Deerhen Project

[E flowers]

That was buried among things in the response you quoted:




So just figure that the Welsummer has all the genes marked with a + and none of the others.

Would a smokey pearl hen be the same as a smokey pattern silver quail hen? Also how would I get the smokey pattern silver quail?

 

[NatJ]

Would a smokey pearl hen be the same as a smokey pattern silver quail hen?

Probably not. The Smokey Pearl hen in the photo is probably E/E (Extended Black) with I/i+ (one Dominant White gene and one not-Dominant White.)

Also how would I get the smokey pattern silver quail?

I don't know where to get any chickens with the smoky gene. If you got silver quail chickens and smoky chickens you could breed some. Or quail (gold rather than silver) plus Silver Columbian plus smoky. "Silver Columbian" is the color of Light Brahmas, and Columbian Wyandottes, and Columbian Rocks. Delawares have Silver Columbian pattern with white barring added.

Quail does not seem to be particularly common, and right now I can't think of how to make it from other colors, and I don't know where to find the smoky gene at all.

Blue Silver Quail would probably be a bit easier to make. You could use Blue Wheaten or Blue Silver Wheaten with Silver Quail or normal Quail. You just need to be sure the "silver" is coming from one side or the other.

If you can't get actual quail, you can sometimes get a similar appearance by mixing laced chickens and Columbian chickens. It won't be quite the same, and will be based on different genes, but might be easier to manage if you just want something that looks sort-of similar.

Edit to clarify: every "quail" in this post refers to a color of chicken, not any species of bird called "quail." (So I'm not confused when I re-read my own post in future!)

 

[E flowers]

Probably not. The Smokey Pearl hen in the photo is probably E/E (Extended Black) with I/i+ (one Dominant White gene and one not-Dominant White.)


I don't know where to get any chickens with the smoky gene. If you got silver quail chickens and smoky chickens you could breed some. Or quail (gold rather than silver) plus Silver Columbian plus smoky. "Silver Columbian" is the color of Light Brahmas, and Columbian Wyandottes, and Columbian Rocks. Delawares have Silver Columbian pattern with white barring added.

Quail does not seem to be particularly common, and right now I can't think of how to make it from other colors, and I don't know where to find the smoky gene at all.

Blue Silver Quail would probably be a bit easier to make. You could use Blue Wheaten or Blue Silver Wheaten with Silver Quail or normal Quail. You just need to be sure the "silver" is coming from one side or the other.

If you can't get actual quail, you can sometimes get a similar appearance by mixing laced chickens and Columbian chickens. It won't be quite the same, and will be based on different genes, but might be easier to manage if you just want something that looks sort-of similar.

Edit to clarify: every "quail" in this post refers to a color of chicken, not any species of bird called "quail." (So I'm not confused when I re-read my own post in future!)

Do you know what (color/pattern) my Girl Cookie is by chance? She's got green legs and lays very light green/blue almost white eggs &has white/blue earlobes

 

[NatJ]

Do you know what (color/pattern) my Girl Cookie is by chance? She's got green legs and lays very light green/blue almost white eggs &has white/blue earlobes

At a guess maybe wild-type with Dominant White (leave the chicken calculator at all the default settings, except put in I/I for Dominant White.) I think "Red Pyle" is one name for a color variety with those genetics, but photos of Red Pyle hens typically show less gold than what your bird has. I'm pretty sure she has Dominant White, less sure about what other genes are causing that amount of gold and the particular way the colors are arranged on the bird.

Given the photo and the details you listed, I would guess her ancestors were mostly Cream Legbar and White Leghorn, with the two breeds being crossed and then the offspring interbred with each other for at least one or two generations. The green legs would have to come from some other ancestry, maybe Ameraucana or Easter Egger or something else with dark legs.

 

[E flowers]

At a guess maybe wild-type with Dominant White (leave the chicken calculator at all the default settings, except put in I/I for Dominant White.) I think "Red Pyle" is one name for a color variety with those genetics, but photos of Red Pyle hens typically show less gold than what your bird has. I'm pretty sure she has Dominant White, less sure about what other genes are causing that amount of gold and the particular way the colors are arranged on the bird.

Given the photo and the details you listed, I would guess her ancestors were mostly Cream Legbar and White Leghorn, with the two breeds being crossed and then the offspring interbred with each other for at least one or two generations. The green legs would have to come from some other ancestry, maybe Ameraucana or Easter Egger or something else with dark legs.

Actually pretty close! Her mother was a cream legbar but her father is a Golden commet/ Golden duckwing pheonix hybrid. Her grandfather the Golden duckwing pheonix had grey legs. Here's her half brother and her full sister (brown hen) with her.

If I bred her to her half brother could I get birds that look pretty much exactly like her? Green legs and all?
Her full brother is more of an orange color with barring.

 

[NatJ]

Actually pretty close! Her mother was a cream legbar but her father is a Golden commet/ Golden duckwing pheonix hybrid. Her grandfather the Golden duckwing pheonix had grey legs. Here's her half brother and her full sister (brown hen) with her.

I was thinking White Leghorn for the Dominant White and a few other traits, but now I see how that combination works too (with the Golden Comet giving the Dominant White.)

If I bred her to her half brother could I get birds that look pretty much exactly like her? Green legs and all?

I think there is a good chance. You will probably get some with blue legs, maybe some with green legs. I expect most chicks to have a gold-and-white coloring, but you may also get some that are gold-and-black. I can't immediately think of what other variations you might get, but with that amount of mixing I think there is a good chance of a getting some chicks with unexpected traits.

Her full brother is more of an orange color with barring.

He should give white barring to half of his chicks (males and females), but not to the other half. You would probably get chicks with a variety of orange and gold shades, and I think you've got a good chance of having at least some with the green feet. So he might also be worth trying, if you want some that look just like her.

 

[E flowers]

I was thinking White Leghorn for the Dominant White and a few other traits, but now I see how that combination works too (with the Golden Comet giving the Dominant White.)


I think there is a good chance. You will probably get some with blue legs, maybe some with green legs. I expect most chicks to have a gold-and-white coloring, but you may also get some that are gold-and-black. I can't immediately think of what other variations you might get, but with that amount of mixing I think there is a good chance of a getting some chicks with unexpected traits.


He should give white barring to half of his chicks (males and females), but not to the other half. You would probably get chicks with a variety of orange and gold shades, and I think you've got a good chance of having at least some with the green feet. So he might also be worth trying, if you want some that look just like her.

Her half brother's mother is a black copper maran would that have much effect?

 

[NatJ]

Her half brother's mother is a black copper maran would that have much effect?

There is a good chance of his chicks having blue feet rather than green ones. The daughters' eggs should be darker (brown or green) because of the Marans ancestry, compared with lighter (blue or cream/light brown) if you breed her with her full brother. Otherwise, I don't see it making too much difference either way.

Edit to add: breeding her to her own father might also be a good choice. He obviously had the right genes to produce one chick with that coloring (her).

 

[E flowers]

There is a good chance of his chicks having blue feet rather than green ones. The daughters' eggs should be darker (brown or green) because of the Marans ancestry, compared with lighter (blue or cream/light brown) if you breed her with her full brother. Otherwise, I don't see it making too much difference either way.

Edit to add: breeding her to her own father might also be a good choice. He obviously had the right genes to produce one chick with that coloring (her).

Ok. There are so many intriguing possibilities! On the one hand I'd love to do the Deerhen project on the other I'd love to do something like the smoky quail or even a black or white laced lemon/yellow. But I also have the opportunity to mess around with stock I already have. Maybe I should go with my stock and just see if breeding is something I really want to do. What do you think?

 

[NatJ]

Ok. There are so many intriguing possibilities! On the one hand I'd love to do the Deerhen project on the other I'd love to do something like the smoky quail or even a black or white laced lemon/yellow. But I also have the opportunity to mess around with stock I already have. Maybe I should go with my stock and just see if breeding is something I really want to do. What do you think?

With so many interesting things, I would probably start with the stock you have. As you say, you can learn if breeding is something you really want to do. You may also find another dozen breeding projects you want to do, and it's easier to change directions if you have not already spent a lot of effort and money setting up for one particular project. Once you know what you are doing, you can also make better choices about which birds to actually use for a project.

About choosing birds to work with, for example: if there is a breed with just the color genes you need but you hate their size or temperament or poor laying ability or something else, you can make a better decision about whether to work with them or choose an entirely different project instead. Personally, I might work with a hen who lays well but has poor temperament, and a good-tempered rooster from a poor-laying breed, but I would not take the opposite combination because I don't want to deal with a nasty rooster while waiting for a hen to FINALLY lay enough eggs that I can hatch them and go on to the next generation!