thanks tim, thats why i wanted to make them as there isnt a breeder that i can find in the uk, i do have access to other colours and can buy them if i need to, would you be able to tell me what colours i would need ,either by pm or on here ! many thanks
michelle
All of the descriptive names used in this post are phenotypes and not variety names.
You want to make a
golden duck wing first. Note I said golden duck wing
not a gold duck wing. The goal is to produce a silver duck wing phenotype male that has red on his shoulders- this is a golden duck wing.
Can you get silver duck wing females or silver wheaten females? If not let me know. You could use light brahma- but that may present a problem. If you have to use silver pencilled birds (dark brahma) that will also present its own problem..
Pick a red pyle male that has lots of red on his shoulders and back- the darker the red the better. Cross this male red pyle with silver duck wing females. This cross will produce F1 males that can be used in the next cross. They will be red pyle looking birds. I would hatch at least 5 males. You should get white adult males that have some red on their shoulders and back. If the adult males do not show some red on the shoulders, your birds do not carry autosomal red. You need the autosomal red, so if there is no red on the the shoulders you will have to stop the project.
Next cross.
Cross an F1 male with the most and darkest red on his shoulders with silver duck wing females. Hatch at least 30 BC1 chicks. Approximately half of the BC1 chicks will be some variation of white the other half will have non-white chick down. You want the chicks with the non-white down for breeding. Some of the BC1 chicks with the nonwhite down should grow into golden duck wing. Some of the BC1 females will be gold duck wing ( do not use for breeding) and some will look like silver duck wing ( use for breeding). These females that look like silver duck wing and may show some red on their shoulders ( a good thing) or they may not (which is still ok). You will have to put leg bands on each BC1 male so you can identify him.
Cross the BC1 silver duck wing females with the BC1 golden duck wing male that has he cleanest white ( straw color) hackles with red on his shoulders. This cross should only produce BC1F1 silver females and golden duck wing males.
This cross should not produce any gold duck wing females. If it does produce gold duck wing females that means the male you used was not pure for silver. Hybrid males ( carries silver and gold) can be used to make golden duck wing but they will also produce gold duck wing females when crossed with a silver female.
The next step is to introduce the blue gene to your golden duck wing.
Cross a superior golden duck wing male with a splash female ( I am assuming the splash carry silver). This will produce F1 blue chicks. Hatch 10 F1 chicks. The adults will be blue-like birds.
Back cross the superior golden duck wing male to the blue-like F1 females. Hatch 30 BC1 chicks. From the 30 chicks you should get a few blue golden duck wing females ( blue silver duck wing looking). These BC1F1 females may be dark silver duck wing but that is ok. Take a look at the tail feathers- only use silver duck wing females for breeding that have blue tail feathers.
Back cross the BC1F1 blue silver duck wing females to the superior male golden duck wing. This last cross should produce what you want.
Tim
PS. I will post this and come back later and read this again to make sure I did not make any mistakes.