color genetics

[Megs]

how accurate is the color calculator? i use this one http://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#kipcalculator

just wondering, because im getting a start on the lavender orpington project next year and am figuring out pairings that will produce blacks because im not a fan of close linebreeding if it can be avoided. Also orpingtons are rare in my area so i would be happy to be able to offer any color other than the usual buffs for sale next season, one reason why i want to avoid linebreeding closely. I have lavs chicks im growing that were already linebred (parents were related), and bbs chicks im growing that were already linbred (parents were related), and another line of buffs (not linebred).

There is only one source in canada i have found these birds in bbs and lavender, so finding another supplier is really not an option, which is why i want to introduce buff and cross the colors this way, i realize it is not ideal, but this is where i have to start. im building indoor breeding cages for next spring so i can breed pairs and trios and see if the color combs work as they should.

I had access to a very limiited number of bbs eggs, im holding out much hope of the 6 in the incubator at least ONE is a black, so i can breed lav to black for blacks carrying the lavender gene, and then cross them back to the lavender adults, getting a % of lavender offspring (for 2012).

lavender X buff= black
lavender X blue= black & blue
lavender X splash= blue
lavender X black= black (split for lavender)
buff X splash= blue
buff X blue= blue & black

are any of these pairings likely to produce mixed colors, or color leakage? or anything else i need to be aware of? i realllllly wish i had access to more lav or bbs eggs, but thus it is not the case

silly canada.

 

[RAREROO]

Dont breed Lavender to Buff, the calcualators do now show leakage and breeding to a buff would would give you a lot of Buff leakage.

But all the others are right, in the first generation cross, you treat Lavender just as it were black as far as determining what the phenotype outcomes would be.

 

[Megs]

thank you RAREROO, i was wondering about the leakage, i will stick to my origional plan then and no buff, i was excited when i saw the cross the calculator said i would get, but i suspected it was not so.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The calculator is amazingly good, but you need to realize that it makes generalizations that may not be completely accuracte for a specific bird. For example, except with incompletely dominant phenotypes, it assumes that birds are homozygous for each gene, and that may or may not be true for a specific bird. And you can build a number of varieties using more than a single genetic recipe, so it assumes the more common. Nevertheless, these are quite minor issues when you realize the enormous work that went into building it and how accurate it IS.

 

[MrChicken207]

It is a pretty neat tool to play around with. It would also give you an idea of what might become of certain breedings. I bookmarked it for future refrence.