breeding black to white

[hdowden]

what should the offspring be?

i would think either black or white depending on if the white was dominate or recessive.

i know someone who has black Cochin hens covered by a white Cochin rooster and is getting cuckoo (Dominique patterned), black, and looks like lavender (could be blue but i don't see the lacing that is associated with a blue bird). (these are standard although i don't think that's a factor lol)

on top of that my parents have a frizzle cochin that has covered a speckled oegb, a silver laced sebright, and a light braham. some of the chicks appear to be barred which one of them could be throwing the barred babies (the barred ones all have the white dot on the heads that you see on barred babies)? (all of these are bantams)

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

THere is no answer to black X white. You are mixing a somewhat known genotype with a mostly unknown genotype. White HIDES other genes present in the bird. Since the genes for white and black are not the same gene, no dominance is involved.

Every case of black X white could be different, depending on the individual birds involved.

 

[hdowden]

i know you need 2 copies of lavender to get lavender but how does the cuckoo pattern come along in a white to black breeding? do you need 2 copies of the barring gene as well to get that pattern?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

No, barring is incompletely dominant. It shows with only one copy. However, if a white bird carries it, you cannot see the barring because the entire feather lacks pigment, not just the white bars. Barring is common in dominant white birds, as are blue and silver; these genes help create a more completely white bird, which is somewhat difficult with only dominant white.

 

[hdowden]

so is it safe to say if barring from a white bird shows up in the breeding that there is a high possibility that it is a dominant white bird?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Not necessarily; there is no reason that a recessive white bird could not also carry barring. Personally I would rely more on the breed as to make a guess at recessive versus dominant white. Not to say that a bird cannot be both; they are separate, unrelated genes.