Blue and lavender chickens

[substandardtim]

Am I the only one that thinks "blue" is just an example of someone not wanting to call a breed "gray"?

It's the same thing with lavender. I've got buff orpingtons and I've seen plenty of pictures of blue or lavender orpingtons, and they all just look gray to me. But not just with them, the same thing happens with other species of animals as well.

 

[speckledhen]

When my blue Orp rooster was about a year old, he was very definitely blue. He's aged and molted a couple of times and is brassy in the hackles and a little faded, but he most certainly was blue rather than gray. Check out these threads:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=18604
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=115376

 

[substandardtim]

I'm sorry they all just look gray to me. Not that I think there is anything wrong with being gray but I think calling something blue when it's gray is somehow discriminating against gray.

 

[hinkjc]

Blue is definitely blue if seen in person. Lavender is a more gray color and sometimes called pearl gray by enthusiasts. Just depends who your talking to. Lav is also called self blue, however I don't think that description fits well. They should be self gray based on what they look like. lol

 

[dun chick]

If you ever saw a blue andulusian you would definitely see blue.

 

[Krys109uk]

It's subjective. How can one define blue? The bold lines on this page. I expect we'd all call that blue. How about the lighter background colour? Is that light blue or blueish grey? And even more mind bending how can one person be certain that the colour they are seeing is exactly the same as the colour someone else is seeing? We cannot use someone else's brain to interpret.

 

[Henk69]

Well I haven't seen silver, gold, red either...

And partridge does not look like that species.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:

Think about the names of some pigeon breeds: owls, swallows...

I have seen dark blues that were very distinctly navy blue. And I have seen lavenders that truly look like a pale lavender, not grey. I will agree that not all blue or lavender birds seem to carry that tone, but many do.

Think about all the argument as to whether an egg is blue or green. To me, even the bluest egg has some green to its hue.

Colour is a very graduated array of hues, with graduated tints and shades for each hue. Unless we are using an instrument to measure wavelength, I think it is very subjective where what we call one colour becomes a different colour.

 

[speckledhen]

And individuals see color differently anyway. Some are close to color-blind, some are color blind (but those rarely join into any discussion about color anyway, LOL), and I think men and women see color differently, too. Still, there are blue chickens, not just grayish-colored.

 

[substandardtim]

I'll have to take all of your word for it, having only seen pictures of "blue" chickens myself.

I guess to me it sort of feels like the same thing with horses. No one says that they've got a brown horse. Instead they call it bay.