Chocolate projects?

[smoothmule]

My Chocolate Serama's are coming along nicely. I have 6 nice chocolate hens and 2 cockerels at this time. My chocolate Araucana project now includes duns and they are coming along well too, it's so exciting!

Here are some of the most recent hatched chicks from the chocolate and dun project pen.

At the back is a "possible" recessive chocolate Plus dun chocolate chick.
The front row is chocolate, black, black, dun, black.

 

[jeremy]

Any updates folks?

 

[smoothmule]

Any updates folks?

Jeremy,
Here are a couple of my chocolate pullets (recessive/sex linked Araucana project) a warm brown chocolate from my Chocolate Orp/Ameraucana hens bred back to their sons (black, split for chocolate that are by my black Araucana cock)



And a Dun Chocolate (dun from Sumatra hens, Araucana project) a much "cooler toned chocolate)



And a chick out of my Dun Sumatra hens to the split for chocolate cockerels that "could" be both dun and recessive chocolate




There is also a chocolate (recessive) on the bottom, the pale chick at top again






The "typical" dun chicks I have hatched looks like blue but there is nothing here that is blue
In this photo are the pale chick, a chocolate a black and a dun chick.


This is what my dun chocolate looks like next to a black, for comparison

 

[smoothmule]

Figured I would share to keep this thread going. Anyone else using the recessive chocolate gene from the imported Orpingtons to bring the color into the breed they are working on?

My breed is the Araucana.
Here are 2 chocolate hens (Ameraucana/Orpington cross). I bred them to my black Araucana cock and produced the black cockerels in the photo below. These cockerels (I have 3 of them) all carry chocolate so I bred them back to the chocolate hens, their mothers. AS you can see, the cockerels that are only "half" Araucana, have very good type and could be easily mistaken for a pure Araucana. There are a few details that I still have to fix, such as correcting the leg color from white to yellow. The overall type is very good but the eye is a little off and the comb, while it's a pea comb, is a little different than what I have in my Araucana's. These chocolate hens lay blue eggs so that's one less thing to fix 8)
A few more details and I'll have some super nice chocolate Araucana's. I would expect another 2 to 3 breeding seasons and I'll have some Super looking chocolates.




When I crossed these chocolate hens back to their sons that carry chocolate, I hatched mostly chocolate but lost several to the heat in a building when we had a couple of days over 100. I have a little window A/C in the incubator, chick brooding building now. Heat is good, too much kills.

Here are 2 nice pullets that survived the heat last summer. I expect they will be laying this summer. Sorry for the photo/lighting quality, the sun was going down but it was bright. Both are rumpless, one has teeny tufts.



This chick has a partial tail, clean faced. Looking like it might be a cockerel. HOPE HOPE HOPE.




This chick may be simply Dun chocolate. I have 2 Dun Sumatra hens and crossed them with the above cockerels that carry chocolate. When she's older, I will be able to breed her to prove whether she is both Dun chocolate "plus" Recessive chocolate. It's possible but I've been told that Dun can vary a lot in the depth of color.

Here is the light chick.


I think she's a bit too light to be "just" Recessive chocolate considering this sibling to the above chick.
This chick is also out of the Dun Sumatra hens to the split for chocolate Cockerels. The lighting on this on is
messed up too but you can still see a marked difference. Since there are no dun/recessive chocolate crosses to compare,
I'll have to breed her to a chocolate cockerel to determine if she is actually both types of chocolate.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Smoothmule what state are you in?

 

[smoothmule]

I'm in Missouri.

Smoothmule what state are you in?

I'm in SW Missouri

 

[smoothmule]

Update on the Chocolate Araucana project

I currently have the 2 original chocolate hens, the 3 black cockerels that are split for chocolate, a chocolate tufted/rumpless hen that is smallish, 2 chocolate double tufted/rumpless pullets (one just started laying), the pale dun that may also be recesive chocolate and a chocolate cockerel that is clean faced/tailed that looks like he's going to be a big boy.

I'm so excited to finally make my goal of a chocolate cockerel, even if he did have to be clean faced and tailed. He can be bred to my black Araucana hens soon, when he's matured enough, and I'll hatch 100% chocolate pullets, half of the cockerels will be chocolate and the other half will carry chocolate. This is a huge deal to me to finally get to the point I can start working on type, correcting skin color and all that. The chocolate hens already lay a very blue egg so that's already done.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Wow that is far from me

Congrats on the roo!!!!

 

[smoothmule]

Wow that is far from me

Congrats on the roo!!!!

I'm just south of you.

 

[smoothmule]

I Know there are more breeders working to add chocolate to their flocks. I'd love to see some of them posted here. There is a chocolate silkied Ameraucana project ongoing, LF and bantam Ameraucana's in chocolate, chocolate cochin bantams.....what else has everyone seen out there?

Anyone working on a chocolate pattern like chocolate silver duckwing? or mottled or other patterns?