Mixing the Lavender gene with the diluter B/B/S

[rilly10]

Quote:
I totally agree here! I have been selling as splits or possible splits. I also make sure anyone buying a split or possible split has a chart of how the lav gene works and understand it if it is, or is not something they are looking for. Although I have yet to find someone who was not thrilled to hear one of my silkies carry the Lav gene.

 

[SilkieTime]

I like lavender but don't really understand what it could do to a splash if anything. I'm just thinking if you don't want to put BBS with lavender then maybe you don't want to put lavender with BBS. If it won't bother the splash or the black then I'm OK with it. I got eggs that were BBS and they came out partridge, gray and a black with white shafts and pink feet ( pink feet Oh well ). I know I don't want the partridge and gray in my pen with my BBS. I wanted BBS, I did get two blacks I'm just wondering what these two could be hiding. I'm almost sure they don't have any green in them but I don't have any other blacks. If I had the time and money I could be all over the lavender. I don't know I could have lavender in my babies I'm hatching now.

 

[joe17]

Well if you have blue and splash then add a black split to the breeding program, you probably wouldnt get any lavender, right? It is hard for most people who actually TRY getting lavender chicks to get lavender as it is.

 

[robin416]

Quote:
Let's see if I can say this so its understood, if you had BBS hiding a splash gene, then you line bred the resulting peeps there is a chance you could end up with lavender because you don't know which of them is carrying the lavender gene.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Might want to edit your post. I know you meant hiding a lavender gene

Disclosure is important, but once you are past the first generation of a breeding that guarantees at least a split, the most you can say is that there is lavender in the breeding pen, but you do not know whether that particular bird carries it or not.

I remember several years ago, before lavender became as popular as it is now, when people still called it self blue, that on the silkie forum the presence of self-blue in blue and splash silkies was discusssed. A comment was made that were are very few, if any, blue/splash lines that had not had self-blue bred in. The gene is out there, but if you breed for characteristics of blue and splash, I would not be overly worried about it.

If you are breeding for lavender, chances of getting correct lavender plumage with a blue/splash background is reduced.

 

[TurtleFeathers]

Quote:
This might explain why I'm getting weird colors from some of my silkies. I have a blue partridge rooster and two hens (blue and partridge) from my very first batch of eggs (they came from a friend who has a "mixed color" flock of silkies), plus, now I have some of their daughters from last year in the pen with them. This second generation is showing oddly pale solid blues and sort of "blonde-ish" blue partridges. I've been wondering if there is a lavender gene in there that I don't know about - but because these are Andalusian blue based birds, I can't tell one way or the other. I hope to start setting up pairs in the spring so that I can maybe eventually isolate whatever it is and be able to associate a name with it.

So, when I mentioned "full disclosure" above, I should have said, that one can only guarantee what colors are in their particular breeding pen, and what those birds have produced since they've been in one's possession. Depending on where the original stock came from, anything could have happened in generations past, and birds can be carrying hidden genes from LONG before you had them.

 

[Darling Farms]

GREAT THREAD!

I think it is wonderful to have a lively discussion to better understand how to improve lavender silkies.

We personally think its a bad idea unless you are just trying to have a mixed flock for pets or just for fun colors... this is perfectly acceptable. Have fun with your hobby or passion. However, and it is a BIG however... my thoughts are not to use it to improve the color of the lavender silkies. It won't improve it. Period. There are more disadvantages to muddying up and confusing the colors when you can improve type over time by breeding them back to excellent blacks.

Not everyone is experts at looking at feather shafts and A LOT of birds have been confused and misrepresented as lavender. People who are breeding BBS in with their lavenders need to be VERY clear that this is what they are doing when selling their birds and eggs. Many people DO NOT want to have this in their lines.

Lavender silkies are still a work in progress! Deb and Bren in Texas have done a fabulous job of breeding these birds to a fantastic standard! That being said... lavender chicks still have a varying range of color and down. They still need a lot of work to fix the issues with getting unified down and clearer (non-partridge) color. Our understanding is that the best way to do this is by breeding them back to blacks. Any other color will pop up and haunt the breeder for many generations.

Thanks Chooks for starting the thread and HENK69 for simple clarification!

Mrs. Farmer Darling
Darling Farms

 

[TheFeatheredTempest]

I'm pretty new to all this, but this thread really interests me. I have a batch of young d'uccle mixes and at least one bird that I suspect may be carrying both lavender and blue and I've been trying to figure it out. I found this link:

http://www.edelras.nl/belgians/colour.htm#lavblue

Does anyone else have pictures of feather shafts like this that they could post? Is this a reliable method to differentiate lavender and blue?