Lavender cuckoo easter egger

[jerryse]

Here isa pic of a lavender cuckoo easter that I have.One of a kind so far.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Very pretty looking bird.

We eat all the roos we grow up. I have tried to sell them on Craigs List but didn't have many takers. We do hatch and grow several hundred a year so eating them all has become a challenge but our food is better than store bought so we try and fill the freezer. Between that and a garden we feel we are getting closer to self sufficient and away from something someone else can control us with, like gas and grocery prices.

I am not sure if I could eat pretty roos that look like that though! It would be hard! I find I have a lot of very beautiful roos running around the farm! LOL

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

cuckoo and barring genes dont work that way.
They are what they are, just like blue and dun... you'll never have a split one to any of those colors. If they have the gene it is visibly expressed.
If a male barred bird came from parents that were both barred, he is called double factored.
This only works for males though...
Now if you breed that male to ANYTHING else, 100% of the chicks will be barred.

These chicks are called single factored , meaning they only have 1 copy of barring.

Now if you use a single factored male to anything else un barred, this is when you start having the various ratios of barred verses non barred chicks

Not sure if yours is single factored or double factored?

Here's how you tell.
1) double factored males will be pale and wash out looking, this is especially noticable in the blacks. They will take on sort of a greyish color. Single factored males will still be nice and dark.
2) still not usre? Are there ANY feathers on him that are solid colored? Look at the tail and wings especially. If you see any feathers that are solid and not barred, he's a single factored male.
3) if all else fails, you'll know from the hatch when you breed him, doubles ALWAYS make 100% barred chicks.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I've raised lavender cuckoos for several year now, in d'anver and bantam phoenix. If you know a way to sex them based off color as day olds, that's news to me. They are all colored the same lavender color with a white dot on the head as chicks.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

ah, the so called barred rock method. I've never trusted it or tried to check it on these, and wasnt sure if it was just for certian breeds or not, or the color in general for all.

Then yes, on lavender it will be pretty hard to tell. You can see the spot, BUT you have to be looking for it. Being pale blue the white doesnt glow on them like it does on blacks

 

[jerryse]

would be nice to "Test" to see if its Dermal or Epidermal Melanin.. unfortunately to perfrom this test the bird must be dead..

Here it is. I butchered some cuckoo/ barred project cockerels today . I scalded the legs and removed the outer layer . From left white inner layer and toes still have outer layer. The next 3 sets have slate inner layer and some spotting . set 3 has outer layer still on toes . These were cuckoo split for lavender . The first set were a double barred cockerel and had the poorest leg color of the double barred . The other 3 were single barred based on darker feather color. I have to thin out the cockerels as they grow and keep the best . Single barred pullet leg color is good.

 

[jerryse]

New photos of the lavender cuckoo project . look at those dark legs !

 

[jerryse]

I have the next generation in lockdown .

 

[EweSheep]

WOW, how did THAT happen?

Beautiful boy!

 

[Rocky Road]

I have one that looks just like that! Except he/she has fuzzier cheeks.

This picture was from a couple of weeks ago so his/her cheeks aren't as fuzzy yet there (#9)