Isnt 'Splash' just blue and white?.....

chickenpiedpiper

Songster
11 Years
Aug 4, 2008
725
17
141
New Durham NH
I have blue Cochins, (among other things) and I know the blue genetics, Blue black and splash etc. But recently on 'craigs list', I have been seeing people advertising Splash birds, but when I go to look at the birds, they are not white with blue markings, but something else.

One lady had cochins that looked like RIR but in the cochin size and mould. Some silkies on CL now are black with silver and redish feathers. My first thought is that these are just mixed colors, and tho visually interesting, not up to the apa standards book. But both people have stated that these birds come from show winning stock! Now I dont have an apa book of standards, I dont show, But now I am wishing I did have one.

Are the three birds below considered splash? or what? (Please remember, I am not kocking other peoples birds, I am simply trying to learn and understand what I am seeing. a term like splash could be pretty widely used, that is what I am seeking to clarify, Thanks)

14075_splash_roo.jpg

14075_piglets_011.jpg
14075_piglets_012.jpg
 
To answer your basic question, none of the birds pictured is Splash & believe me none are show winners. Since you breed Blue Cochins and say you understand blue genetics you really know the answer to your question but are being confused by others' misunderstanding. In breeding blue birds the results can only be blue, black or splash. There is no etc.
The Splash variety from a blue mating is defined in the Standard & while there is some variation in how splash appears it does not include red birds. It isn't a term that can be "widely used" if used correctly.
 
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Not a splash in the bunch. I don't see any SQ either, unless it was to county fair and they were the only birds in the fair.
That's the downside to the chicken movement - people knowing only enough to be dangerous, and it really comes out on CL.
 
A splash is technically a black bird with two copies of the blue gene. It appears white or off-white with "accent" feathers, some having more than others.

This is a splash Ameraucana and second pic is a splash Orpington. The folks you mentioned are using the term "splash" incorrectly.

DCP_4295.jpg


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here is my 'splash' silkie
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19130_100_1381.jpg


and she is out of SQ stock, because the parents are show birds, even though she is showable, if i remember she can't get above a BB, because splash is not a recognized color
 
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Splash IS a recognized variety for silkies, and has been so for nine years.


Let's say someone has a bird that won at a large sanctioned show. Okay, for whatever reason, he or she ends up paired with a bird with some faults. Maybe some of the offspring are really nice, but in some the faults are carried through, or multiplied if the show winner also carried copies of less than perfect genes. So while both the perfect and less than perfect offspring can and likely do go on to have more chicklets, how many of all of them do you think will continue to have "perfect" offspring?

And that is assuming that they have at least one ancestor showed at a sanctioned show--as others have said, sometimes small non-sanctioned shows seem to seek out the least knowledgeable people to judge rather than hiring a proper judge who knows what he or she is doing.

The cochins both have what appears to be wry tails; the silkie looks grey--depending on where it has red coming in, it is likely male. Do you have any better photos of the back and sides? It is very difficult to find a grey male without red.
 
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Actually Silkies are the only ones in which splash is recognized.

ETA: Sonoran and I were posting at the same time
 
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