Charlie,
Your orpingtons are beyond beautiful and trying to understand poultry genetics.
So far i read females only get 1 gene and that is from the father. Sons get one gene from the mother and one from the father. So..,
Breeding a pure lavender female to a pure black male would result with: females black 50%, males black split with lav.50%
Breeding (mom) pure lavender female to (son) black split with lav = black female 25%, lav female 25%, all lav male 25%, black split with lav 25%
Breeding (daughter) black female to (father) pure black = all black offspring 100%
breeding ( daughter) black female to (son) black split with lav = all black male 50%, all lav female 25%, all black female 25%, black split lav male 25%
I noticed on backyard chickens your numbers were different. Where did i go wrong? Also on the lavender splits, will there be any lav feathers or will they look all black? If what i read is true, how can you have a split to a split if the female can only be black or lavender? Or did i not read up enough that there are other factors to consider about color? Appreciate your input