Is this a Rooster or Hen, also the breed....

[rod5591]

Here are they gray chicks 3 possible fathers.

We bought DaddyRooster from a local farmer. He is a cross between a Maran and another breed (I forget which!). He has black/brown feathers, large comb and wattles, and his tailfeathers are black with an iridescent teal sheen in the sun. His feat/legs are black and feathered. He's a great rooster and I saw him chase away a coopers hawk that was attacking the hens.

His son#1 has a peacomb and has cheek puffs. He looks like an EasterEgger, so his mother was likely one of my easter egger hens. His feet are black and not feathered. His tailfeathers are black with an iridescent teal sheen in the sun.

Son #2 has a black and red speckled breast, a large comb and wattles, and unfeathered yellow feet/legs. His saddle feathers are orange/red and tailfeathers are black with an iridescent teal sheen in the sun. I am thinking his mother was one of my Rhode Island Reds.

 

[rod5591]

The possible mothers are my easter egger hens (see photos), I also have Noir marans (chocolate brown/black), Black Australorp, Rhode Island Red, and Buff Orpingtons. See photos.

 

[NatJ]

The possible mothers are my easter egger hens (see photos), I also have Noir marans (chocolate brown/black), Black Australorp, Rhode Island Red, and Buff Orpingtons. See photos.

I think both chicks have blue, so each chick should have at least one parent that shows blue or splash.

I don't see any blue in the roosters, and they are definitely not splash, so I'm guessing the blue (gray colored) hen in the third photo is the mother of both chicks.

Any of the three roosters could be the father, but I think the one with clean legs and no beard is the most likely to be the father of both chicks.

 

[3KillerBs]

I think both chicks have blue, so each chick should have at least one parent that shows blue or splash.

I don't see any blue in the roosters, and they are definitely not splash, so I'm guessing the blue (gray colored) hen in the third photo is the mother of both chicks.

Any of the three roosters could be the father, but I think the one with clean legs and no beard is the most likely to be the father of both chicks.

To the limits of my genetic knowledge I agree.

Since the chicks are blue they have to have a blue or splash mother since none of the possible fathers are blue or splash.

 

[rod5591]

I think both chicks have blue, so each chick should have at least one parent that shows blue or splash.

I don't see any blue in the roosters, and they are definitely not splash, so I'm guessing the blue (gray colored) hen in the third photo is the mother of both chicks.

Any of the three roosters could be the father, but I think the one with clean legs and no beard is the most likely to be the father of both chicks.

What is "splash"? sorry I am not familiar with that term.

By the hen in the third photo, you mean the easter egger? The photo name is EEHen2.jpg?

 

[NatJ]

By the hen in the third photo, you mean the easter egger? The photo name is EEHen2.jpg?

Yes, that is the one I meant.

What is "splash"? sorry I am not familiar with that term.

A Blue chicken has one copy of the blue gene (turns all black to a gray shade called blue), and one copy of the not-blue gene. A chicken with two copies of the Blue gene is a lighter color called "Splash." Splash is usually a light gray or off-white, often with splotches of black here and there.

Splash or blue affects only the black parts of a chicken, so an all-black chicken becomes blue or splash all over, but a black-tailed buff chicken becomes blue-tailed buff or splash-tailed buff, and a chicken with black lacing becomes a chicken with blue lacing or splash lacing (like Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and Splash Laced Red Wyandottes.) In this case, your chicks have blue almost all over, but I was looking at the black tails or breasts of your roosters to decide that they do not have the blue gene. So I looked for a hen with blue or splash in her coloring, because the chicks must have inherited the blue gene from her.

 

[rod5591]

Yes, that is the one I meant.



A Blue chicken has one copy of the blue gene (turns all black to a gray shade called blue), and one copy of the not-blue gene. A chicken with two copies of the Blue gene is a lighter color called "Splash." Splash is usually a light gray or off-white, often with splotches of black here and there.

Splash or blue affects only the black parts of a chicken, so an all-black chicken becomes blue or splash all over, but a black-tailed buff chicken becomes blue-tailed buff or splash-tailed buff, and a chicken with black lacing becomes a chicken with blue lacing or splash lacing (like Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, and Splash Laced Red Wyandottes.) In this case, your chicks have blue almost all over, but I was looking at the black tails or breasts of your roosters to decide that they do not have the blue gene. So I looked for a hen with blue or splash in her coloring, because the chicks must have inherited the blue gene from her.

So my Delaware hen (white with black highlights) has splash coloring?

 

[NatJ]

So my Delaware hen (white with black highlights) has splash coloring?

No. Her coloring is caused by a different set of genes.

There are many possible genes at the E locus, that affect how black and gold are distributed on a chicken. A Splash chicken typically has E (Extended Black), that makes the chicken black all over. Then two copies of the blue gene dilute that black.

Your Delaware does not have E, but does have something else, probably e^b (Partridge). That would give her some pattern of gold and black, until some other genes get involved.

She's got the Silver gene (replaces all gold with white), and the Columbian gene (restricts black to the neck, tail, and some wing feathers), and the Barring gene (makes white bars across all the feathers, which breaks the black up into tiny dots.)

All of those together give the pattern you see on the Delaware.

Compared with a Delaware, a Splash chicken tends to have the "white" parts less white, and the black bits are not distributed in any particular pattern.

 

[NatJ]

Have you heard about the chicken calculator?
There are a few versions with slightly different features, but here's one:
http://kippenjungle.nl/breeds/crossbreeds.html

It has some breeds at the top, or you can just change the genes in the dropdown boxes and watch the little chicken pictures change. It's designed to calculate offspring from various crosses, although I mostly use it just to model the effects of specific genes to help me understand them better. The default genes are the ones marked + which means they are the form found in the wild Red Junglefowl.

I've learned a lot about genetics just from playing with that, although I've also read other sources. But the calculator is more fun than reading pages of text