if blue- be darker? Does that mean Splashes from a blue/splash cross are lighter as well?

 

[gilavina]

Oh so if I have a hen that is too light and I breed back to a black will the off spring -if blue- be darker? Does that mean Splashes from a blue/splash cross are lighter as well?

yes, mating a blue to a black will darken the color of blue. The splash don't necessarily follow the same rule of thumb tho because they have two blue gene copies.

 

[wife2abirdman]

Quote: Well thank you very much. I was wondering why or how you get varying shades of blue, now I know (this will help with my Cochins too

)

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Can you explain a little more about what you mean on the splash having 2 blue gene (I do know that part) I thought you could use a splash to lighten the blue is that correct? I know that if you cross a splash with a black you will get blues all over the place from light to dark. How does it differ if you breed splash and blue? I have a couple of splash and not really sure if I should keep them or not.

 

[gilavina]

Can you explain a little more about what you mean on the splash having 2 blue gene (I do know that part) I thought you could use a splash to lighten the blue is that correct? I know that if you cross a splash with a black you will get blues all over the place from light to dark. How does it differ if you breed splash and blue? I have a couple of splash and not really sure if I should keep them or not.

yeah, you can use splash to lighten blues, and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as the color doesn't go too light. If you breed splash to blue, you usually will get mostly chicks that are lighter blue than the blue parent, which may or may not be a good thing. I like to use splashes to control the tone of blue because I do use blacks in the breeding of blues. I just keep a separate pen for the blacks, and occasionally will outcross a black into them when I am wanting to maintain the nice edging on the feathers, and like the splash to keep the blues from getting too dark. Its all a balance game.

 

[wife2abirdman]

Also I had asked about a month ago about my pullets but never put up any pics was wondering if you guys could all let me know what you think about my pullet. If she is still too young to judge when would be a good age-btw she is 7 mos old in these pics? Please if you think she's crap and I should sell her for pet quality let me know. She has not layed eggs yet so have no idea what color she will lay. I tried my best with the pictures but if you need more let me know

Just want to ask if anyone has any opinions about her. I am going to sell the other pullet I have due to only a few small feathers on her feet. Would like to know if I should sell this one too?

 

[lmattke]

I had posted earlier about wondering if my chick was a roo or pullet at about 7-8 weeks of age. Her comb and wattles are small, and I am pretty sure that she does NOT look anything like a rooster. However, she still puzzles me with her vocalizations. She sure makes a noise like she is trying to crow. She is now 4 1/2 months old, so not really close to laying yet, so it is not an egg song. Here's a picture of her:

 

[DMRippy]

I had posted earlier about wondering if my chick was a roo or pullet at about 7-8 weeks of age. Her comb and wattles are small, and I am pretty sure that she does NOT look anything like a rooster. However, she still puzzles me with her vocalizations. She sure makes a noise like she is trying to crow. She is now 4 1/2 months old, so not really close to laying yet, so it is not an egg song. Here's a picture of her:

Pullet.