Blue Genetics???

[thepromise]

So I just recieved a pair of Black Old English Game Bantams. I have two Self Blue hens that I already own. If i breed them to the Black Rooster? will the chicks come out all black or will they split between blue, black and splash? Since the two hens are self blue will they produce blue and splash chicks or will the black gene be dominate? I was just wondering if i would get a mix or all black. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[DAFox]

Self blue is another name for lavender. If you have lavender mated to a black, they will be black - split to lavender. You need 2 lavender genes to express the color lavender.
On the other hand, if you have blue mated to black, you will expect 50% blue and 50% black. You will not get any splash.
Dale-Ann

 

[tadkerson]

Quote:
I agree with Dale-Ann. I would like to add if you want more lavender (self blue); back cross a male black offspring to the lavender hens. This will produce more lavender chicks-about half should be lavender. If you only hatch a few chicks, you may or may not get lavender. Hatch ten or more and you will get some lavender from the hatch.

You can get a lighter even blue color if you produce birds that carry lavender and blue. Cross a blue roo to lavender hens- select a blue rooster from the cross. Then back cross the blue rooster offspring to the lavender hens. The second cross should produce some birds that are both blue and lavender. I would hatch at least 12 birds and you should get what you want.

You cross blue to blue to get some splash; ratio should be 1 splash to 2 blue to 1 black.

Tim

 

[TurtleFeathers]

Quote:
So is this why some breeders cross lavender and blue? I'd heard of breeders doing it, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why! Thus far, I've kept the two colors separate, thinking that lavender would mess up blue and vice versa - I would consider mixing, but please tell me first, are the results really worth it?