Color genetics thread.

[moving coops]

It is so great to have people that are willing to share their precious time! I know I have shared lots around here to the people just plain new to heritage chickens and egg colors genetics and incubating, homesteading, mothering, homeschooling, natural food and it is so rewarding to shard but can be exhausting to since what you learnt took years, soooooooooooo I appreciate so much from experience what you guys are willing to share with me now!

 

[junebuggena]

See I understand that chart but when you say no blacks plus any number of blues won't get you black, blue or splash! Just meaning when you cross a blue with a non black chicken you loose all black, blue and splash and just get some other color.

The thing with the blue dilute gene is that it doesn't need solid black to express. It will affect ANY black pigment, regardless. Solid Blue and solid Splash have the same dilute genes at work that Blue Wheaten or Blue Laced Red.
Color genetics can be broken down into four different parts. First is the base color genes of silver or gold. Then are the e locus genes, like extended black, birchen, and wheaten. These control how much black pigment gets expressed. Then there are the inhibitor/restricting and complex pattern genes that control where that black pigment gets expressed. Last are the modifying genes, that modify black, gold, or both. Dominant white, blue/splash, and lavender all fall into this last group of genes.

 

[Chicken5555]

Quote:
Yep.... a thousand piece 3-D puzzle.

 

[Chicken5555]

You have helped a lot and so thankful!

Did you see my other thread of Lavendar Orps crossing?

More than happy to help! I started out knowing nothing about chicken genetics. It may sound like I know a lot, but there SO MUCH MORE to learn.

I'm trying to understand lacing and pattern genes but I don't know nearly enough to help anyone with questions about those LOL

 

[Berryblue]

Can someone explain gold again. I've been searching through but lots of posts to look through.
Sounds like dominant white covers all black but you can see black in this so is it a splash with gold leakage?
I know my guesses are a bit off at the moment cause I'm still trying to work it all out and can see why silver is a better base if you actually want white birds

And would this one be blue if it didn't have gold in it?

One last question. Is this an eye stripe or the black just happens to be by the eye.

Thanks for all the information

 

[Chicken5555]

The thing with the blue dilute gene is that it doesn't need solid black to express. It will affect ANY black pigment, regardless. Solid Blue and solid Splash have the same dilute genes at work that Blue Wheaten or Blue Laced Red.
Color genetics can be broken down into four different parts. First is the base color genes of silver or gold. Then are the e locus genes, like extended black, birchen, and wheaten. These control how much black pigment gets expressed. Then there are the inhibitor/restricting and complex pattern genes that control where that black pigment gets expressed. Last are the modifying genes, that modify black, gold, or both. Dominant white, blue/splash, and lavender all fall into this last group of genes.

Now, that is fascinating. I did not realize that splash and blue in wheaten were diluted by the exact same gene that dilutes solid black to blue and splash.

Is the same modifier at work in these easter eggers? Are they blue black and splash under their gold?

 

[big medicine]

I don't get over here very often, and this probably has already been discussed, but seems to be some confusion here. Blue, as in andalusian blue, the more common type of blue, (the other being self blue, or sometimes called lavender), is a diluter of black.

Any black bird, be it solid black of has black in its pattern, such as partridge, or gold laced, etc.. has two copies of black, and can only pass on a copy of black to it's offspring.

A blue (andalusian) bird has one copy of black and one copy of blue, there by diluting all normally black pigment in the pattern to blue. This bird can pass either a copy of black, or a copy of blue on to it's offspring.

A splash bird has two copies of blue, turning the normally black part of the pattern to varying degrees of white to washed out light grey, depending on other modifiers (same as the blue in the previous bird can vary from very dark to a lighter blue). This bird can only pass a copy of blue on to it's offspring.

Each bird can only carry two copies of black, or blue, or one of each, but not three, as some have previously speculated.


Now just to muddy the water, self blue (or lavender) works differently, it is recessive and requires two copies, one from each parent to produce a self blue chick. A bird with one copy of black, and one copy of self blue will be black. Breeding two self blue birds together will produce 100% self blue chicks.

 

[junebuggena]

Now, that is fascinating. I did not realize that splash and blue in wheaten were diluted by the exact same gene that dilutes solid black to blue and splash.

Is the same modifier at work in these easter eggers? Are they blue black and splash under their gold?

Same gene. And they aren't blue/splash underneath. They are blue/splash in addition. Solid black birds are gold or silver, like any other bird, it's just that the extended black gene covers it all up and you can't see it. Imagine a solid Blue bird. Then swap out that extended black gene for the birchen gene. You now have the same coloring as a Blue Copper Maran. Now swap that birchen for partridge. You now have something like your Easter Eggers. Now add a few complex pattern genes and inhibitors and you get Blue Laced Red.
The Blue works the same, not matter what other pattern genes are present.

 

[Chicken5555]

How did I get this color from the two below???? It doesn't look like blue, wheaten or even red to me.







Pure True Wheaten Ameraucana mixed with an F1 Splash Ameraucana/ French Splash Marans

 

[junebuggena]

Starting to look like a silver partridge type coloring. If that's the case, it's very likely a sexlinked male.