Color Genetics the Same as Other Breeds?

[LilJoe]

I know for a fact that seramas don't breed true to color. I see posts/threads/sites that say if you breed (for example) an exchequer roo to a cuckoo/barred hen they will be sex linked just like any other breed. Is this true? ... or if you breed a lavender to a black the chicks will be black (split to lav?) just like other breeds.
LilJoe

 

[The Moonshiner]

Color genes are color genes they're the same no matter what breed or mix.
Yes lavender to black equals black split to lavender with any breed.
Yes exchequer rooster crossed with barred hen will produce sex links.
Im actually working on some projects and did similar. I'm going for cuckoo exchequer pattern. I hatched two and unfortunately lost the second chick. The first had a nice head spot but the second had a mostly yellow head so couldn't tell if he had a head spot or the yellow was just part of the exchequer chick pattern.
I've hatched straight exchequer with mostly yellow heads also in the past.
Just shows that crossing to a barred hen will produce sex links but you have to make sure the produced chicks pattern needs to be able to show the head spot or you'll have to wait for feathers to start coming in.

 

[The Moonshiner]

As for seramas breeding true they're like any other breed. They can breed true or they won't just depends on the genes.
If you have birds with the right genes they will always breed true.
If you have birds from color crossed parents then there's a mix of genes so to many chances of random pairing to bred true.
I've mostly settled on breeding just leghorns and creating new colors and patterns for the breed or for myself really.
If one was to pick a certain breed you can recreate colors by using examples of any other breed. As long as you can find the right genes in your breed.
I can take two different colors that breed true cross them then cross the offspring. That cross never breeds true but it gives the random pairings to get new colors.
You just play the odds and hatch as many as you can to increase your odds.
Some crosses can give a few outcomes like 4 choices other crosses can give you more outcomes then you'll likely ever hatch.
I've done a few where 64 or even over 100 outcomes may be possible. Usually after the second cross you can get the color you want but they still carry other genes you need to breed out for them to breed true.
Usually if you want to create something easy you find two birds one with each of what you need for your creation. Cross them so those chicks have the right combination. They usually don't look like what you want but you know they have the genes.
Cross those until you hatch what you want. Then you have the right color and its just a matter of another generation or two to get them pure for what you want.
Careful though what I run into is that one cross produces what I want but also produces some other things that I decide to run with too.
Its a spiderweb. One project turns into two then four then a dozen. Then next thing you know you have about three dozen all going on at once in different stages or planning.

 

[CountryFlock]

Color genes are the same no matter the breed of chicken. While pattern genetics vary from breed to breed. Ex) Silver Laced Sebrights vs Silver Laced Orpingtons

Orps are partridge based while Sebrights are birchen based

 

[LilJoe]

Thsnk you both ^ ^ I might just have to mess around with them to see what they've got hiding in them. (All of them have an Exchequer father and a blue mother)

 

[The Moonshiner]

You can make different patterns AND different colors in different ways but genes for both are just genes.
Different breeds may have different genes to create that look but what works on one works the same on others.

 

[nicalandia]

I'm going for cuckoo exchequer pattern.

The mottling and barring pattern combined will create an all white rooster(well almost white on the double barred mottled males), and a mixture of mottling and barring on the females making them Autosexing even from hatch(much lighter males than females chick down)..

Much like the 55 Flowery line of leghorns( Created circa 1955 in Sweden by Father Martin Silverudd)


Exchequer being a extreme case of mottling one would think that females that carry both exchecker and cuckoo would make them lighter than they already are.


If I had the chance to combine both pattern into a single line(mottling and sex linked barring) I would base them on a darker mottling pattern like the Ancona breed



I would like to thank you for taking on such task(first time the patterns would be combined on Extended Black) and would appreciate if you could post pics of the progress as they become available

Thanks.

 

[The Moonshiner]

They're not auto sexing since they hatch like an exchequer with a head spot.
Both sexes are just black and yellow. The amount of black vs yellow varies.
Agree about the males. No way around it at this point since even my cuckoo turn very much towards white with some age.
I'm actually not using any thing with mottling or exchequer in the lines.
I had a mutation pop up in a silver Xs cuckoo cross and ran with it.
I have experience with both exchequer and mottled. It appears more like exchequer then the heavy black mottled.
Anyways I could post a book about any of my projects so I'll just end with a couple pics.

This is a chick. Unfortunately I lost him but he was cuckoo and exchequer.

And a cuckoo exchequer pullet.

 

[nicalandia]

They're not auto sexing since they hatch like an exchequer with a head spot.

This is a chick. Unfortunately I lost him but he was cuckoo and exchequer.
View attachment 1410902

Would be nice to hatch and confirm a double barred male with mottling as chick and adult

 

[The Moonshiner]

Would be nice to hatch and confirm a double barred male with mottling as chick and adult

I have already hatched one so it is just a matter of time until I hatch another one and then hopefully it does make it to adulthood.
I've been at this project for a while now and have got it to the final step to have them true breeding. IDK to who or why I would need to confirm it or why as a chick and adult.
I will know it when I hatch one so guess confirm it to myself?
IDK your response seems odd to me.