Deepening/darkening a buff color

[InviteTanner]

What do you cross with a buff colored hen/roo in order to deepen or darken the color? I'm talking about from a pale, pasty tannish to make it more golden and striking.

 

[Rock-n-Roo]

I am no expert whatsoever. Perhaps more red is what is needed. I raised my first hatch of my own this spring and added a couple of mixes in the incubator along with Partridge Rocks.

Here's what I got when I put a PR Roo over a Buff Rock:

(Two cockerels and the black one is a PR over a Barred Rock)

He was 11 weeks old at the time of these photos. I love the darker golden colors.

The black feathering needs to be bred out. I may try breeding the new Roo with the mother.

Hen (Mother) Roo (Father)

I may try the cross again to get a couple of hens and see what traits continue.

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
I would buy some Buffs of the same variety and breed a bunch of them. The ones with the dots on their heads are the ones that will be a little darker, but they have to be marked because the dots will go away after they start to get feathers on their heads. I would keep both the ones with the dots on the head and the ones without dots in my flock to keep things balanced.

I wouldn't mix Buff anything with any other plumage color as it's really difficult to get the pure Buff back.