How does "blue" work?

[WallTenters]

It is in the standard to have dark lacing on all blue varieties. It seems the best way to get this lacing is breeding back to black. That's another reason splashes are so wonderful - you can keep splash hens and a really nice black cock and get lots of beautiful blue babies (100% out of these breedings will be blue).

I really like the very light, almost ghosty-blues, with a more moderate amount of lacing, but the standards do call for dark lacing.

 

[jeremy]

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I'm a fan of the pale blues too.

 

[InviteTanner]

I have a pair of young Wyandotte pullets that are colored like this. From what I'm reading and seeing in pictures, this is very close to the standard, correct?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Funny, I was looking this up today. Each breed has it's standards but when it comes to blue color your looking for lacing and dark blue hackles and head.

Oprington:

Blue
Male Plumage: Hackles, saddle, wing bow, back and tail dark slate blue. Remainder medium slate blue, each feather to show lacing of darker shade as on the back.
Female Plumage: Medium slate blue, laced with darker shade throughout except for head and neck hackle, dark slate blue.
In both sexes: Beak black. Eyes black or very dark brown, black prefered. Comb, face, wattles and ear-lobes bright red. Legs and feet black or blue. Toe-nails white.

 

[InviteTanner]

Here's the pair. I'll admit that I'm more fond of the pale, almost ghostly coloring of one of my blue pullets.

 

[pips&peeps]

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That is what the standard says, but we really don't have "lacing" on our blues here in the US. (except for some of the old lines of andalusians) It takes the pattern gene to get true lacing. This is why you hardly ever see a blue on Champion Row.

What we have is "edging" and the more black modifiers a blue bird carries, the darker the edging will be.

 

[jeremy]

What about the imported Blue Orps Jean? How could you tell whether or not they actually have a patterned gene that creates lacing not edging?

 

[pips&peeps]

I don't know how you would determine if your bird has it since it's recessive; except for visually seeing it.

I'm not sure all english orps carry it, that is something we would have to ask a UK breeder...........

 

[WallTenters]

The standard SAYS lacing, but the photos clearly show edging, not lacing. I think there is still a lot of work to be done with the blues. It's always harder getting a patterned bird onto champion row than a solid, because you're not just working on the conformation of the animal, but also on perfecting the pattern.

Also, certain colors always show an animal better. I learned this when working with hogs (I showed breeding animals in a few breeds). A black animal always looks better than a broken one, so if all else is equal the eye of any observer (including the judge) will turn to the black one instead of a broken or other-colored hog. The same could be said for cattle. Clear chestnut is also a good color, and bay on horses looks very nice (having the black in the main and tail really highlights the clear coloring of the body and a bay horse will look more finished than say a grey).

Anywho, back to chickens... I think that blacks and whites tend to do really well. These are also two of the easiest colors to master, and both look beautiful on healthy birds.