Black genetics

[QuoVadis]

I have a questions about black genetics. Obviously it is one of the most dominant genetics factors in chickens, but is it accurate that in a heterogeneous state instead of homogeneous a black chicken bred to a non-black chicken (say gold duckwing) would produce only half black chicks? I ask because I have a black Serama rooster I am considering using to breed. I think he may be slightly better quality than my other one (silver laced) but I don't like black as a color as much and I am hoping to get colors other than black if I breed him to my colored hens. Besides that I think he may be slightly better quality, I really probably have to keep him rather than other one because his crow is much softer. I can really only have one rooster and I specifically got Seremas hoping to find a softer crowing rooster that I can keep without annoying my neighbors.

This black rooster shows some silver leakage on his hackle and back, does this indicate he is carrying silver that is "covered up" by one copy of the more dominant black gene? Or is leakage a separate gene that doesn't tell me anything regarding whether his black is homogeneous or heterogeneous?

Thanks!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Theoretically you would get all black chicks. You can breed one of the male chicks back to the gold duckwing and get some black and some colored chicks, but I think that pairing is generally not recommended.

Black birds still have to have a "base" color (silver, gold, buff, red, lemon), so your's is probably silver.

The silver laced over gold duckwing should give you sex linked coloring in the chicks (gold for males, silver for females). Technically, so will the babies of the black male, genetically, but phenotype will be solid black so it won't matter.

 

[WillGriffin03]

Theoretically you would get all black chicks. You can breed one of the male chicks back to the gold duckwing and get some black and some colored chicks, but I think that pairing is generally not recommended.

Black birds still have to have a "base" color (silver, gold, buff, red, lemon), so your's is probably silver.

The silver laced over gold duckwing should give you sex linked coloring in the chicks (gold for males, silver for females). Technically, so will the babies of the black male, genetically, but phenotype will be solid black so it won't matter.

X2

 

[nicalandia]

This black rooster shows some silver leakage on his hackle and back, does this indicate he is carrying silver that is "covered up" by one copy of the more dominant black gene? Or is leakage a separate gene that doesn't tell me anything regarding whether his black is homogeneous or heterogeneous?

Thanks!

Leaky blacks are most likely heterozygous extended black(E) at the e locus, not all first generation heterozygous entendend black birds show leakage, but second generation do(the result of heterozygous black crossed to none black)

Leaky Sumatra


Leak Game rooster(undermelanized)

 

[The Moonshiner]

Im going to disagree with the first couple responses. I believe you can get colored chicks.
Of course if he is heterozygous and carries something besides extended black and is bred then he will pass the extended black to some chicks and the other gene to other chicks.
Of course since his genes are unknown the outcome will be unknown.
About the silver leakage. It could be caused by being heterozygous black and not being able to cover all the other genes. Could be caused by other things too though. Maybe he is birchen or carries birchen and extended black. Going to be hard to know without a lot of test breeding to hens with known genes.
Another note about silver. He does sound like he carries silver and it is common for some blacks to be silver based. Black covers silver better then gold. All chickens are either silver or gold based or males can carry both. Forget all the buff, red, lemon etc etc. All those colors are still based on gold or silver.
It is true silver and gold are sex linked and a silver rooster over a gold hen will give you silver pullets but the cockerels will not be gold. They will carry one copy or silver and one copy of gold. Silver is also dominate over gold although ive never bred a chick that carried both but looked completely silver. Mine have always looked silver with a gold hue of some degree to them.

 

[nicalandia]

Im going to disagree with the first couple responses. I believe you can get colored chicks.

I never said anything that should contradict this, infact I said that he maybe Heterozygous as such there should be 50% chance he will pass his Extended Black allele gene, making the other 50% chances of colored or patterned chicks, but that will all depend on the amount of chicks hatch, the more hatching chicks the closer to 50/50 it gets but if it's only 10 eggs he may get from one black chick to none or to all, it's called the laws of large numbers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers

 

[The Moonshiner]

I never said anything that should contradict this, infact I said that he maybe Heterozygous as such there should be 50% chance he will pass his Extended Black allele gene, making the other 50% chances of colored or patterned chicks, but that will all depend on the amount of chicks hatch, the more hatching chicks the closer to 50/50 it gets but if it's only 10 eggs he may get from one black chick to none or to all, it's called the laws of large numbers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers

I meant the two posts before yours.
Your post was spot on.