Chocolate Serama Breeders - dun and blue can be included here as well

[key west chick]

Im guessing mine is just brown. I think this was the mother. I cant get the other possible one to load but I think she is a bbr. I guess the only real way to tell is to breed my hen to a black rooster and see what I get.

Is this blue wheaton maybe?

 

[juliette2009]

This is a great thread, Thanks for starting it Cathy!

Austin, I just LOVE your birds!

For those new to Chocolates, and to let everyone know how I started with this gene, please click here and here
I am learning everyday, and with each hatching, more and more how the chocolate and blue genes work. It is slower going for me, since I also am working with the frizzled gene, and that seriously hinders my progress in breeding, so it will take me a little longer to get where I want to go...But, boy, am I having fun with it!

Juliette

 

[ChickenRonin]

Love this thread!
I am playing around with a little chocolate project. I have a few chocolate pullets that are growing out nicely, and after we finish NPIP testing next week I am planning on putting them in with a chocolate/split roo. I'm really excited to see what they produce

If anyone is intersted in reading about the subject, "The Genetics of Chicken Colours" by Sigrid van Dort http://www.chickencolours.com/index.html is a great place to start. It has a ton of information and a small section about the chocolate gene.
Does anyone know of other good books that discuss chicken color genetics?

 

[juliette2009]

Quote:
I LOVE this book, well worth the money!

Juliette

 

[catwalk]

This is my old Midas, who started it all for me. I was fairly new to Seramas when I got him, and I was only vaguely aware of the valuable chocolate gene. I certainly didn't think I'd be so lucky as to have it .

This is what all of his sons look like:

All of his daughters, though are always some shade of chocolate, with a pattern. Never any black, and tails are a smokey brown.

The wing of that pullet has a lot of red, which isn't diluted by chocolate. I just got a solid black "Greaty" pullet, so I hope to have solid chocolate birds this year.

I did see a solid male bird at the ON last year. I think he lives in New Jersey.

 

[muffi]

Quote:
She definitely has some black dilution factor, based on the color of her tail feathers. Whether it is blue or not, I can't tell from the picture.

 

[catwalk]

Just hatched another chocolate last week! I don't know what the gender is, because Midas' daughter has been laying. If it's a boy, I'll know that it's hers. If it's a girl, who knows? I did separeate Midas from Cannonball for breeding purposes. If they were the same color, it wouldn't matter, as I'm happy to have two boys who get along. But Midas seemed to be the only one breeding the girls, and I would like a wheaten line.....

 

[austinhart123]

i have some really interesting colored started birds

the color is similar to this hen, but instead of black, grey blue laces the feathers, also have some grey blue cockerels that hatched chocolate, pics coming soon

 

[smoothmule]

Catwalk,
I love the Midas son's color. Is that chocolate wheaten? Since the black is affected and not the other colors, that's what I would guess it to look like. I like it. I'm waiting to see how this chick from Truffles begins feathering out. I'm guessing I should know if the cocopop she was with before I got her or if Blu-T is the father of the chick by whether there is red on the chest or not. I think that's right anyway. I'll post photo's as the feathering progresses.
If you have any cockerels like that by Midas, I'd definitely be interested.
Cathy

 

[HenThymes]

Thought I would share a picture of my young cockerel that I will using for my chocolate venture when he is ready. Not a pose or a great picture, just a quick shot this evening as I was taking pics of another. Time will tell if he is chocolate, can't wait to find out.

I am also going to start showing him this fall.