Gender guesses on this Lavender Orpington chick?

[KauaiChickenMama]

Thank you for your reply, @Overo Mare ! So you’re thinking she is DEFINITELY a pullet then? She’ll be 8 weeks old tomorrow.

And what about her breed? Is she looking any more like a (light) Lavender Orpington now? If behavior counts for anything, she has a VERY sweet disposition and is easy to pick up unlike the two other chicks that are in my nursery pen, lol.

I’m going to tag some more peeps that have commented on this thread, in hopes that they will weigh in after looking at the updated pics as well.

@homeschoolin momma
@Finnie
@TheOddOneOut
@Aunt Angus
@Lizzy733
@FeatherTay
@CrazyCochin
@LadiesAndJane
@Rhodebar Lover
@5 Points Wingfeather
@kurby22

 

[kurby22]

Thank you for your reply, @Overo Mare ! So you’re thinking she is DEFINITELY a pullet then? She’ll be 8 weeks old tomorrow.

And what about her breed? Is she looking any more like a (light) Lavender Orpington now? If behavior counts for anything, she has a VERY sweet disposition and is easy to pick up unlike the two other chicks that are in my nursery pen, lol.

I’m going to tag some more peeps that have commented on this thread, in hopes that they will weigh in after looking at the updated pics as well.

@homeschoolin momma
@Finnie
@TheOddOneOut
@Aunt Angus
@Lizzy733
@FeatherTay
@CrazyCochin
@LadiesAndJane
@Rhodebar Lover
@5 Points Wingfeather
@kurby22

She definitely looks like an Orpington! If she is a lavender and came from lavender parents as the breeder says, I have read that without reinserting some black Orps that carry the lavender gene back into the genetic line, the lavender becomes more and more diluted. So she may in fact be a very very light lavender I would guess if you bred her with a lavender rooster, you would get lavender babies that are more typical in coloring.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Hi BYC Peeps!
Here are some updated pics of my Lavender Orpington chick who is currently 7 weeks, 5 days old.

Your opinions?

Wow, she’s the lightest lavender I’ve ever seen! That’s insane. She’s really cool.
And yes. She.

 

[Aunt Angus]

A VERY light, VERY cute, and VERY female lavender Orpington!!!

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Light lavender orp. Pullet it appears, although she has Dino feet and shanks.

 

[KauaiChickenMama]

More pics...

 

[KauaiChickenMama]

She definitely looks like an Orpington! If she is a lavender and came from lavender parents as the breeder says, I have read that without reinserting some black Orps that carry the lavender gene back into the genetic line, the lavender becomes more and more diluted. So she may in fact be a very very light lavender I would guess if you bred her with a lavender rooster, you would get lavender babies that are more typical in coloring.

So if I wanted to breed her later on, would I want to look for a Lavender Orpington rooster in order to have offspring with more color? Or would I look for a Black Orpington rooster with the lavender gene? (Btw, how on earth would you even find a rooster like that?)

 

[kurby22]

So if I wanted to breed her later on, would I want to look for a Lavender Orpington rooster in order to have offspring with more color? Or would I look for a Black Orpington rooster with the lavender gene? (Btw, how on earth would you even find a rooster like that?)

I think you would be able to just use a Lav Orp rooster, since he would be from a new genetic line more than likely. I believe what happens to create a super light lavender is too much inline breeding (mating the same rooster with his progeny instead of inserting new genetics, like a black Orp that helps darken up the colors). Ideally you’d use a black Orp that is split to lavender (came from at least one lavender parent but born black so you know he carries one copy of the Lav gene). You would mate him to your lady, and then pick one of their babies that comes out lavender and mate back to your original hen that carries two copies of the Lav gene. If you don’t know if the black Orp carries the Lav gene, you'd have to mate a black with your hen, then get a baby from them that’s a boy and mate it with your hen and by the F3 generation you would get lavender babies haha. So complicated! Your best bet is to find a lavender rooster from a different gene pool than the woman you got yours from and see how their babies come out! This is one of the only colors I really understand in chickens right now and it’s still confusing I’m considering doing this with my lavender Ameraucanas and there’s a local breeder here who sells black Ameraucanas that are split to lavender (one Lav copy) that I might consider buying at some point—to see if I can clean up their feathers (weak and shredded) I would love to breed them!

 

[KauaiChickenMama]

Wow, breeding can be so complicated! I admire you for studying that whole process @kurby22 ! It makes sense that she may be so light in color due to too much of the same genes.

Truthfully, I’m just glad SHE IS A PULLET! (Woohoo!!!) She was the only one that hatched out of the 12 hatching eggs I put under my broody. She’s my miracle chicken! And she is SUCH a little sweetheart! I’m fine with her being light. She’s a keeper.

You mentioned weak and shredded feathers. I’ve read some comments about this with Lavender Orps. I’m not sure what that’s all about but I’ll need to look into it.

She’s a pullet! She’s a pullet! Woohoo!

 

[kurby22]

Wow, breeding can be so complicated! I admire you for studying that whole process @kurby22 ! It makes sense that she may be so light in color due to too much of the same genes.

Truthfully, I’m just glad SHE IS A PULLET! (Woohoo!!!) She was the only one that hatched out of the 12 hatching eggs I put under my broody. She’s my miracle chicken! And she is SUCH a little sweetheart! I’m fine with her being light. She’s a keeper.

You mentioned weak and shredded feathers. I’ve read some comments about this with Lavender Orps. I’m not sure what that’s all about but I’ll need to look into it.

She’s a pullet! She’s a pullet! Woohoo!

Haha, thanks! I'm happy that you got a miracle chicken and it turned out to be a girl! She is going to be a beautiful lady!

Yeah, there isn't a lot of information out there on it, but it seems to be an issue with the double recessive traits like lavender in particular. My rooster boy Eevee has pretty obvious shredded feathers, he's still unique and beautiful to me, but he would be DQ'd for showing him. Most of his tail feathers are sad and broken and his wings have a bunch of feathers that look like little dusters at the ends. You can see him here if you want to see the shredded feathering

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ed-fellas-photo-contest.1499742/post-25080411

Yay for a pullet!!