Breeding for birchen.

[Chicksintheback]

I have a birchen old English bantam rooster, I’m wondering what I would need to cross him with to create just birchen chicks, or if it’s even possible.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have a birchen old English bantam rooster, I’m wondering what I would need to cross him with to create just birchen chicks, or if it’s even possible.

Birchen is a dominant color. What other colors do you have?

Can you share a picture of your Birchen OEGB?

 

[The Moonshiner]

If you want to create just birchen chicks you need to breed to birchen hens.

 

[Chicksintheback]

If you want to create just birchen chicks you need to breed to birchen hens.

That makes sense I just have not figured out color variation very well, I just know you can make certain types.

 

[Chicksintheback]

Birchen is a dominant color. What other colors do you have?

Can you share a picture of your Birchen OEGB?

I have a single bb red rooster, a pair of brassy back blue, a trio of silver duckwing, 2 ginger red hens, and a single birchen rooster. I’m just having trouble finding birchen hens. I can try to find a picture of him or take one tomorrow.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have a single bb red rooster, a pair of brassy back blue, a trio of silver duckwing, 2 ginger red hens, and a single birchen rooster. I’m just having trouble finding birchen hens. I can try to find a picture of him or take one tomorrow.

If you use your Birchen rooster over your Brassy Back Blues, or your Ginger Reds you can produce Birchen Splits.

If you use your Brassy Blues you could make both Blue, & the normal Black Copper colorations of Birchen.(Think you'd get there faster, with this route)

You'd just have to take the F1 daughters produced, & breed back to the father, & take the F2 back crosses, & breed forward, & of course cull any that show traits you don't want.

You'd need to breed away from the Wildtype, that the Brassy Back Blues have. So, that's culling any offspring that shows it.

 

[Chicksintheback]

If you use your Birchen rooster over your Brassy Back Blues, or your Ginger Reds you can produce Birchen Splits.

If you use your Brassy Blues you could make both Blue, & the normal Black Copper colorations of Birchen.(Think you'd get there faster, with this route)

You'd just have to take the F1 daughters produced, & breed back to the father, & take the F2 back crosses, & breed forward, & of course cull any that show traits you don't want.

You'd need to breed away from the Wildtype, that the Brassy Back Blues have. So, that's culling any offspring that shows it.

Thank you! I appreciate the information.

 

[The Moonshiner]

With what you have and if you don't mind taking a few generations you can cross then get back to birchen.
I disagree with the above poster on the route to take.
Those two would be my last choices. I'd go with the silver duckwing hens.
When you cross you'll have to go forward keeping the needed genes and eliminating the unwanted ones so best to keep it as simple as possible and to not bring in too many unwanted genes.
Birchen carry silver as does silver duckwing. No need to bring gold in to have to deal with. Idk brassy back but supposedly they have a recessive black (?) No need for that. Ginger red I believe have db (?) No need for that.
Birchen is birchen base and silver duckwing is duckwing base. Both silver and not a bunch of other things.
Birchen is dominate so it can hide duckwing so you should do test breeding at some point but that's the worse part.
Cross your rooster with the SD hens then cross the pullets produced back to the rooster. That would be the fastest but you could also cross the F1 pullets and cockerels.

 

[nicalandia]

With what you have and if you don't mind taking a few generations you can cross then get back to birchen.
I disagree with the above poster on the route to take.
Those two would be my last choices. I'd go with the silver duckwing hens.

I agree, forget about any other color, just use Silver as it's the closest you will get to Birchen. Heck all of the F1 progeny will be ER/e+ S/S will look Birchen.

 

[Chicksintheback]

With what you have and if you don't mind taking a few generations you can cross then get back to birchen.
I disagree with the above poster on the route to take.
Those two would be my last choices. I'd go with the silver duckwing hens.
When you cross you'll have to go forward keeping the needed genes and eliminating the unwanted ones so best to keep it as simple as possible and to not bring in too many unwanted genes.
Birchen carry silver as does silver duckwing. No need to bring gold in to have to deal with. Idk brassy back but supposedly they have a recessive black (?) No need for that. Ginger red I believe have db (?) No need for that.
Birchen is birchen base and silver duckwing is duckwing base. Both silver and not a bunch of other things.
Birchen is dominate so it can hide duckwing so you should do test breeding at some point but that's the worse part.
Cross your rooster with the SD hens then cross the pullets produced back to the rooster. That would be the fastest but you could also cross the F1 pullets and cockerels.

My original thoughts on the subject were using silver duckwing and black could create birchen, but I then read that black is dominant and so is birchen. I appreciate all of your advice, I’m going to remove the SD rooster and replace him with the birchen for a few months, and monitor results.