Old English Game Bantam Question

[ourcozycoop]

Hey Y’all
Below I’ve posted a picture of our little bantam flock (some not pictured) The mama is the one standing proud. She hatched 4..3 pullets and a roo

Anyhow laying there in the middle was the last to hatch. Her colour is very bland and isn’t what is expected.

Can anyone tell me why her colour would be as it is and not as colourful as expected?

Thanks!

 

[Sneebsey]

My suggestion would be that she may have Dilute, which is recessive, thus can carry down through several generations until two birds with the gene breed, producing a bird pure for the gene. It inhibits the expression of pheomelanin (gold pigment) to that nice cream colour. If you wish, you may breed her mother back to the same cockerel for a 1/4 chance at producing more.

 

[ourcozycoop]

What’s odd is the Roo and the Mama are both pure with lovily colour?

I’ll post a picture of our Rooster ‘Little Dickie’

 

[ourcozycoop]

Pictures of our Bantam Roo Little Dickie

 

[Sneebsey]

I do not know too much about OEG so cannot speak as to their type and form, but the hidden recessive does not stop them being pure for their breed nor their colour variety. They appear to be Black/Red (Duckwing) to me.

I have found that Lavender, another dilution gene, is present in my BBS Araucana line; presumably the result of an outcross to Lavender Araucana. As they can hide in a line, carried down through the generations until a chance meeting between two carriers, it is considered undesirable for recessives to be bred into a line, but it does not jeopardise their purity.

 

[The Moonshiner]

My suggestion would be that she may have Dilute, which is recessive, thus can carry down through several generations until two birds with the gene breed, producing a bird pure for the gene. It inhibits the expression of pheomelanin (gold pigment) to that nice cream colour. If you wish, you may breed her mother back to the same cockerel for a 1/4 chance at producing more.

Agree with this.

Here is a pic of a leghorn hen. Then below a pic of a CCL. They are the same pattern (minus the CCL's barring) but the CCL has the cream dilute gene so you can see how her color is lightened like your hen.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I do not know too much about OEG so cannot speak as to their type and form, but the hidden recessive does not stop them being pure for their breed nor their colour variety. They appear to be Black/Red (Duckwing) to me.

I have found that Lavender, another dilution gene, is present in my BBS Araucana line; presumably the result of an outcross to Lavender Araucana. As they can hide in a line, carried down through the generations until a chance meeting between two carriers, it is considered undesirable for recessives to be bred into a line, but it does not jeopardise their purity.

Yes they are red duckwing. We call them BBR black breasted red. And they're a hugely popular OEGB pattern.

 

[ourcozycoop]

I do not know too much about OEG so cannot speak as to their type and form, but the hidden recessive does not stop them being pure for their breed nor their colour variety. They appear to be Black/Red (Duckwing) to me.

I have found that Lavender, another dilution gene, is present in my BBS Araucana line; presumably the result of an outcross to Lavender Araucana. As they can hide in a line, carried down through the generations until a chance meeting between two carriers, it is considered undesirable for recessives to be bred into a line, but it does not jeopardise their purity.

Well darn!! She’s young but has gone broody on a hidden clutch of eggs.

How do I avoid this in the future? Is it avoidable? I’ll have to spend some time researching your info to better understand. I do think the cream colour as explained is prettt. She’s a pretty wee thing despite it not being desirable.

So crazy that one of four turn out that way huh! Seems I have so much to learn.

I’ve never heard them called Red/black Duckwings around here but will go with it lol

 

[Sneebsey]

It is tricky to breed out; you would have to test-breed every bird for the gene, so having her around can only be a good thing. If she or another of her colour are bred to BBR (thank you @The Moonshiner), they will reveal in the offspring if the BBR is a carrier for Dilute, and thus inappropriate for breeding. Unfortunately, as we know that both the mother and father must have one copy of the gene, half the offspring will have one copy, whilst a quarter will lack it, and a quarter, like your pullet, will be pure for it.

ETA: If you like the colour, you may choose to breed for it, though it will be a non-standard variety.

 

[ourcozycoop]

I’m pretty new to all this.

What is breeding back to BBR
(abbreviation to the Rooster?)
Like breeding her with the roo that bred her mom? Revealing if the roo himself is unsuitable for breeding?

I suppose I could test breed each hen if the roo appears to not be the problem. I could do this by simply leaving the roo confined with each game hen, and incubating?

Sorry if this is all very ammature questions LOL