Black, Lavender, Cuckoo and Chocolate Orpingtons

wheezy50

Songster
8 Years
Mar 12, 2013
295
163
166
Morgan Co.
I'm still trying to figure out some of these color genetics calculators but i'm hoping for some help here too. I have a flock of chocolate and choc cuckoo orpingtons. The choc rooster i have right now doesn't have the best body type/shape etc. He just looks scrawny and not large and regal like an orpington rooster should look. I do however have an extra black (split to lavender) rooster that i'd like to swap into that pen. He's very big, plump and docile, huge English type body.

So, what color chicks would i get from a black rooster over chocolate and chocolate cuckoo hens??

Thanks in advance!
 
I believe that Orpingtons are Sex-linked chocolate as opposed to dun, with that in mind, from the black cockerel to chocolate hen pairing you would get 100% black pullets and 100% black split to chocolate males, carrying chocolate sight unseen. Around half of these birds would also carry lavender, again hidden.

From the black cockerel to chocolate cuckoo hen pairing you would get 100% black pullets and 100% black single barred cockerels, again carrying chocolate unseen, and 50% carrying lavender unseen.

You could then try to back-cross the single barred males to the chocolate cuckoo hens to try for double-barred males, or you could back-cross the black split males to chocolate hens for some chocolate birds, but I wouldn't recommend this cross in general as it would introduce Lavender into your line of Chocolates. Unless you are working toward Mauve, Lavender shouldn't be introduced as recessive genes are very difficult to eliminate from a line.
 
I believe that Orpingtons are Sex-linked chocolate as opposed to dun, with that in mind, from the black cockerel to chocolate hen pairing you would get 100% black pullets and 100% black split to chocolate males, carrying chocolate sight unseen. Around half of these birds would also carry lavender, again hidden.

From the black cockerel to chocolate cuckoo hen pairing you would get 100% black pullets and 100% black single barred cockerels, again carrying chocolate unseen, and 50% carrying lavender unseen.

You could then try to back-cross the single barred males to the chocolate cuckoo hens to try for double-barred males, or you could back-cross the black split males to chocolate hens for some chocolate birds, but I wouldn't recommend this cross in general as it would introduce Lavender into your line of Chocolates. Unless you are working toward Mauve, Lavender shouldn't be introduced as recessive genes are very difficult to eliminate from a line.

Thank you for the info! I will probably change my plans and not mix the black roo with these choc/choc cuckoo hens. I will start looking for a better quality choc or choc cuckoo rooster instead.

Side question,
What colors are typically mixed to come up with the mauve orpingtons? I considered starting another pen if I already have the right combination of birds to breed a mauve line.
 
Mauve is a combination of Lavender and Chocolate. It requires two copies of each to express in Males, and two copies Lav, one Choc in females (choc is a sex-linked gene, like barring)

ETA: It appears I have got my colours mixed up; Mauve is a combination of BLUE and Chocolate, not Lavender and chocolate. My apologies.

After some research, it appears that Lavender is dominant to chocolate, and you would not be able to perceive it in the offspring.
 
Last edited:
Mauve is a combination of Lavender and Chocolate. It requires two copies of each to express in Males, and two copies Lav, one Choc in females (choc is a sex-linked gene, like barring)

I was under the impression that mauve comes from Andalusian blue and Chocolate.
 
BBS-Choc-Lav-White chart.jpg
 

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