Hello! and welcome to the OEGB thread.

[Jharper]

What color would be best to breed her with other than a LB?

 

[loveourbirds]

again thats a hard question to answer, but i use brown red hens. i think dark blue would be equally suitable, but i would look for good feather lacing.

 

[BGMatt]

What color would be best to breed her with other than a LB?

They all have minor issues, let me elaborate and you can choose:

Brown Red - The lemon coloring might be too dark in offspring
Black - Might not be enough of the lemon coloring in first generation
Blue - Might not be enough of the lemon coloring in first generation
Birchen - Lemon coloring might be too light in cockerels, pullets will be Silver Blue or Birchen
Silver Blue - Lemon Coloring might be too light in cockerels, pullets will be Silver Blue or Birchen
Splash - Might not be enough lemon coloring in first generation.

If it were me personally, my first choice would be Blue, my second choice Black, my third choice Splash, fourth choice Splash, fifth choice Brown Red and Last choice either Birchen of Silver Blue. The reasoning being it is very easy to breed more or less lacing. Harder to mess with shade of the lemon coloring. Blue maintains the lacing best of the Blue, Black and Splash options.

 

[Cjarvis]

They all have minor issues, let me elaborate and you can choose:

Brown Red - The lemon coloring might be too dark in offspring
Black - Might not be enough of the lemon coloring in first generation
Blue - Might not be enough of the lemon coloring in first generation
Birchen - Lemon coloring might be too light in cockerels, pullets will be Silver Blue or Birchen
Silver Blue - Lemon Coloring might be too light in cockerels, pullets will be Silver Blue or Birchen
Splash - Might not be enough lemon coloring in first generation.

If it were me personally, my first choice would be Blue, my second choice Black, my third choice Splash, fourth choice Splash, fifth choice Brown Red and Last choice either Birchen of Silver Blue. The reasoning being it is very easy to breed more or less lacing. Harder to mess with shade of the lemon coloring. Blue maintains the lacing best of the Blue, Black and Splash options.

The Brown Red if a correct Brown red will produce much darker in hackle, very orange in appearance, most lemon blue breeders will use a lemon hackled brown red from a lemon blue mating as they are already short a few genes that enhance the red in the hackle.
Blue, Black and Splash depending on their genetic base changes everything:
Extended black the females will not demonstrate hackle color for at least the first generation and most will not in the second.
Birchen Based the males will be very weak in hackle, saddle, and wing bow for at least two generations
Other genetic bases exist with black OE and you will not know what you have till you hatch some and see what they are.
Birchen and Silver Blue, Produce the best colored lemon males you will see, due to a lack of inherited red modifiers from both sides of the mating, they are truly stunning birds, but will not produce offspring on a regular basis that you know you can count on so you have to cull 3/4 of the hatch and you will not get any lemon blue pullets.
The best choice is a lemon blue male or a light hackled brown red from a lemon blue mating, second for me would be a splash male demonstrating considerable hackle leakage.

 

[Cjarvis]

OK, I just noticed you are in Ga. there are a few folks you can contact in your home state, the best lemon Blues in the country come from Ga.
I will PM you a contact.

 

[BGMatt]

The Brown Red if a correct Brown red will produce much darker in hackle, very orange in appearance, most lemon blue breeders will use a lemon hackled brown red from a lemon blue mating as they are already short a few genes that enhance the red in the hackle.
Blue, Black and Splash depending on their genetic base changes everything:
Extended black the females will not demonstrate hackle color for at least the first generation and most will not in the second.
Birchen Based the males will be very weak in hackle, saddle, and wing bow for at least two generations
Other genetic bases exist with black OE and you will not know what you have till you hatch some and see what they are.
Birchen and Silver Blue, Produce the best colored lemon males you will see, due to a lack of inherited red modifiers from both sides of the mating, they are truly stunning birds, but will not produce offspring on a regular basis that you know you can count on so you have to cull 3/4 of the hatch and you will not get any lemon blue pullets.
The best choice is a lemon blue male or a light hackled brown red from a lemon blue mating, second for me would be a splash male demonstrating considerable hackle leakage.

Thank you much for the additional clarity. I did perhaps oversimplify some things, and I didn't know that about the Birchen and Silver Blue. It makes sense though.

 

[Cjarvis]

No big deal BGMatt, I have made several crosses with Birchen, Black, Blue, Splash, and Brown Red over the years and many make things sound simple but it all based on several assumptions, I made crosses based on educated guesses then learned about the downsides the hard way so am very open to share my experiences with anyone willing to ask questions I can answer.

 

[BGMatt]

No big deal BGMatt, I have made several crosses with Birchen, Black, Blue, Splash, and Brown Red over the years and many make things sound simple but it all based on several assumptions, I made crosses based on educated guesses then learned about the downsides the hard way so am very open to share my experiences with anyone willing to ask questions I can answer.

Always appreciated. You're the one that discovered/made Opal right?

 

[Cjarvis]

Always appreciated. You're the one that discovered/made Opal right?

I didn't discover them just been working with them for several years. Others have actually hatched them out directly from a very specific line of Blacks from a very reputable breeder as well. Ron Smith was the first to actually raise the chicks he hatched most folks were culling them prior to that point. I did help write the proposed standard for them a few years back and they should be admitted to the ABA standard later this year.

 

[Sunsong99]

This is Smidgeon the Midget. When I got her she was a little tiny chipmunk looking baby. I kept waiting for her to grow as big as my other banties, but she never did. She is about the size of a dove. Is she an OEGB?