Blue Genetics

[Mattlime]

I was planning on buying some blue cochins and regular americanas and cross them with the blue...I know that it is not a true breeding gene...normally you get a black, two splash and one white possibly...could anyone else tell me if I should breed my chickens to keep the blue going or just let them free breed instead of forced breeding? Just would like some other opinions. Thanks in advance...

 

[Bunnylady]

When breeding with blue, one copy of the blue gene gives you a blue. Two copies gives you a splash, and no copies yields black (or whatever color the full color version is). If you breed two blues together, you get blues, blacks and splashes. If you breed a blue to a full-color bird, the results will be roughly half dilutes (blues) and half full color (black).

It sounds to me like you are talking about mixed breed offspring in any case, so whether you want to try to keep the blue in the gene pool is entirely your call.

 

[Kev]

if you would rather let them breed freely, can make it easier by having all of the roosters blue or splash only.

be careful about selecting too many splashes in both sexes as splash bred to splash will only give splashes. no blacks or blues.

 

[tadkerson]

Why are you crossing cochin with ameraucana?

Tim

 

[Mattlime]

I am not crossing them together...I am getting black, white and blue cochins and then blue and regular Americanas...

 

[Bunnylady]

I am not crossing them together...I am getting black, white and blue cochins and then blue and regular Americanas...

Ok, that wasn't clear from your first post. Are you talking about white as in white, or do you mean splash? If you throw white into the mix, that's a whole different ball game.

Blue is a dilution of black. If you cross blue birds to another color, you can get birds that are dilutions of the other color, technically not blues. If you are trying to produce chickens that are the blue color, the best way is to stick to breeding only blue, black, and splash birds together.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chickens can have two different pigments in their plumage: black (eumelanin) and red (pheomelanin). Blue is a dilution of black, and regardless of whatever red pigment may be present, when blue is present it will dilute the black pigment, with minimal effect on the red pigment. As was said, blue is one copy of the gene, splash is two copies (essentially a double dilution effect) and zero copies of the gene give undiluted black.

 

[Mattlime]

Thanks for the help, but I did not order any blue chicks yet...I ordered 11 today from Ideal Poultry...I got buff oriph., barred rocks, and easter eggers...I can not wait to get them this December around the 5th...they apparently add more chicks to the orders to fill it up I hope that they only fill it to 15 cause I do not need a lot of roosters...only need two that is all...