can someone who knows about BLUE tell me about these 2 birds?

[haTHOR]

first, are these birds considered blue? they were silver, just slightly lighter/darker shades from each other, from day one.

when i adjust the auto contrast on the lighter bird she almost appears to be a splash. do you think that is correct?

does the dark charcoal hackles and what almost looks like lacing on the one hen make it a different kind of blue, if they are both blue?

can i use the BBS % chart to know what i will get when i breed them to black? what about if they are bred to a wheaten? or does none of that work since they are EEs?

thank you! i love my EE girls and am not really sure what to refer to their color as, when folks ask. silver does not seem to be a real color name, though it is the closest to what they are in real life.

 

[RAREROO]

They are both blue, the one with the darker hackles is closer to what the color should be though.

 

[EweSheep]

Both are blues.

 

[Pinky]

Both look blue to me.

 

[Ohne-Fehler]

They look blue to me as well. Maybe not ideal blue but still blue. I don’t know about EE’s but I will venture to guess that they are Andalusian Blues and the BBS % should work with them as well. So mated to a black would produce 50% Black and 50% Blue. Wheaten I have no idea about. Like I said I don’t know EE’s and its not a color I have ever worked with or read up on. Hopefully an EE breeder posts because i would like to know!

 

[blackred]

As some who has bred blue for a number of years I will say that the first bird is a splash. Sometimes Splashes come with a blueish hue to them but the mottled type feathers and the fact that she has no lacing makes me believe she is splash.
The second bird is more of a blue with the darker top color and the lacing on her feathers. Breeding either birds to a black from blues will help their color. If you breed them to a true black the blues will become uneven in the shade of blue.

 

[haTHOR]

thank you ! this is very interesting. i am not sure what andalusian blues refer to, but i am interested in learning more.

to the best of my knowledge these birds came out of a white EE rooster and black ameracauna hens.

i am interested in breeding them. you know those birds in your yard that EVERYONE wants to comment on and says they would buy chicks from? that's these birds.

i have black roos...one is FCBM, one is black java. i have been working on an olive egger thing, and at least one of these lays a pretty blue egg, so i am guessing to go with the FCBMs. i guess i will get some coppering in the hackles of course.

neat to know that a black from blues would be better though, to maintain that pretty blue color.

 

[Illia]

Quote:
First, I HIGHLY doubt that the first bird is a splash, unless that photo has really brought out some color in the shadows of the bird. . . Yes, it looks it with those darker feathers, but a lot of blue birds have that. I know, normally it shows up as splashes and flicks of color within the feather, not a whole feather, but sometimes it shows up as a whole feather too. Especially from Splash x Black or Splash x Blue, you can get some very light blue birds, too.

Second, Either A) the EE rooster is actually a splash, not white or B) he's not the father. White and Black don't make blue. Blue is something you can only obtain from Splash x Blue, Blue x Blue, or Blue x Black.

 

[haTHOR]

Quote:
First, I HIGHLY doubt that the first bird is a splash, unless that photo has really brought out some color in the shadows of the bird. . . Yes, it looks it with those darker feathers, but a lot of blue birds have that. I know, normally it shows up as splashes and flicks of color within the feather, not a whole feather, but sometimes it shows up as a whole feather too. Especially from Splash x Black or Splash x Blue, you can get some very light blue birds, too.

Second, Either A) the EE rooster is actually a splash, not white or B) he's not the father. White and Black don't make blue. Blue is something you can only obtain from Splash x Blue, Blue x Blue, or Blue x Black.

ee daddy could be a splash...B/B/S is all new to me, and i saw a picture and assumed it was plain old white. it's not my bird...i traded for these eggs.

the two roos were wheaten (nonstandard) ameracauna and what i assumed was white EE...can the splash be pretty well hidden with white?

thanks for the tip!