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Might be me tonight, but for some reason this doesn't look right. In one sentence you appear to say they should not be present in Delawares and in the next you say they are present in one of the breeds that is in the original foundation of the Delaware.
I thought this too, but figured I was being a dum dum and let it go
Thanks for speaking up AND maybe we could get some clarification on this statement.
Since Delawares are an original cross or NH and BR, then according to above why wouldn't we expect an extended black in the Delawares ?
This is a quote from seriousbill on the thread titled {Delaware hen tail feathers black vs. barred, how to get?}
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=235538 post #6
search seriousbill username and read some of her posts theres alot of good information on Delawares in her posts she's serious about it,ha.
I said BRs weren't columbian *restricted* and they're not, because of extended black, as you know, so the effect is not the same. Delawares are, and this causes the barring to not show up as much in the tails of the females. This is not my opinion but simple fact. Look at any Delaware female that comes to hand and it's pretty obvious. Yes, barring does show a dose effect and that IS a factor in what we're talking about, because the females only have one barring gene, while the males have two. The dose effect often means that Del males have more barring in tails than Del females, but the gradient effect in this breed is also at work. It minimizes the barring and the color generally in the female Delaware's tail, which is probably THE biggest pitfall when trying to work with this breed.
Delawares are based on eb; IMO most show birds are eb. Some are based on ewh. eb produces better black coloring in this breed.
No, I'm not talking about heterozygosity and homozygosity. A well barred rooster is one that is homozygous for very clear cut barring, as one would see in a SQ BR. He will throw that barring to his daughters, and they will sometimes have some barring in the tail, to a greater or lesser degree. MOST Delaware females, however, do not have this. Instead, they have a greater or lesser degree of black in the tail, and barring in the hackle (gradient). That's the breed, and it has nothing to do with being heterozygous. The breed has been this way since it arrived on the scene in the 1940's, and as I said, the standard is written to take this into account. Otherwise, as you pointed out, the female standard would be written to include tail barring.
You asked me "why?" That's why.