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

[Lorilyn Farms]

Just hatched my first BROWN chick. I just realized I have no clue about the parents of the seramas roos I have. They could ALL be carrying one chocolate gene and I wouldn't know it! On second thought, I just photographed my roos next to black chicks and what do you know, those AREN't black feathers in their tails. Even the black from the mille fleur is darker than my roos tails. No wonder all the chicks are hatching out taupe colored, it's mixing with the blues in some of my hens.
I'm betting this is a little pullet...just a guess...



Little dudette has fully feathered feet, including the middle toe. She also has that brown chocolate beak, although her feet are black from the silkie.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

Here's the parents. Could be either roo.





Mama is d'uccle/silie cross and throws the most beautiful, pumpkin type buffs.

 

[smoothmule]

Here's the parents. Could be either roo.





Mama is d'uccle/silie cross and throws the most beautiful, pumpkin type buffs.

That would be just awesome, you'll know more later on when you have another generation to learn from. It can be really hard to pin it down until you can verify by breeding. Hens can't "carry" chocolate, remember, they are either chocolate or not, if they are not chocolate colored, they don't have the gene
Keep the photo's coming.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I have this guy sneaking in and throwing all those blacks and grays. Otherwise, i'm betting I wouldn't have a single black chick from those serama roos.



Fingers crossed my roos are carrying chocolate, i know none of my hens have it. Does anyone have mauve chick colors to look at? I have a couple of really soft tan grays ( feathers are coming in that color) and instead of d'uccle mille black on those tan feathers, some are darker mauve where the black would be, and some are brown were the black would be. Awesome chicks this hatch! I think I just jumped leaps and bounds forward in my project! Didn't think I actually had a chocolate in there, but considering that out of 10 eggs, got 3 mauve, 1 chocolate, 2 blacks, 1 lemon, 1 gray, 1 mille, and one black that doesn't really look black when you put it next to the other two.

 

[smoothmule]

You might do better if you had breeding pens set up so you would know for sure which cocks to which hens.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I do have a beautiful garden pen for three sets of breeding birds, but they don't have coops or heat yet and we've got 20 degree temps. I usually just lock up my project birds, but on sunny days, I let them all out in the yard to get some sunshine. I'd get rid of the gray/red, but my mom likes him. His girlfriends are the columbian d'uccles. So, yeah, some days, there's gonna be some hanky panky from him. I don't mind, I hatch all the eggs and usually know the parents. I couldn't bear to lock them up out of sunshine forever, especially in this weather.

 

[smoothmule]

I do have a beautiful garden pen for three sets of breeding birds, but they don't have coops or heat yet and we've got 20 degree temps. I usually just lock up my project birds, but on sunny days, I let them all out in the yard to get some sunshine. I'd get rid of the gray/red, but my mom likes him. His girlfriends are the columbian d'uccles. So, yeah, some days, there's gonna be some hanky panky from him. I don't mind, I hatch all the eggs and usually know the parents. I couldn't bear to lock them up out of sunshine forever, especially in this weather.

I agree but if you're raising to sell, no one wants to buy chicks that are possibly mixed if you planned to sell. It's hard to improve on type, or work on a color by allowing them to free range together. That doesn't mean they couldn't be out as a breeding group part of the day.

 

[Horseshoe]

I have been readig this thread and I have a rooster that good bit of chocolate coloring wondering what color hen I need to breed to.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

I agree but if you're raising to sell, no one wants to buy chicks that are possibly mixed if you planned to sell. It's hard to improve on type, or work on a color by allowing them to free range together. That doesn't mean they couldn't be out as a breeding group part of the day.

Remember, there is no pedigree in chickens, only phenotype. If it looks like a d'uccle, it is a d'uccle. And I only have three breeds of birds, 40 d'uccles, three seramas and 1 silkie. Of course, I will make sure that they are breeding true. And I won't be selling eggs, just my culls, labeled as pet quality and project birds. Soon my pens will be ready for exacting type and color. That's quite a ways away.

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

Update on what I thought was a chocolate chick. Remember the black chick he was next to in to picture? This one



Well, I hatched out some real black chicks and now that black chick looks so Smutty next to the others. Guess I might have been looking at the wrong chick for color! Here's the difference now. The chick on the far left was what I thought was black.