Calico cochins

[Countrygirl92]

Ok guys if I want to get blue calico what other color would I need would it be blue mottled and a calico??

 

[The Moonshiner]

Blue calico are wheaten (can substitute partridge or wild type) Columbian, mahogany, dilute, mottling, one copy of blue and gold.
You can use any two birds that between them carry those genes.
Of course calico is only missing blue so yes that would be a wise choice to use. Blue mottled would also be good to use but a splash mottled would be better and you could use solid blue or splash.
Nothing is gonna work in the first generation offspring.
Splash is better then blue because it will produce 100% chicks that carry blue. Using a blue will produce 50%.
Using a mottled is a time saver because mottling needs two copies to show and using a mottled will give mottling to all chicks in the first generation otherwise you won't get the mottling back until the second generation.
Problem with your suggested cross is that you will only get one copy of Columbian, mahogany and dilute. So you'll have to get chicks in the second generation that gets back two copies of each of those genes. Your cross will bring in extended black so not only will you need a chick with two copies of the other genes you'll need it to not inherit a copy of extended black.
Then on top of all that you'll have to know whether the blue bird is silver or gold based. If gold it's all good. If it is silver based you'll have to breed out the silver and breed in the gold. Those genes are sex linked so you'll have to take that into consideration.
And I think thats about it.
Hatch a ton and you could get lucky with your second generation offspring.
It would be the wisest choice to breed your blue first generation back to calicos.

 

[Countrygirl92]

Blue calico are wheaten (can substitute partridge or wild type) Columbian, mahogany, dilute, mottling, one copy of blue and gold.
You can use any two birds that between them carry those genes.
Of course calico is only missing blue so yes that would be a wise choice to use. Blue mottled would also be good to use but a splash mottled would be better and you could use solid blue or splash.
Nothing is gonna work in the first generation offspring.
Splash is better then blue because it will produce 100% chicks that carry blue. Using a blue will produce 50%.
Using a mottled is a time saver because mottling needs two copies to show and using a mottled will give mottling to all chicks in the first generation otherwise you won't get the mottling back until the second generation.
Problem with your suggested cross is that you will only get one copy of Columbian, mahogany and dilute. So you'll have to get chicks in the second generation that gets back two copies of each of those genes. Your cross will bring in extended black so not only will you need a chick with two copies of the other genes you'll need it to not inherit a copy of extended black.
Then on top of all that you'll have to know whether the blue bird is silver or gold based. If gold it's all good. If it is silver based you'll have to breed out the silver and breed in the gold. Those genes are sex linked so you'll have to take that into consideration.
And I think thats about it.
Hatch a ton and you could get lucky with your second generation offspring.
It would be the wisest choice to breed your blue first generation back to calicos.

Wow Thank you so much that helps! So let me see if I got this right if I use a blue mottled hen and a calico roo I will get 50/50? Possibly in the second generation?

 

[The Moonshiner]

No not that easy.
You will be covered getting blue in the first generation. The second generation will be 50% of being blue
But you will need to get chicks in the second generation that inherit two copies of Columbian, mahogany and dilute. And do not inherit extended black.
If you breed a blue first generation back to a calico you'll have a 50% chance of getting the right combination of each of those 4 genes. So you need a chick that hits the right side of that 50% for all 4 of those genes. That may not be so easy. It's impossible to know how lucky you get.
And if that blue mottled is silver based instead of gold thats another set of genes to get right.
That's why I say hatch a ton. You could hit the jackpot with 20 chicks or you could hatch over a 100 and not get the right combo.

 

[Countrygirl92]

No not that easy.
You will be covered getting blue in the first generation. The second generation will be 50% of being blue
But you will need to get chicks in the second generation that inherit two copies of Columbian, mahogany and dilute. And do not inherit extended black.
If you breed a blue first generation back to a calico you'll have a 50% chance of getting the right combination of each of those 4 genes. So you need a chick that hits the right side of that 50% for all 4 of those genes. That may not be so easy. It's impossible to know how lucky you get.
And if that blue mottled is silver based instead of gold thats another set of genes to get right.
That's why I say hatch a ton. You could hit the jackpot with 20 chicks or you could hatch over a 100 and not get the right combo.

Oh ok I got it now thanks so much for the help

 

[Willawong Hill]

There's a bit about calico cochins in this old Millie thread, but it's a long read:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mille-cochin-info.22863

 

[Jenwisp]

That link goes to a different thread ( I was lurking and very interested in this conversation )

 

[Willawong Hill]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mille-cochin-info.228613/
Is that any better? As i said it's a long read (i'm on page 512 currently- it's take me a while!) but there is definitely some calico info and pics along the way if you have some time.

 

[Jenwisp]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mille-cochin-info.228613/
Is that any better? As i said it's a long read (i'm on page 512 currently- it's take me a while!) but there is definitely some calico info and pics along the way if you have some time.

Yes, thank you!