Lavender-Based Leghorn Breeding & Improvement Discussion

[Miami Leghorn]

you guys are giving me way too much credit. . IMO it's the synergy of us all discussing this together and the magic of Google and some of the great Genetics books that I have. (And the chicken calculator where you can activate your theory). That said The Moonshiner has real life genetic experience and mine is largely theoretical.

Is post 81 on this thread what you were thinking of Miami Leghorns?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duckwing-leghorns.1291747/page-9#post-21984704
Do y'all think we should discuss goldens there and lavenders here -- or is there no problem with the mixing?

I'll hop over there and put in something that I now see looking at that YouTube video again......

OH -- and in reply to something that HaikuHeritageFarms put in here....Who among us has had successive generations of lavender.....did you see a color fade to a lighter and lighter and lighter lavender. (I don't think we all have had the birds for that many generations. I think the ones I have in the pen now are the children of splits...so their lav gene would be refreshed.....But if these are bred for a few generations would the lavender begin to look like white?

Yes, you're right didn't mean to hijack this thread.

 

[ChicKat]

I don't see it as a hijack -- it's just so fun to talk about it all -- and I think exciting, but then later on it gets like spaghetti -- and someone looking for good info in that thread would miss it because it's here.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

I don't see it as a hijack -- it's just so fun to talk about it all -- and I think exciting, but then later on it gets like spaghetti -- and someone looking for good info in that thread would miss it because it's here.

Yeah, I agree... coming from a breeding background, I get caught up in anything discussing possible outcomes. I appreciate the shout out, but I'm just a chick learning to scratch..People like you and the OG MoonShiner are the ones pulling up worms of knowledge and experience. Don't sell yourself short; the synergy between theory/hypothesis and execution is invaluable, always has been in any endeavor.

 

[ChicKat]

 

[The Moonshiner]

what can a person say? Kiki RULES! Awesomely Awsome!

Ya. She should really get into the genetics game more.
There's no doubt she could bring a lot into the discussion just with her search skills.
You gotta start somewhere and a @ChicKat thread is a great place to do so.

 

[ChicKat]

Just the incomplete feathering in the straw-colored areas on the cockerals

Good insights.
This is the first I've heard of effect on the red side of the equation, I thought that those match-stick looking feathers were only on the black side.
Any chance of a pict of the incomplete?

Whoops I guess I stand corrected:

This "wing patch" with the permanent pin feathers also appears to be strictly linked to the diluted gold genes—I can find no reference to it in solid color lavender birds or birds that don't carry gold. For me, this makes the idea of breeding to silvers for a silver DW-based strain even more attractive.

Post 88261 of this Classroom in the Coop thread shows the problem:
http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=88090&page=all
because the stubs are black -- I was thinking it was black feathers affected. -- Sadly those photos have now gone blurry

Now I remember this from the original write up on Isabels. Constant pin feather. So if that problem only attaches to red pigment, then it wouldn't affect solid lav birds as Haiku said. Conversely does the shredder gene ever affect Isabels?

Yikes, she almost looks like a dead chicken there. She was grooming and I just today really noticed all these pin feathers on her neck. That's fine but I thought that they were just coming out of molt when I got them back. I wonder if she is remolting this quickly or if she somehow had a feather loss for another reason.

Seems like this happened really fast And neither of her roommates have this going on.

Poor thing she looks like a scrounge right now.

 

[ChicKat]

They're balanced and sprightly and active and they look like well-rounded athletes instead of muscle-bound weight lifters or marathon runners, and they're definitely not a big ol' fluffy couch potato Orpington like I am I'm feeling really torn about my dedication to a Houdan revival because I'm a big believer in dedicating yourself to one breed or variety... but these are **good** chickens. I'd take one of these over an Orpington or Brahma or Wyandotte or whatever the fluffy dual-purpose flavor of the week is any day.

It's so true that we all gravitate toward certain different breeds. I'm fine with our modern Leghorns. The olden days ones -- didn't people compare them to a flock of Seagulls?
It's so funny how many breeds there are, and how we tend to like our own...and also just keep the ones we like.
I had an OEGB and she was a character...but I expect good egg production. That bantam, though had a personality that didn't end and she was a very good broody hen (3 full sized eggs. A nice little hatch). It's also impressive to go to chicken shows and see what other people are really into. I'm like you Haiku-- I don't get attracted to the Orpingtons or Cochins or Ko Shamu or Silky or anything with feathered feet. Some of the bantams -- because they are so small -- you could keep a few more in a small space...OEGB, Serama, and the Dutch and Japanese --- look cute and ornamental. The Phoenix etc. Those tails are impressive.
My guy has now grown back his sickle feathers.....some of them just about drag on the ground.

when I first got him back, the main tail feathers had grown in but not the sickles

Now sickles cover up the main tail

some feathers on the ground, but that one actually on the ground someone managed to shed. In the picture directly above he has that long unbroken curve of a Leghorn, but in the one above that he has the curve interrupted by tail and neck junctures.
Of all his qualities, I am beginning to think his comb is the "worst". Do I have "coop blindness"?
Someone remarked that the bird that always wins in a chicken show is the largest bird of that breed. Also in a chicken show the Best of Show is usually white (solid) -- so if you want to win...put a BIG white bird in a show.

 

[Miami Leghorn]

Really like that color

 

[ChicKat]

Thanks...me too.
Here's a link to Classroom in the Coop -- that's where Henk, Sigrid, Piet, Grant Brereton and the other experts used to hang out.
http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=108883&page=2
It talks about feather problems with lav - wing patch/pin feather thingie. (<--technical term).

Piet said it affects both black and red dilution and others say only red. Someone there said it could be outgrown. ?? Most think it can be bred out of a line of chickens.

 

[Tbird84]

Well, I did see some of the dried up black blood feather stubs on some of those those original Lavender Cochins that didn't make it. I believe they have some red/gold in their background prior to acquiring them, due to the goldish leakage I've seen. Doing what I can to eliminate those with leakage greatly improved the blood feather quality. Still have some ticking to deal with. I have a feeling this is related to the slow feathering gene. Check out these discussions.

http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/forum/index.php?topic=1699.0

http://ameraucanaalliance.org/forum/index.php?topic=17.0