Can a BCM be white?

[Livinzoo]

I got some Black copper maran eggs from a fellow BYCer in trade for some BLRW birds. They are Jessie Paul line. Well the eggs are nice and dark and imagine my surprise when I saw the first white chick. Then the second chick was white too. They have feathered shanks. When they dry a bit I'll get some pics. All the other BCM I have hatched from different breeders have been black.

Any ideas?

 

[amazondoc]

They are probably wheaten chicks. I don't think I've ever heard of Jesse Paul, but it's fairly common for BCM flocks to be carrying the wheaten gene. When they dry off you should be able to tell that the down is actually yellow, not white.

 

[chunky_ficken]

I had a wheaten hatch from BCM eggs last month.......imagine my surprise!

 

[Livinzoo]

Well so far it is 3 wheatens and 3 BC. LOL

 

[blackdotte]

This tells you both parents are not pure bred Black Coppers, and so there is a good chance,50/50,that the black chicks will not be either, good news is the Wheatens will breed true.
David

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Oh, don't scare her too badly. It's not like they've been bred with buff orps, or anything.

The black coppers are simply carrying a recessive gene. It's not ideal, but it's also not the end of the world. The French club acknowledges that wheatens were developed out of black coppers in the first place -- so this gene has been cropping up in BCMs for a long, long time.

 

[Krys109uk]

I read the various colours of Marans had come about because of the colours of the fighting cocks which had come in on the British ships docking at La Rochelle & bred with the local hens. Brown red & wheaten are colours more often seen in the game birds.

The wheatens will breed true but sometimes when they have come from copper black lines they will also inherit mahogany &, in my experence, on occasions even melanising genes which look rather odd on wheaten.

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Yup, I think that's the basic idea. I think the French site talks about how long the wheatens weren't correctly recognized because of the similarity of roo colors -- and it also mentions that a good number of French BCM flocks still produce wheatens to this day.

The wheatens will breed true but sometimes when they have come from copper black lines they will also inherit mahogany &, in my experence, on occasions even melanising genes which look rather odd on wheaten.

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I've recently purchased some wheaten chicks that are a few generations removed from Wade Jean's BCM flock. Supposedly they came from intensely dark eggs. I can't wait to see how they look in terms of melanizers and mahogany when they grow up!​

 

[Krys109uk]

it also mentions that a good number of French BCM flocks still produce wheatens to this day.

I've read that too. Luckily I didn't experience it when I had copper blacks from France. But it's not surprising as the males do look similar.

I've recently purchased some wheaten chicks that are a few generations removed from Wade Jean's BCM flock. Supposedly they came from intensely dark eggs. I can't wait to see how they look in terms of melanizers and mahogany when they grow up!

That's interesting. Did the chicks look at all different to 'usual' yellow wheaten chicks? I haven't had very many wheatens with mahogany (it's easy to breed out), the chicks had a ginger cast to the down. I've only twice had wheatens with some black pigment over the colour (I culled them). It looked most odd, like grey pigment over a usual wheaten colour.
Wheaten pullets with mahogany look more evenly red. Mahogany on silver birchen or silver wheaten makes the silver look cream.
The super dark eggs sound interesting.

Did you get my PM? Any thoughts?​

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Isn't salmon silver wheaten plus mahogany?