Lavender, splash and light blue or white...

[Godiva]

Please could someone explain to me the differences between these colours? I am brand new to this stuff and am trying to figure out which chicks are what colours etc. At about what age can you tell for sure what colour they are going to be? I have two bantam cochins chicks and when they were newly hatched they both had blue on their backs and one had some on its head. The one looks like it may be pure white while the other one has some slight hints of blue... Anyway, if you have some pics of a good example of each of these colours it would be really helpful. At what age are they feathered in their mature colour and not just the youth feathers?

 

[Guitartists]

I don't know much... but.....

Lavender is a blue kind of color and they are solid. Bred to another Lav. you will get ALL lav. It breeds true.

Blue is a darker blue often with lacing.

Lt. Blue is a lighter version of blue, often lacking lacing.

Splash is a blue bird with "splashes" of darker and lighter blue.

Blues can be bred to blacks.

with blue/black/splash orpingtons, if you have two blue birds you will get 50% blue, 25% black, and 25% splash chicks.
If you have one black bird, and one blue bird, you will get 50% blue, and 50% black chicks.
If you have one splash bird and one blue bird, you will get 50% splash, and 50% blue chicks.
If you have one splash bird and one black bird you will get 100% blue chicks.
And if you have two splash birds you will get 100% splash chicks.

 

[Godiva]

What if the chick is mostly white with some blue colouring? Is that splash? And if it is blue with some white will that be mottled? These are cochins I am talking about if that changes anything...

 

[Guitartists]

I'm no expert on this... I only own one lav. chick

LOL I'm just going based on what I've read and seen.

Hopefully one of our resident Blue Orp people will happen along with the answers....

But I think that the light one would be Splash for sure. The other I dunno... mottled is spotted. It doesn't sound like it would qualify as mottled...so maybe another Splash.

 

[speckledhen]

I cant tell you about the mottled gene, but that's usually black and white, I think. A splash is basically a white bird with "accent feathers". And then there are many shades of blue from almost white to almost black. Lavender is different in that you breed two lavenders, you get lavender, whereas if you breed two blues you get blue, black or splash.

 

[Kanchii]

Self blue AKA lavander is differrent from regular blue. It breeds true, so a lavander to a lavander gets you all lavanders. Or if you breed a lavander to a black you will get black that CARRY lavander. Here's a picture of my self blue d'Anver rooster:

Blue is a dominant gene. If you have one set of blue in a birds genes, they will appear blue(the darker the better, and lacing is prefered, but there are lighter blues that can appear to be almost self blue in color), heres my blue bantam cochin hen:

If you have two blue genes you get what's called a splash. If you breed a splash (with two blue genes) to a black (with no blue genes) you will get 100% blue (since they'll have one blue gene) which is why they are valuable in breeding blues. Here is my splash bantam cochin hen:

I hope I helped you understand a little bit

 

[lewisfarmgurl]

I have no idea where you get these beautiful birds but I love them!!!

The pictures are great!! I have always wanted blue cochins and hopefull one day I will have some.

I just love how everyone shares their lovely bird pictures on here. Helps me keep my focus on one day owning my own. ( got to get the coop finished ) Hopefully I'll be ready for my chicks come spring.

 

[chickygirl2]

Kanchi,
Your splash hen looks just like my beloved "Cookie"- my most wonderful, sweet ,favorite hen. I can call her and she comes and hops on my lap for a pat : )
She isn't spoiled in the least............ lol...................

 

[Godiva]

So how do you know if you have a lavender? What distinguishes it from a light blue? I love all the help folks! You are awesome! Do you have to wait until you breed it and then see the chick colours before you know or are there specific things you look at that tell you you have a lavender bird? When do the birds have their adult colouring?

 

[hinkjc]

It is based on the genetic makeup of the parent stock. If you don't know that, then you would have to breed them to find out what is in them (as far as genes).

If you breed two lav together, you get all lav.

If you breed two blue together, you get blue, black and splash. (this typically indicates the lack of the lav gene)

Keep in mind that to thoroughly test mate, you need to hatch more than a few eggs.

sorry..edited for typos

Jody