Chicken Breeding Projects, For 2020!

[Arbutus Peregrine]

Here's a cross I made early last year.
Mille Fleur D'Uccle X Silver Duckwing OEGB cross.View attachment 1992884 View attachment 1992885His name is Squeakers.

Handsome Squeakers!!

 

[no fly zone]

No overly ambitious plans, but I want to get a good rooster for my frizzle naked neck with the laced cravat so we can make more like her.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Handsome Squeakers!!

Yes he is.

 

[MysteryChicken]

No overly ambitious plans, but I want to get a good rooster for my frizzle naked neck with the laced cravat so we can make more like her.

View attachment 1992909

Maybe a Wyandotte Rooster will work for you.

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

Here's a cross I made early last year.
Mille Fleur D'Uccle X Silver Duckwing OEGB cross. His name is Squeakers.

Thank you for that Kippen link - I love that resource - Have wasted maaaaaany hours playing with it hehe. Unfortunately, once you get into the genetic mixes that I have they don't have example pictures.

Your Squeaker is a handsome fella!! And he is the perfect example of what we should see from a S+/S- outcome based on that genetic program - He has that gold tinting in his hackles.

My results have been different though - none of my split roo's have ever shown that overall gold tinting in the hackle.. at most their feathers just look dirty.. What they "do" show though is intermittent gold feathers at random places. Rusty is an example and I "know" he is S+/S- because I'm getting gold hen babies from him now. I'm wondering if that's just a product of his other genetics at play - patterning etc?

What has been a sticking point in my mind is that a recessive gene can be a bit like a weed, once introduced into a gene population it's blooming difficult to get out again. It is quite easily passed unseen (no expression if single copy and no expression with silver) and propagated exponentially. It was the same with the pied mutation in the cockatiels - what started as a fun new mutation soon became a problem gene that took a LOT of work to remove again - and in that case you had markers to identify carriers of single copies. So, if Ig is recessive and in the NZ population, how is it that there are not more Citrone birds occurring? Food for thought..

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you for that Kippen link - I love that resource - Have wasted maaaaaany hours playing with it hehe. Unfortunately, once you get into the genetic mixes that I have they don't have example pictures.

Your Squeaker is a handsome fella!! And he is the perfect example of what we should see from a S+/S- outcome based on that genetic program - He has that gold tinting in his hackles.

My results have been different though - none of my split roo's have ever shown that overall gold tinting in the hackle.. at most their feathers just look dirty.. What they "do" show though is intermittent gold feathers at random places. Rusty is an example and I "know" he is S+/S- because I'm getting gold hen babies from him now. I'm wondering if that's just a product of his other genetics at play - patterning etc?

What has been a sticking point in my mind is that a recessive gene can be a bit like a weed, once introduced into a gene population it's blooming difficult to get out again. It is quite easily passed unseen (no expression if single copy and no expression with silver) and propagated exponentially. It was the same with the pied mutation in the cockatiels - what started as a fun new mutation soon became a problem gene that took a LOT of work to remove again - and in that case you had markers to identify carriers of single copies. So, if Ig is recessive and in the NZ population, how is it that there are not more Citrone birds occurring? Food for thought..

Probably most people don't want that pretty lemon coloring. It being recessive means both parents will need to give the offspring each one copy, giving two.
I used to have a Cockerel with the Citron coloring with in his pseudo lacing.

I culled him because he wasn't any use for my project. He had the S/s+ gene, but has Di/Di instead of Ig/Ig.

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

Probably most people don't want that pretty lemon coloring. It being recessive means both parents will need to give the offspring each one copy, giving two.
I used to have a Cockerel with the Citron coloring with in his pseudo lacing.View attachment 1992939 I culled him because he wasn't any use for my project. He had the S/s+ gene, but has Di/Di instead of Ig/Ig.

Quite possible if the breeders were wanting to continue with pure gold stock.. and I suppose it probably doesn't occur to too many people to actually try crossing the silver and gold stock unless they were deliberately trying for Citrone (like me).

That being said.. I had more than one reputable breeder enquire about purchasing my original Citrone hen (or her future babies) so it must be somewhat known about and desired. So I wondered (privately) why those breeders had not simply tried to develop their own?

All I can hope for now is that my roo has the desired trait.. that he's passing it on to his babies and that in a generation or two I might see some progress. Here's hoping!!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Quite possible if the breeders were wanting to continue with pure gold stock.. and I suppose it probably doesn't occur to too many people to actually try crossing the silver and gold stock unless they were deliberately trying for Citrone (like me).

That being said.. I had more than one reputable breeder enquire about purchasing my original Citrone hen (or her future babies) so it must be somewhat known about and desired. So I wondered (privately) why those breeders had not simply tried to develop their own?

All I can hope for now is that my roo has the desired trait.. that he's passing it on to his babies and that in a generation or two I might see some progress. Here's hoping!!

That's a good question.
I may take part in this project, but with a different breed like Silkies, or maybe Orpingtons. It'll have to be later on in the future.

 

[The Kooky Kiwi]

That's a good question.
I may take part in this project, but with a different breed like Silkies, or maybe Orpingtons. It'll have to be later on in the future.

Here's one of Rusty's young hen progeny (currently 8 weeks old).. Was a bit hard to get a photo of her standing still.. sebrights are NEVER still LOL - and she'd just been dust bathing so is dirty hehe. What are your thoughts on her gold colouring. Standard gold or perhaps diluted? Hard to tell when surrounded by so much black. I plan to catch her one afternoon when I have someone to help hold her so I can get some closer pictures of her feathers with the macro lens.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Here's one of Rusty's young hen progeny (currently 8 weeks old).. Was a bit hard to get a photo of her standing still.. sebrights are NEVER still LOL - and she'd just been dust bathing so is dirty hehe. What are your thoughts on her gold colouring. Standard gold or perhaps diluted? Hard to tell when surrounded by so much black. I plan to catch her one afternoon when I have someone to help hold her so I can get some closer pictures of her feathers with the macro lens.View attachment 1992951

Looks diluted, gold has a more copper like tone to it. My Red JungleFowl pullet for color example.