Do I want to learn about genetics? Yes. Is it very intimidating and scary? Yes.

[NatJ]

Thank you! So breeding this pullet to my mottled OEGB cockerel will result in solid black offspring. Then breeding the offspring to each other might possibly result in some lavender mottled?

Yes.
In that second generation, you're likely to get about 1/4 lavender chicks, and about 1/4 mottled chicks.
Of those, about 1/16 of the total chicks "should" be both lavender AND mottled (1/4 x 1/4).

But of course those are averages that only work right when applied to large numbers of chicks. If you hatch exactly 16 chicks, you probably will not get a perfect distribution of all the possibilities.

 

[Amer]

Thank you so much! So with this wing-patch, if I was to breed Willow, my Lavender (thank you for helping me figure out the best term) OEGB pullet ~with possible wing-patch~ with my Mottled OEGB cockerel, that defect will only show in lavlav?

Yes.

 

[ChickForLife]

If you need it here is a purebred dictionary that shows the genes for a bunch of different birds! Just click the name and it will show you what the bird looks like in the calculator! Just plug in the genes and mix and match! https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-calculator-pure-breed-dictionary-2-0.76203/

Not trying to promote my own articles/threads. @FuzzyCritters @ChickForLife Many others and I, have been working hard to make this exist! Obviously there are hundreds of chicken breeds so we don't have them all, if there are any you want to see let us know and we will make it happen . Also if you create any, post them to the thread linked in the article and I will add them!

Also I was having trouble navigating the calculator at first, but if you want to see the possibilities of what the offspring will be click "punnet square" and it will show you the possibilities. You can also continue with a certain male or female.

Thanks for the tag! Next time try clicking phenotypes or genotypes M/F instead of punnet square!

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Thanks for the tag! Next time try clicking phenotypes or genotypes M/F instead of punnet square!

I just like to see all the possible outcomes which you can do by clicking punnet square and it shows all the genes

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Yes.
In that second generation, you're likely to get about 1/4 lavender chicks, and about 1/4 mottled chicks.
Of those, about 1/16 of the total chicks "should" be both lavender AND mottled (1/4 x 1/4).

But of course those are averages that only work right when applied to large numbers of chicks. If you hatch exactly 16 chicks, you probably will not get a perfect distribution of all the possibilities.

Thank you! Short of having an existing pair of lavender mottled OEGB's, is there a definitive way to achieve lavender and mottled with my Lavender pullet and mottled cockerel eventually? F2, F3, etc? The first offspring will be solid black, and their offspring will result in half being black and half being lavender with a possibility of a mottled lavender (depending on the number of chicks hatched). Am I understanding so far? Where do I go from this point if I hatch no mottled lavenders? Since it's difficult to get both, is it just a chance thing that might pop up from time to time if I keep breeding the offspring? Or is there anything that will increase my chances (of course other than hatching 32+ chicks at a time ) I need a much larger coop and run Stat! Thanks again

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thank you! Short of having an existing pair of lavender mottled OEGB's, is there a definitive way to achieve lavender and mottled with my Lavender pullet and mottled cockerel eventually? F2, F3, etc? The first offspring will be solid black, and their offspring will result in half being black and half being lavender with a possibility of a mottled lavender (depending on the number of chicks hatched). Am I understanding so far? Where do I go from this point if I hatch no mottled lavenders? Since it's difficult to get both, is it just a chance thing that might pop up from time to time if I keep breeding the offspring? Or is there anything that will increase my chances (of course other than hatching 32+ chicks at a time ) I need a much larger coop and run Stat! Thanks again

Do you have any porcelain chickens? They’re a much more common variety than mottled lavender and they have both the mottling gene and the lavender gene. However, instead of being black with mottling and lavender, they’re buff columbian with mottling and lavender. You could cross a porcelain with your lavender and get all lavenders that carry mottling in the first generation. Then, it would be simple to cross the offspring together or back to the porcelain (offspring together- 1/4 mottled, porcelain to offspring- 1/2 mottled). The problem with this is that you might see leakage or even get some that aren’t solid “self blue”/lavender on black (so more like the porcelain color/lavender on columbian).
I apologize for my previous post saying there was a 1/8 chance of getting lavender mottled- @NatJ is right about it being 1/16.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Do you have any porcelain chickens? They’re a much more common variety than mottled lavender and they have both the mottling gene and the lavender gene. However, instead of being black with mottling and lavender, they’re buff columbian with mottling and lavender. You could cross a porcelain with your lavender and get all lavenders that carry mottling in the first generation. Then, it would be simple to cross the offspring together or back to the porcelain (offspring together- 1/4 mottled, porcelain to offspring- 1/2 mottled). The problem with this is that you might see leakage or even get some that aren’t solid “self blue”/lavender on black (so more like the porcelain color/lavender on columbian).
I apologize for my previous post saying there was a 1/8 chance of getting lavender mottled- @NatJ is right about it being 1/16.

Unfortunately I don't have any porcelain birds. My only other mottled is my Pyncheon. Sounds like it might be a little easier to work on finding a Porcelain and my chances will increase with fewer chicks or just be on the lookout for a mottled lavender, which would be the easiest (sadly that didn't cross my mind until now) depending on how difficult it is to find this color. I guess it all goes back to ~What are my goals~. It would be nice to have RoX reproduce if he ends up having a wonderful personality like what I'm seeing now, in hopes of passing this down to offspring. Out of just short of 20 males of different breeds, he has the absolute best personality. I really like his size too, even if he's not proper OEGB. Of course there are other factors but in terms of having a gentle guy that likes humans, he is the best. He is at an age where it's possible that he may change, but if not, at least I have some exciting ideas that I'm very hopeful about! Thank you so much for your help and your time. It means so much to have your help

 

[NatJ]

just be on the lookout for a mottled lavender, which would be the easiest (sadly that didn't cross my mind until now) depending on how difficult it is to find this color

It's called "Pearl," and I know Ideal Poultry has them on their website; other hatcheries might also.

Crossing one pearl (mottled lavender) to either of the birds you've got would make your breeding project go much faster.

 

[NatJ]

Short of having an existing pair of lavender mottled OEGB's...Or is there anything that will increase my chances (of course other than hatching 32+ chicks at a time ) I need a much larger coop and run Stat!

Coop size: yes, you may need a larger one, but early culling can really help. (Culling in this case includes selling or giving away, as well as killing.) The F1s will all look a lot like each other, and of course you'll keep some of each gender.

But when you start hatching F2 chicks, you will be able to recognize the lavenders at hatch, and probably also the mottled ones. I'm not sure whether you will be able to tell lavender mottled apart from plain lavender, but if you can that's even better.

Any chick that does not show lavender or mottling can be culled right away. This will mean you're only raising about half as many chicks, and the ones you are raising are the best choices for further breeding.

Of the lavender F2s, about 1/4 should actually be mottled, 2/4 should carry mottling, and 1/4 do not have the mottling gene. Likewise with the mottled ones: 1/4 lavender, 2/4 carry lavender, 1/4 no lavender gene. So crossing the F1 male to the F2 pullets that are lavender OR mottled gives an improved chance of getting chicks that are lavender and mottled. And again, you can cull the black ones really early.

For hatching lots of eggs: two incubators can work really well. Every week, you add another batch of eggs to one incubator. Every week, you move the eggs that are due to hatch into the other incubator, where they hatch. Then you clean the hatching incubator in time for next week's batch of eggs.

If you're hatching chicks every single week, especially if you then cull half or more of them, you can combine some of the age groups so there are fewer brooders/pens to tend. It's usually safe to put day-old chicks in with week-old chicks, and it's probably OK to have a few two-week chicks in there as well. You would generally want the little chicks to outnumber the big chicks, but that is exactly what happens if you cull a few more every time you can recognize that they aren't what you want. Some cockerels can be identified as early as 2-3 weeks, so you might cull all of them that are not lavender + mottled. (Because crossing F2 pullets back to the F1 male is about the same amount useful for breeding purposes, and helps keep down the number of birds you are dealing with.)

If you don't have an easy way to give away or sell chicks, you might be disposing of many baby chicks, or you might raise them for a few weeks and then butcher them like quail (tiny birds taste fine, they're just fiddly to deal with.) But there is no reason to raise them to full maturity if you know they are not what you want for breeding.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Gonna get a picture of my Dwarf silkie today. Past couple days I haven't had the chance.