When I first started out in Exhibition Poultry, the then old-timers would tell you that the you get your type from the female and the color from the male. I find this to be somewhat true. Not always, and certainly if you use a female with fantastic type with a male that doesn't hold breed characteristics you can expect poor results, but in generally speaking it's a decent rule of thumb. However, if you must use a bird with a known fault, try to offset that fault by mating to a bird that is good in that area.
Self-Blue vs. Blue: Genetically different altogether. Self-Blue breed true when bred together, whereas the Blue X Blue will yield Black, Blue and Splash. A Self Blue doesn't have lacing, but is a nice even shade of Lavenderish blue. There are several topics on this forum that show Lavender (Self-Blue) birds, mostly Orps I believe, and the pic a couple frames above is a Self Blue Cochin hen.
Self-Blue vs. Blue: Genetically different altogether. Self-Blue breed true when bred together, whereas the Blue X Blue will yield Black, Blue and Splash. A Self Blue doesn't have lacing, but is a nice even shade of Lavenderish blue. There are several topics on this forum that show Lavender (Self-Blue) birds, mostly Orps I believe, and the pic a couple frames above is a Self Blue Cochin hen.
