Difference between mottled, pied, and exchequer

[Michael99]

Hi all!

I was wondering if there is any difference between mottled, pied, and exchequer coloring. Are they genetically the same and just different expressions of the same gene? Or is each color a different gene? And how can you tell if a chicken is mottled, pied, or exchequer?

Pictures showcasing the differences would be much appreciated as well!

 

[Michael99]

Also was this hen I had last year mottled or pied or exchequer? I need to know so I can find a rooster of the right color to breed with her daughters that are split with it.

 

[chickens really]

@Brahma Chicken5000

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Also was this hen I had last year mottled or pied or exchequer? I need to know so I can find a rooster of the right color to breed with her daughters that are split with it. View attachment 2014388
View attachment 2014389

I believe this hen is splash, but better quality pictures would be helpful. I believe that the differences in mottling, exchequer, and pies are genetic, but I will tag some folks who will know. @The Moonshiner @nicalandia

 

[Michael99]

Thank you for the response!

And I would take better pictures, but unfortunately the hen died last year so these are all I have. And I know she's not splash, because I have other splash Phoenix and they didn't look like her (the splash have a bluish tone to their feathers, she was completely white w/ black spots). Also, when mated with the black rooster in the picture, the chicks didn't turn out blue.

 

[The Moonshiner]

My first thought with the hen is that she's one copy of dominate white over black. Also called paints in silkies or erminette in some birds.

 

[The Moonshiner]

My thoughts on mottled, pied and exchequer are just my opinion since after looking into it for years and talking to many people ive came to the conclusion that no one actually knows.
Mottled is just mottled. Pretty well known and understood so no need to really go into details.
IMO there is no pied in chickens. I have had pied guineas and pied ducks. With them the pattern is color on top and white on bottom. With the pied birds ive had it was created from breeding a white to a colored and when pied was bred together it produced some white offspring. My conclusion is that pied is just a product of one white gene not actually a gene itself. White in chickens doesn't work the way it does with muscovies or guineas so I say there isn't pied in chickens.
Exchequer by some is said to be different then mottled and is sometimes referred to as pied. I can't buy into any of that.
Others say it's just the mottled gene bred to that extreme or type of pattern.
IMO it is the mottling gene but also another gene that modifies it into the patchwork pattern instead of the normal mottled pattern.
At one time I was shown where someone concluded mottled and exchequer were the same because when the two were bred the result was a pattern in between the two looks. My conclusion is that that was because the offspring all received two mottled genes but also one of the modifier gene. With only one copy it changed the pattern some but not completely to exchequer.
Ive crossed exchequer leghorns with other patterns and although they came from exchequer and I continued the mottled genes something was lost and the results were normal mottling. I believe along the way I lost the modifying genes which is why I didn't end up with patterned birds with patches of white.
Ive bred some of these birds but never got back to anything like exchequer patterns.
Decent exchequer leghorns have become impossible for me to obtain now days so until I can come across some in the future I'm at a stand still or almost stand still with working more with the pattern to see if I can prove or disprove my thoughts on the pattern.

 

[Michael99]

"My first thought with the hen is that she's one copy of dominate white over black. Also called paints in silkies or erminette in some birds."

How does paint/erminette work? Is it similar to mottled? Or is it the dominant white and black, do dominant with each other leading to paint? And how can you tell if that is what she is? If you want I can post pictures of the daughters I hatched out from her before she passed for reference.

 

[The Moonshiner]

What color/pattern was she bred with and what colors/patterns did it produce?

 

[Michael99]

She was bred with the black rooster in the pictures with her, and I managed to set about 12 eggs from them, of which only 2 hatched (I need to get a better incubator). Both of them turned out to be hens and came out looking like black breasted reds, which was surprising for me as I thought they would have been black split w/ mottled, and I contacted the breeder I got them from and apparently both parents carried the duckwing pattern genes, so it was possible that they'd both turn out like this). So I'm assuming that whatever color the mom was, since they don't express it, that it must have been recessive and that the two daughters now carry it.