Lavender genetics

[The Moonshiner]

You're losing me with what some of your expected outcomes would be.
Theyre not looking to set up a BBS pen they want to breed lavenders.
If they breed him to a split whether he is split or not they will end up with chicks that are or aren't splits.
Without know by sight then theyre back in the same boat of having to test breed all those.
If they breed him to a lavender then all offspring will at least be split. Those black (or even blue) split chicks can go on towards their lavender group.
Even if you were to want a BBS pen breeding to a split would produce some black and blue chicks carrying lavender. All those would need test breed to find out.

 

[Jraba1315]

You're losing me with what some of your expected outcomes would be.
Theyre not looking to set up a BBS pen they want to breed lavenders.
If they breed him to a split whether he is split or not they will end up with chicks that are or aren't splits.
Without know by sight then theyre back in the same boat of having to test breed all those.
If they breed him to a lavender then all offspring will at least be split. Those black (or even blue) split chicks can go on towards their lavender group.
Even if you were to want a BBS pen breeding to a split would produce some black and blue chicks carrying lavender. All those would need test breed to find out.

I was just letting them know about some possible ways to keep the rooster since it sounded like they wanted to keep him. My original thought was that they could breed them together and then keep all the blue/black hens (if that’s how they come out) and they could make them into a pen and as long as they don’t breed those original f1 chicks together then they should run into any surprise lavender/blue chicks. I personally think it would be much easier to get rid of the rooster though but i’m just attempting to justify other reasons they could keep him.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I'm just trying to answer the questions they asked and answer them with the birds they've mentioned.
I assume if they decide to look into other options they'll bring that up.

 

[NatJ]

...blue instead of lavender. This is a Cockerel.... could he be a split lavender? If so, would it be worth hanging on to him to see if he passes on the lavender gene? If so, how should I go about this??

I've got a lavender pullet so if I breed him to that and they come out 100% lavender, does that mean he's split?
My understanding is you need two copies of lavender so if he's not split they will all come out blue, is that correct?

If you cross this cockerel to your lavender pullet, you can learn whether he is split to lavender or not. And you can have more lavenders in either one year or two, depending on his genetics.

Blue cockerel + lavender pullet:
--blue chicks, split to lavender
--black chicks, split to lavender
(50% each option)

Blue split to lavender cockerel + lavender pullet:
--blue chicks, split to lavender
--blue lavender chicks
--black chicks split to lavender
--lavender chicks
(25% each option)

If you do not get any lavender chicks from the mating, then he does not carry lavender. But you can keep the black chicks, and breed them to their lavender mom to get 50% lavender. Or you can keep the black chicks and breed them to each other to get 25% lavender. (If you do not breed from any blue chicks, you will never produce more blues.)

Of course, if you do get lavender chicks, then you're all set!

 

[Phenomenalchooks]

I'm just trying to answer the questions they asked and answer them with the birds they've mentioned.
I assume if they decide to look into other options they'll bring that up.

Thanks for all the replies!
I've become a bit lost along the way though.
If he's split and produces some lavenders, if I keep just these, would they be OK to start a new lavender pen? I'm just sick of purchasing hatching eggs and constantly being disappointed

 

[NatJ]

If he's split and produces some lavenders, if I keep just these, would they be OK to start a new lavender pen?

Yes.

And if he is not split, but you breed him to a lavender pullet--they will produce splits, that you can then use to breed lavenders.

 

[Phenomenalchooks]

I was just letting them know about some possible ways to keep the rooster since it sounded like they wanted to keep him. My original thought was that they could breed them together and then keep all the blue/black hens (if that’s how they come out) and they could make them into a pen and as long as they don’t breed those original f1 chicks together then they should run into any surprise lavender/blue chicks. I personally think it would be much easier to get rid of the rooster though but i’m just attempting to justify other reasons they could keep him.

Thanks for your advice. I have a lot of Cockerels from my own stock (blues, blacks splash) but only one lavender pullet after 3 rounds of buying in hatching eggs......
The potentially blue/lav Cockerel can stay if he is split unless it's a big no no for future breeding. Just though he might be worth hanging onto if he was but it looks like you guys are saying this is pointless?

 

[NatJ]

The potentially blue/lav Cockerel can stay if he is split unless it's a big no no for future breeding. Just though he might be worth hanging onto if he was but it looks like you guys are saying this is pointless?

If he's split, using him makes sense. Just choose the chicks (about half) that do NOT have blue.

If he's not split, if might be easier to just cross one of your blacks to the lavender pullet to get split chicks--then cross the split chicks back to the lavender pullet or to each other to get more lavenders.