Great breed combinations

[englishcockers]

chicken calculator seems to indicate that BR over Delaware (Silver Barred Columbian) would still give solid,black, barred offspring.

 

[donrae]

We could probably ask speckledhen what barred Rock and Delaware give, I'm sure she's done that...

 

[Ridgerunner]

We could probably ask speckledhen what barred Rock and Delaware give, I'm sure she's done that...

Great idea. I'll PM her. I really like that chicken calculator but it doesn't handle many details all that well.

 

[speckledhen]

Actually, I've never crossed a BR rooster over Delaware hen, only the reverse, Delaware over BR. I got completely barred birds, both male and female. The male was single factor barred (my late Rex) and then, his half sister, Delia.

Here are Rex and Delia, both from Delaware rooster over BR hen:





What is really funny is this is what I got from crossing Rex with Delia. This is Sammie Jo, who looks for all intents and purposes, like a pure Delaware (ignore Deacon in that picture. He's a whole 'nother story)

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can’t explain what is going on. I always thought Columbia was what caused that Delaware pattern and that is a dominant gene. Even when it is split it should dominate but your photos show otherwise. Maybe there is another recessive gene in play?

All I know is that the more I learn about chicken genetics the less I understand. That’s why it is good to make these crosses. You can predict all you want but surprises are all over the place.

Thanks for responding Cynthia. It is appreciated.

 

[speckledhen]

I can’t explain what is going on. I always thought Columbia was what caused that Delaware pattern and that is a dominant gene. Even when it is split it should dominate but your photos show otherwise. Maybe there is another recessive gene in play?

All I know is that the more I learn about chicken genetics the less I understand. That’s why it is good to make these crosses. You can predict all you want but surprises are all over the place.

Thanks for responding Cynthia. It is appreciated.

I always say that genes are like gremlins playing tricks on us. I never would have expected to get Sammie Jo from two barred birds. The BRs that Delia and Rex came out of were my Stukel BR hens and Isaac, of course, is their sire so he's definitely pure Delaware.

Ridge, Deacon, pictured above with Sammie, is also 1/2 Delaware, but his mother is Tiny, my black Amerau/EE/Sumatra/whatever-the-heck-she is hen. He has white skin and is very lean bodied like his mom, but thank God his temperament is like his daddy, Isaac's.

 

[CherriesBrood]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions guys. I do have a buff and I'm going to try to incubate some of her eggs and some eggs of my Americana. Hoping for the best. Does anyone know what a cross between a barred and a black astralop would look like?

Referring to ridgerunners question:

I have
2 barred roosters
Buff orpingtons
Black astralop
Gołden comet
Coco maroon
Gołden laced wandott
Americana
Leghorns
Black speckled sexed
RIR

 

[speckledhen]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions guys. I do have a buff and I'm going to try to incubate some of her eggs and some eggs of my Americana. Hoping for the best.

Does anyone know what a cross between a barred and a black astralop would look like?

Referring to ridgerunners question:

I have
2 barred roosters
Buff orpingtons
Black astralop
Gołden comet
Coco maroon
Gołden laced wandott
Americana
Leghorns
Black speckled sexed
RIR

If the male is barred, the chicks will be barred. He passes his barring gene to all progeny, IF he is properly double barred as a normal BR rooster would be. If he's single barred like my Rex in my previous post, he has only one barring gene and it will not always pass on so some birds will come out plain old black.

 

[CherriesBrood]

Ok that makes sense. Thank you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Buff orpingtons – In theory, black barred. In practice they could have some buff or even orange splotches in the black barring. Could be a fun one to hatch.

Black astralop – Black barred

Gołden comet – This is a marketing name and really doesn’t tell you a lot about the hen. She is a cross so her genetics will be mixed. The chicks will probably be black barred but you can get some red leakage, more likely with boys but girls can have some too.

Coco maroon - Black barred

Gołden laced wandott – Probably black barred and maybe some red leakage. The Pencilling and barring are both dominant but the barring will probably predominate.

Americana – No idea. There are eight recognized colors/patterns so they could be anything if they are pure Ameraucana. Good chance they ae EE’s so even more possibilities. If they lay green or blue eggs, you might get green or blue eggs.

Leghorns – I’ll assume white leghorns. There are other leghorn colors. You might get white chicks or black barred. There are two different genetic ways to make solid white. It depends on which way these leghorns are made white.

Black speckled sexed – I’m not sure what this is supposed to be so I can’t say.

RIR – Black barred possibly with red leakage.

This is an example of what I called leakage from a red rooster over a black hen. In theory this boy should be solid black.

Some more examples of leakage. These cockerels are supposed to be pure white but you can see some red leakage. Lots of different possibilities for leakage. It is not handled at all in the calculator because it is so random.