Breeding Blue chickens. { Update: Pictures are on page 2!!!!!}

[Kev]

NOW I have a question.. It's been a loong while since I hatched any splash chicks. I got some eggs from someone selling eggs from blue birds.. hatched 3 blues and one I assumed to be a splash, but now at slightly over week of age it's feathers have grown out solid, sparkling white. No hint of any color on it's down either come to think of it. I'm starting to wonder if it's a white instead of splash.

Is it possible for splash to feather out solid white at first?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I am pretty sure the splash chicks feather out white first. I recently bought seven Sumatra chicks; two black, three blue, and two splash. The black chicks are black and the blue chicks are blue and the splash are white right now. Which is interesting, because splash Sumatra roosters are a darker splash than other splash breeds.

I'm not guaranteeing that your's are not white(which I do not think can happen, the breeding ratios never mention white) but it would be quite some coinsidence that both or our splash chicks were white. Mine are only a few weeks old and have feathered out some in their wings and tails, all I have seen on the splash is white so far. I'm assuming it will darken with age and depending on sex(females are the typical white with random blue feathers).

The hen I would like to put my blue cockerel on is a Black Mottled. Just from what I can recall, I think most of her feathers have a green sheen. I have not seen any other colors on her(other than the white mottling). I will get a closer look at her tomorrow.

So, let me get this straight and make sure I understand. My hen needs to have those "helper" genes to ward off any off coloring in the offspring? Or was that in reference to the blue cockerel's breeding?

Was Birchen an indicator that the bird had the extra genes, or an indicator that it was lacking. Come to think of it, the breeder who gave me the cockerel mentioned that he was a little upset about Ideal's stock(where he got some of his Jersey Giant stock) because some of the birds had white feathers on their wings and brown coloring on their hackles(Birchen?). Would this explain the off coloring in my cockerel?

What about the two different shades of blue(on both his feathers and his legs)?

There isn't such a thing as a Blue Splash, is there? I have never heard such a thing mentioned before.

With the information you provided, it would be wise for me to just go get a better blue, right? LOL When I got this cockerel I had the choice between paying $20 for a beautiful show quality Blue Jersey Giant or to take this cockerel free from a friend. I didn't think there was actually variances in the color blue, so I opted for the free. I figured at the time that blue was just blue. I now wish I coughed up the money, I wouldn't be worrying about this now. LOL Learn from experience I guess.

I will definately try to post pictures tomorrow of the blue cockerel and see what everyone thinks.

-Kim

 

[speckledhen]

One factor with blues I wanted to mention is that they are very sensitive to sun damage in their color-brassiness and sun fading in the hackles and saddle feathers. If you want your blues to stay their beautiful, true colors, they cant be allowed in the sun. Suede has lots and lots of brassiness and fading now, but he is not shown, and I'd rather he was out in the sun and fresh air, so I don't sweat it much. If we could see a picture of this rooster, maybe you're seeing sun damage?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Thanks Speckledhen. No, it is not sun damage. He gets very limited time out in the sun just because I have too many roosters and not enough hens, and he is young so integrationg would be too dangerous yet. So for his safety he has to stay penned up. I was planning on swapping out the rooster for the cockerel yesterday when I noticed the coloring, so he went back into his pen until I can figure out whether I'll use him or not. (I currently have a Mottled rooster on the Mottled hen so I can get pure offspring for now.)

I too would rather the birds be in the sun, damaged or not. I dislike having to keep him penned up, but if I tried integration right now, he would be killed by an older rooster. I was going to let him free-range with the flock(no confinement at all) but I remembered Murphey's Law and realized that if any birds were preyed upon it would be the most valuable to me(the only Blue I have). LOL

Pictures will come later this afternoon, if they come today. I have some college assignments that have first priority today, final exams to be more precise. I will try to leave myself enough time to run over there and snap a few pictures.

Thanks again everyone,
-Kim

 

[Kev]

Thanks Wolf for your answer on the splash chick feathering. I just seem to remember the past splash chicks I had showed some blue in the down, just very diluted or even having a small bluish or black spot here or there and the feathers would grow out whitish with a bluish/greyish tint and often they would show a tiny speckle on a feather. So this chick feathering out solid sparkling white "doesn't seem right" to me.. if I didn't know better, would have assumed this chick was a white. I'll just wait and see.

It sounds like your cockerel is most likely going to have off color in hackles and saddles, if that was a problem in the breeder stock. Hatchery stock is not known for purity, either breed-wise or having birds with miscellaneous faults here and there.

It's very hard to tell if a black is E or Birchen base, often the only way to be sure is by deliberate outcrossing. Off color on the hackles just means the bird(on either base) are missing the extra genes that help clean the off color.

If the hen has no brown or white lacing on her hackles or upper breast, it could be that she has all of the "good genes" that help with making a solid black. But then again it's not uncommon for a hen impure or missing all the desired genes to appear solid black anyways- it's just not a 100% guarantee. Use her anyways, could be she's a good one. However do expect some off color hackles in the cross with the cockerel especially if he does show off color at maturity. You can eventually breed for solid blacks from this cross by being sure to no more off colored birds from that point on, it's not that easy though, some are going to show up here and there probably.

I admit I never heard of the off color being caused by sun damage. I've seen blue birds faded by the sun but they just faded- no brown.. I rather suspect these birds may have had off color to begin with, but were not obvious due to the darkness of the blue masking the slight off color?

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Okay. I snapped a few pictures really quick. Please note these are not the best pictures, the lighting was too bright to really be doing this. It was about 3:30 PM and the sun was shining brightly and the camera still flashed, so a lot of the pictures are brighter than they ought to be.

If I am being just plain silly, please let me know, because I would rather not have to go through the hassle of replacing him. Do not be afraid to tell me I’m over exaggerating. LOL I just want to be careful with my breeding project, you know? I would hate to set myself back later because I didn’t get the right cock to start with.

Thanks everyone,
-Kim

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Oh yeah, let me know if the links do not work or the pictures do not show up. I can work on that!

-Kim

 

[Wolf-Kim]

What do you think Kev, Speckledhen, anyone else? There is a sale near here on Saturday, so I can look out for a replacement if you think he is "off-colored" or a "low quality" blue.

-Kim

 

[speckledhen]

There isn't such a thing as a Blue Splash, is there? I have never heard such a thing mentioned before.

It's the same thing as splash. There is also a splash wheaten, so that is just where the splash originated from, either blue or wheaten birds, I understand. If you know what I'm trying to say. Jean in Washington (pips and peeps) just cleared that up for me about Blue Splash and splash being the same thing.

The picture looks like brassiness to me. I have read that blues are bad for that, not just fading. As I said, Suede has lots of it in his now from being in the sun all day long. It looks gold not brown, per se, however, I have had blue and black Ameraucanas get lots of gold in their hackles and saddles. It's their base color showing through, so they are not completely melanized. That means they are not the best for breeding, IMO. If that is what the problem is, and not just brassiness from the sun, then he will pass it on to his offspring. At least, that's what I've been told. Kev, I can't be of any help on your white chick, though, sorry!​

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Thanks Speckledhen. I will keep a look out for a better looking blue at the sale this weekend. Who knows I might find something much better for my need.

-Kim