Genetics help needed

[Bleenie]

I have been hatching eggs from my flock and getting a good percentage of chicks that are Dominant White with Black spots & I am having a hard time figuring out how I am getting these chicks...

They are Wyandottes and a few Wyandotte/OE mixes.
The roo is Buff Laced(SBLR x Buff)
The hens are Blue, Splash, Black & Buff Wyandotes and the OE hens are jet Black.

Does whit have to be dominant in only one parent to get this coloring or two? I have been rehoming all of these chicks but I am wondering if the "keepers" will still have this gene?

 

[Kev]

it's from the blue, black hens.

dominant white came from buff lace(if he did not have DW, he would be gold laced). this crossed with any black or blue chickens will give you these sort of chicks.

Bascially what's happening is that dominant white and "solid black"(blue and splash count as solid blacks) are both dominant. Blue and black hens are throwing black chicks.. except your buff laced has DW which changes black to white.

 

[Bleenie]

Thank You!! I really appreciate your help. =D

So if two of these chicks are later bred together will their chicks be all white?

 

[Kev]

If both chicks were from buff lace x black/blue, then 3/4 of their chicks will be white. 1/4 will be pure dominant white, 1/2 single dose white, and 1/4 no white. I keep forgetting important details. Not all of the chicks will be solid white at hatch, 1/4 of them will have partridge down at hatch & this will be independent of the white chick ratio. So there will be some "brown chickens with white details" and "brown chickens with black details".

There's another thing about dominant white, it does not cover up red/gold pigments too good. Red pyles are a perfect example of this. The black on body of roosters is all removed, leaving the red on hackles, duckwing patch and saddles. So is your buff laced.. the black lace is turned to white, leaving the gold centers mostly unaffected.

Some of the white chicks might show some buff on them at maturity. That's because there isn't really a single gene for 'solid black'- solid blacks have either one of the two main genes for 'mostly black' plus melanizers that help turn them solid black.

So if your goal is perfectly solid white birds and have problems of buff/red/brown showing up on the whites, it would actually be good idea to breed some of the chicks to a solid black chicken, especially if you have a solid black rooster. but either a black or blue hen with no off color anywhere on them will work in this goal. If you are stuck with blacks with color on them, it is better to use ones with white lacing on necks than brown lacing-remember DW doesn't cover up red pigments too well.. so if the bird 'leaks' white, you can't see it on a dominant white chicken but if it leaks brown/red/buff you will see it.

 

[Bleenie]

Thank you for writing that in an easy to understand way, i really do appreciate it. I don't plan on keeping any of the white chicks now that i know what they'll probably produce later on. I think i'll just stick with the BBS & buff laced babies =)