How to breed wheaton/blue wheatons??

[chickeneyfoot]

I bought a pair of wheaton/ blue wheaton ameraucanas & marans.

What is the breeding strategy for breeding them?
He listed it as wheaton/blue wheaton are they the same>?

 

[RAREROO]

Blue Wheaten is Wheaten with blue diluting the black. Crossong Bl Wh with Wh will give half of each. If you aren't familiar with how the blue gene works, do a search on here and you will find a chart.

 

[smoothmule]

Clint,
What will I get if I cross a blue wheaten rooster with solid blue hens? I have 2 pens right now (these will have variables since they're Serama) One pen is the blue wheaten rooster with 2 solid blue hens, one is laced the other plain blue.

The other pen is a cockerel out of that blue wheaten rooster but his wheaten markings are messy, could be other genes since Serama's are so full of those

His hens are both wheaten. The older hen is wheaten and the pullet is possibly by that same blue wheaten rooster. She looks a little more diluted than her mother.

I'd like to know what I "should" get from these crosses but I know I can get surprises from them.

Cathy

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Smoothmule:
Crossing Wheatens with Solids will result in hens that are solid, and roosters that are almost solid, er, Solid with leakage. Ratios for blue dilution would be the same as normal, 50% blue, 25% each of Black and Splash.

 

[smoothmule]

Thank you for that and I think my messy looking cockerel by my blue wheaten proved that. I think I'll do some changing around then. I have a very nice black rooster I can use for the 2 solid blue hens. I don't have a good blue cockerel for them so maybe I can make one.

Thank you for saving me from more messy colors. The lil messy cockerel is very nice type and small. What would be the best color hen for him ? Since he's so messy for color, would a wheaten hen help to bring the pattern back to more correct wheaten pattern or will he produce messy colors? The cool thing about the messy colors in Serama's is that if it's going to be a mess, really mix it up and I have 2 mottled hens that could go to him. Looks like I might need to be keeping some wheaten-ish pullets back this spring. I have another wheaten rooster as well.

So if breeding a solid blue hen to a blue wheaten rooster makes messy cockerel color and solid blue hens, then how do you get good blue wheaten roosters to begin with and what does a blue wheaten hen look like? I would like more of them. Will just breeding my blue wheaten rooster to wheaten hens give me correct blue wheaten pattern on the cockerels?

I'm sorry to hijack this thread chickeneyfoot but hopefully this will answer some questions for all of us.

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

What does a Blue wheaten hen look like? Well, they look like a regular wheaten except they are a shade lighter, and their tails are gray.
To get more blue wheatens with the birds you already have, breed the 'messy' cross (with the solid hens), and backcross the splash offspring hens to the Blue Wheaten Rooster. You should get 1/2 wheatens from that, 1/4 Blue Wheaten, 1/4 Splash Wheaten.

In case you don't know what a regular wheaten hen looks like, they are a light tan color overall, with a darker head and neck, and a black tail. Blue wheatens are lighter with gray tails, and splah wheatens are really light with sky grey-white tails, usually with a black feather here and there.

 

[smoothmule]

It would be easier to tell with a breed that was more standardized than the Serama's but I think my pullet might be a blue wheaten from that description.
They are not pure for wheaten but here is my pullet and her mother.
Mom

Daughter by the blue wheaten rooster

Father

As a young cockerel

 

[sjarvis00]

My exoerience is simple Blue wheaton x Blue wheaton will result in your best blue wheaton, You will get some nearly wheaton and some Splash wheaton out of this, I say dony use them as they do not always produce as expected. You cannot control certian things as easily when breeding the splash and wheaton results of teh blues that you can when breeding the actual blues of teh variety.
Stick with Blue wheaton x Blue Wheaton and cull or sell or what ever you choose to do with th erest and you will be happier with the end result.

 

[smoothmule]

Thank you sjarvis. The really nice thing about the Serama's is that anything goes as far as color. The wackier the better sometimes but I like the blue wheaten and will try to breed to improve it. I'll put both of these hens back with this rooster and take the solid blues out tonight. I may watch for another wheaten hen, maybe a better wheaten for him as well. Sounds like I can expect to keep the blue wheaten going from just this line with a couple more good wheaten hens and keep culling to get better.

Cathy

 

[chickeneyfoot]

What does blue wheaton & blue wheaton make? Is it like breeding blue marans?