English Orpington BBS and Laced genetics questions

[Egzermalda]

That chick looks rather blue to me.

Could that chick be one of my Orps? Either pure BLS or BLS X Blue?

 

[nicalandia]

Could that chick be one of my Orps? Either pure BLS or BLS X Blue?

Its a Blue or Bluex chick, no doubt about it

 

[NatJ]

So, of the 4 chicks in the incubator pic, which one do you think is hers? They showed me the empty shell one of them hatched out of and it is definitely my GC's.

I would guess it's one of the white ones.

Their BYM includes Silkie Crosses and "white" eggs.

I would expect the blue to have one parent that shows blue or splash, or possibly a parent that is white (which can hide any other color.)

I think I see a light spot on the head of the black chick, which would mean it has barring. It should have a parent that shows white barring, or possibly a parent that is white (because a white chicken with white barring is not exactly obvious.)

That leaves the two white chicks, so I'm guessing one of them came from your egg. The Golden Comet probably gave the Dominant White gene, which turns black to white. The Black Laced Silver Orpington gave the silver gene (turns red or gold to white.) So the chick would be silver with white patterning (meaning, it looks white.)

If one chick is a Silkie cross, it might have extra toes or a crest on the head or muff/beard on the face, or it might not show any of those traits. Some of those are more obvious when it grows instead of right at hatch.

 

[Egzermalda]

So, an update. I hatched 7 chicks. 4 Blacked Laced Silver Orpingtons. 2 Black Laced Silver Orpington roo over a Blue Orpington hen. And 1 Black Laced Silver Orpington Roo over my Golden Sex-linked hen. Attached are some pics. The Blue and BLS look as expected. The Golden Sex link Cross is mostly light yellow but does have a few small dark spots and a slightly darker head. I have a bunch more of these eggs hatching next week. Chicks are available for pick-up in Golconda, NV 89414.

 

[Egzermalda]

For Golden Comet. eWh/eWh, Co/Co, I/i+, Mh/mh+, s+/,

View attachment 3458331

Thank you! This very helpful. Is this true for all the white tailed red sex-linked crosses? Mine was actually sold as a "Golden Sex-link" from Dunlop Hatchery in Idaho. From what I can tell, "It was created by crossing a Rhode Island Red rooster with a Rhode Island White hen."

 

[NatJ]

Is this true for all the white tailed red sex-linked crosses?

Yes, that should be true for most or all of the sexlinks where hens are red with a white tail.

 

[Egzermalda]

UPDATE! Results of my Black Laced Silver (BLS) X Blue and Splash English Orpingtons.
I ended up with 4 pullets and 6 cockerels from this cross. The pullets all look "Blue" and 2 have some minor birchen like bleed through. The cockerels are a bit more varied. 1 has a black base, the other 5 blue based. 2 have gold laced wing primaries, the others have blue or silver laced wing primaries.

So I need to choose one or two of these 6 cockerels to keep and need help deciding. I am going for Blue (and/or Splash) Laced Silver.

Question 1) Which of these 6 cockerels should I keep (or which should be culled)?

Question 2) Which of the following breedings would give me the best chance of Blue Laced Silvers? A) Mix crossed with mix (siblings). B) Mix roo over BLS hens, or C) BLS roo (dad) over Mix daughters. D) BLS roo (1/2 brothers) over Mix pullets.

Question 3) Why is there so much gold/red/birchen in these crosses? None of the parents showed the slightest amount of red/gold bleed through. The last 2 pictures are the parents.

A Bobcat got my Blue and Splash hens from last year, so they are no longer available for the breeding program. But I do have BLS hens and roos from both last year and this.
Thanks for any input!
@ColtHandorf @nicalandia @NatJ @3KillerBs

 

[NatJ]

I do have BLS hens and roos from both last year and this.

Are those "Black Laced Silver"? (Because "Blue Laced Silver" would have the same initials.)

The cockerels are a bit more varied. 1 has a black base, the other 5 blue based. 2 have gold laced wing primaries, the others have blue or silver laced wing primaries.

So I need to choose one or two of these 6 cockerels to keep and need help deciding. I am going for Blue (and/or Splash) Laced Silver.

Question 1) Which of these 6 cockerels should I keep (or which should be culled)?

Since you want silver, I would cull the cockerels that show gold.
If you have black-laced hens to work with, and you want blue lacing, I would cull the cockerel who has black.

That would leave you choosing among 3 cockerels that show both blue and silver. For them, I would probably start by looking carefully for any physical problems (crossbeak, crooked tail, extra-small, body shape badly wrong, etc.) I would also pay attention to temperament. If you don't find anything bad enough to make you cull one, then start looking more carefully at every detail you can think of. Or watch which one is most popular with the hens, and keep him.

Question 2) Which of the following breedings would give me the best chance of Blue Laced Silvers? A) Mix crossed with mix (siblings). B) Mix roo over BLS hens, or C) BLS roo (dad) over Mix daughters. D) BLS roo (1/2 brothers) over Mix pullets.

I would try any or all of B, C, D (laced x mix), using only mixes that show blue (not black.)

If you want just one pairing to try, I would use C or D (out of consideration for gold/silver genetics.)

Question 3) Why is there so much gold/red/birchen in these crosses? None of the parents showed the slightest amount of red/gold bleed through. The last 2 pictures are the parents.

Maybe the original blues had gold rather than silver.

A black or blue can be bred to have no leakage, so it will not show gold or silver, but it still carries the genes for either gold or silver. Crossing to a laced bird has produced some that are not solid black or blue, so they can show what gold or silver gene(s) they have.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I wouldn't use any of the F1 cockerels. I'd breed the F1 pullets back to the Black Silver-laced males. Preferably, one unrelated to their father if you have it.