First time flock owner, thinking about hatching out some in the spring. What will i be looking at with these breeds i have?

[ZerkerChicken]

Hey all. Still learning about genetics and all but just wanted some general info on what I might see if I do some hatching of what I've got.

My flock consists of 14 hens and a Lavender orpington roo.
HEN LIST:

2- Lav orpington​

1- chocolate orpington​

2 -Rhode Island Red​

2 - Red star​

2- Plymouth rock​

3 - barred rocks​

2 - easter Eggers (golden-esque with some black tips on em)​

​

I know the Lavenders will make more lavenders of course with them both being recessive genes. And the lavXChoc will not be Lavender but possibly black-brown since both are black overlay if I interpret it correctly. I don't know whose eggs are whose besides the EE's since they have green eggs.

So I'm just trying to figure out basics as I delve into this stuff deeper and possibly sell off some chicks in the future.

 

[DemeterAD9]

I hatched out eggs from my birds for the first time this last spring and let me tell you it was fun! My goal was nice dual purpose meaty birds and colored layers so I watched my birds and made sure I knew who laid what so I could keep track of the result. Of course you don’t really need to know who the mothers are if you aren’t too concerned about that.

Your barred birds will give you sex linked chicks, males will have a light colored spot on the tops of their head at hatch. I don’t have experience with lavender but I would expect the pullets to be black while the cockerels will likely look like their barred mothers.

For the EEs, unless the mothers carry two blue genes only half the daughters will lay a colored eggs. If they have two copies for blue then all of their young will carry a copy and the girls will lay a green tinted egg. For feather color, no clue as EEs are mutts who come in all sorts of colors and patterns.

As for the other breeds I’ve no idea what colors you’d get. You can try the chicken calculator to get an idea. Takes a bit of fiddling with to understand though.
https://kippenjungle.nl/chickencalculator.html

 

[ZerkerChicken]

Yeah I'm still trying to figure out that calculator

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

Hey all. Still learning about genetics and all but just wanted some general info on what I might see if I do some hatching of what I've got.

My flock consists of 14 hens and a Lavender orpington roo.
HEN LIST:

2- Lav orpington​

1- chocolate orpington​

2 -Rhode Island Red​

2 - Red star​

2- Plymouth rock​

3 - barred rocks​

2 - easter Eggers (golden-esque with some black tips on em)​

​

I know the Lavenders will make more lavenders of course with them both being recessive genes. And the lavXChoc will not be Lavender but possibly black-brown since both are black overlay if I interpret it correctly. I don't know whose eggs are whose besides the EE's since they have green eggs.

So I'm just trying to figure out basics as I delve into this stuff deeper and possibly sell off some chicks in the future.

You are correct with the lavender hens. With your rooster they will produce 100% lavender offspring.

The chocolate orpington will give you solid black pullets and cockerels split to chocolate, but you won't be able to tell the difference since the cockerels will be solid black.

The Rhode Island reds will produce 100% black offspring with your rooster. Some of them may have gold leakage around the head.

The red stars depend on how your birds look. If they have black tails, then the offspring will be black with red leakage. If they have white tails, the offspring will either be black with red leakage or white with red leakage.

I can't answer on the Plymouth rocks because I don't know what color they are.

The barred rocks will give you sexlinks. Pullets will be solid black, but cockerels will be barred.

Since you say the Easter Eggers have black feather tips, their offspring will be black with gold leakage. Probably with pea combs and a chance for them to lay blue eggs.

Lavender is on extended black, which is the most dominant base pattern, so all offspring from your rooster will be black. They will all also be split for lavender, but that is not visible. If you have any questions regarding the genetics, please feel free to ask.

 

[ZerkerChicken]

The red stars depend on how your birds look. If they have black tails, then the offspring will be black with red leakage. If they have white tails, the offspring will either be black with red leakage or white with red leakage.

I can't answer on the Plymouth rocks because I don't know what color they are.

The barred rocks will give you sexlinks. Pullets will be solid black, but cockerels will be barred.

Since you say the Easter Eggers have black feather tips, their offspring will be black with gold leakage. Probably with pea combs and a chance for them to lay blue eggs.

Interesting, the Red stars have the black tails feather.

The Plymouth are all white.

The sex link for the barred rock will be cool for easy identification!

The EE with gold leakage might be an interesting mix to see

Seems like I'll need another type of rooster in the future for non black chickens the next go around. Learning is fun haha

What would your suggestions be for a rooster bringing more color into the flock assuming i have the same 14 type of hens?

I appreciate your help on educating!

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

"Plymouth Rock" is the breed.
The color/pattern descriptor is tacked on to the breed name, and people often drop "Plymouth"

Barred Plymouth Rock = Barred Rock
White Plymouth Rock = White Rock

If your white rocks are recessive white, then the lav x wr offspring should be solid black, and split to recessive white (and lavender)

If there's dominant white at play, you may get paint chicks

White can hide genes, so you might get some surprises.

Edit - removed a section I don't think applies to your cross (previously thought it did)

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

Interesting, the Red stars have the black tails feather.

The Plymouth are all white.

The sex link for the barred rock will be cool for easy identification!

The EE with gold leakage might be an interesting mix to see

Seems like I'll need another type of rooster in the future for non black chickens the next go around. Learning is fun haha

What would your suggestions be for a rooster bringing more color into the flock assuming i have the same 14 type of hens?

I appreciate your help on educating!

As @Not-so Slick Chicken said, the white rocks could produce black or white offspring.

And the rooster depends on your goals for your flock. What are you eventually looking for when hatching? Certain egg colors, fun colors, pure breeds? If you don't want all the black offspring, then avoid solid colored roosters. Examples are black, lavender, chocolate, barred. Those are all extended black based and would typically produce black offspring.

 

[ZerkerChicken]

"Plymouth Rock" is the breed.
The color/pattern descriptor is tacked on to the breed name, and people often drop "Plymouth"

Barred Plymouth Rock = Barred Rock
White Plymouth Rock = White Rock

If your white rocks are recessive white, then the lav x wr offspring should be solid black, and split to recessive white (and lavender)

If there's dominant white at play, you may get paint chicks

White can hide genes, so you might get some surprises.

Edit - removed a section I don't think applies to your cross (previously thought it did)

Interesting. Good to know nomenclature better.

Paint would be cool. I like a grab bag of colors if it'll happen with white hiding stuff!

 

[ZerkerChicken]

As @Not-so Slick Chicken said, the white rocks could produce black or white offspring.

And the rooster depends on your goals for your flock. What are you eventually looking for when hatching? Certain egg colors, fun colors, pure breeds? If you don't want all the black offspring, then avoid solid colored roosters. Examples are black, lavender, chocolate, barred. Those are all extended black based and would typically produce black offspring.

 

[ZerkerChicken]

And the rooster depends on your goals for your flock. What are you eventually looking for when hatching? Certain egg colors, fun colors, pure breeds? If you don't want all the black offspring, then avoid solid colored roosters. Examples are black, lavender, chocolate, barred. Those are all extended black based and would typically produce black offspring.

Not really too interested in pure breeds at the moment. More so fun colored eggs and plumage (don't have to be both in one) right now. The two kiddos and my wife like the current color plumage differences we've got going on so I would like to keep adding fun looking ones in the future. So for that what would be a interesting line to introduce?

From the limited reading I've done seems like if I want the color eggs to vary I'd have to play with Amerecauna. We get a pretty good egg color mix already have some darker browns, speckeled-ish to almost Blush on some for the brown layers and the 2-EEs are pale blueish and a light green usually.