How did this happen?

[sekeyslaks]

So I was out playing with my 10 wk old chicks and I just found out that 2 of my young cockerel's tail's are turning Blue as they mature!(you have to look really close to tell it's there) I never expected this because I thought that for the blue gene to express itself it had to have a copy of blue from both parents?? Their father was a Buff Orpington and I only have 1 visibly blue EE hen. So I'm just confused how I got these blue chicks? Here are pictures of the cockerels and their tails.

 

[LilJoe]

Easter eggs can give ANY coloration to their offspring. They do not breed true. (Normally)

 

[Backwoods Bntms]

One blue gene will express as blue, 2 make splash.

 

[keesmom]

So I was out playing with my 10 wk old chicks and I just found out that 2 of my young cockerel's tail's are turning Blue as they mature!(you have to look really close to tell it's there) I never expected this because I thought that for the blue gene to express itself it had to have a copy of blue from both parents?? Their father was a Buff Orpington and I only have 1 visibly blue EE hen. So I'm just confused how I got these blue chicks?

If a bird has the blue gene it will express itself. One copy of blue results in black being diluted to blue, 2 copies results in splash. Your visibly blue EE has one copy of blue, so approximately half her offspring will inherit it and the other half will not.

 

[nicalandia]

Their father was a Buff Orpington and I only have 1 visibly blue EE hen.

Pics of that "Visibly" blue EE hen would be nice, weird enough on many of my breeding experiments with self buff trying to isolate the pheomelanin diluters using my Naked Neck Buff Cochin Hen line, trying to avoid the columbian restrictor effect found on self buff lines I used a ER/ER game rooster(later confirmed to be only ER/e+?), on the F1 I encounter a "Blue" like gene that behaved like blue(could not confirmed it with proper outcrossing), so there could be a small chance that your buff line also carries a blue or blue like gene in heterozygous form, crossing to a black or birchen line would definitely confirm that

This is a thread on "The Classroom" at the coop forums I made way back in 2012: http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=106278&page=1

some pics.

ER/eWh BC1(F1 crossed back to Buff Cochin Hen)

Adult BC1

Yound BC2(BC1 blue like cockerel crossed back to Buff Cochin Hen line)

 

[nicalandia]

Also, check some of the pullets from the other "Are they cream" thread, some may also show this

 

[sekeyslaks]

If a bird has the blue gene it will express itself. One copy of blue results in black being diluted to blue, 2 copies results in splash. Your visibly blue EE has one copy of blue, so approximately half her offspring will inherit it and the other half will not.

Oh ok I probably confused the effects of blue with some other color. Silly me!

 

[sekeyslaks]

Pics of that "Visibly" blue EE hen would be nice, weird enough on many of my breeding experiments with self buff trying to isolate the pheomelanin diluters using my Naked Neck Buff Cochin Hen line, trying to avoid the columbian restrictor effect found on self buff lines I used a ER/ER game rooster(later confirmed to be only ER/e+?), on the F1 I encounter a "Blue" like gene that behaved like blue(could not confirmed it with proper outcrossing), so there could be a small chance that your buff line also carries a blue or blue like gene in heterozygous form, crossing to a black or birchen line would definitely confirm that

This is a thread on "The Classroom" at the coop forums I made way back in 2012: http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=106278&page=1

some pics.

ER/eWh BC1(F1 crossed back to Buff Cochin Hen)

Adult BC1

Yound BC2(BC1 blue like cockerel crossed back to Buff Cochin Hen line)

Here is a pic of "Bluey" as is her unoriginal nickname,I have 3 other hens that have the same sorta look but they don't have a visible blue to them at all,if they had a blue gene at all it would be splash.Also I just remembered I had one other EE hen who was a dark partridge with a slight blue tail(no pics sadly) I gathered the hatching eggs of my current young ones before she died so there is a chance one or both of the blue tailed chicks are hers as well. And that's really cool that you encountered a rogue "blue" gene in your projects! It would be fun to research why that happened!

 

[nicalandia]

Here is a pic of "Bluey" as is her unoriginal nickname,

Bluey is actually Splashey....

The hen in the pic is actually homozygous for the blue Bl/Bl gene, making her genetically Splash

Like this Splash laced red wyandotte hen

The genetics behind is that blue/splash has a really hard time diluting the melanized neck section, specially in laced birds

 

[sekeyslaks]

Bluey is actually Splashey....

The hen in the pic is actually homozygous for the blue Bl/Bl gene, making her genetically Splash

Like this Splash laced red wyandotte hen

The genetics behind is that blue/splash has a really hard time diluting the melanized neck section, specially in laced birds

I'm afraid her name is still "Bluey". I don't just call her Bluey for her blue(apparently splash) gene,her name is short for Kabluey cause when she was a pullet she was so energetic and jumped around so much she actually sprained her left leg and it swelled up enough that i thought it would explode! It healed but it makes her leg look funny and she is still energetic. I'm happy she is splash, it makes her look unique.