E Extended black question

[gallorojo]

How many chickens are actually E Extended Black that appear black? The reason I am asking this odd question is that in my experience, whenever I cross any pure black chicken, or, black barred chickens, they always turn out to be melanised silver birchens, and not E Extended Black. Perhaps I am simply misunderstanding something? When you use the chicken calculator, and you select black, it automatically gives you E extended black. Those results never match up with what I actually hatch out. If I "make" a black bird in the calculator by entering in a melanized silver birchen( which looks pure black), then, my results match up perfectly. I have crossed production type Barred Plymouth Rocks, black Ameraucanas, black Sumatras, White Faced Black Spanish bantams, black Marans, all of these have been melanised silver birchen-not one was E Extended black.

Does anyone have birds you are sure are E Extended Black that look pure black? What breeds?

What am I missing here?

 

[Illia]

Wait, do you mean crossing as in to another color? Well, yes, although the Chicken Calculator says crossing E extended black to something else results in blacks, it can't guess everything right on the dot.

Crossing true E extended blacks with most other colors will indeed create a birchen mocking effect but not a true Birchen. Has nothing to do with the purity of the black bird. I've got true black Araucanas and Ameraucanas as well as had some Jersey Giants, and yes, crossing them to other colors creates what appears as Birchen, but trust me, they're not. If you cross them together you'll see what I mean.

If you mean trying to breed black x black, then you probably just indeed have something else in there, even simple "rustiness" or gold leakage, not really sure.

 

[gallorojo]

I meant crossing black with another color- I have never crossed black with black.

You may be correct about this one-

I have never actually taken the 2 "birchen" ish looking part black birds and crossed them together. Sounds as if you have, cool.

I will go with this unless someone has more to add?

Thanks Ilia!