Outcrossing in Indigos and Hazels

[Midnightman14]

Anyone know the most efficient way to do this? I am thinking of picking up a pair this fall but I know I'll have to outcross. I'm weighing as to whether this is a venture worth taking or more work than it's worth.

 

[Birdrain92]

If Indigo and Hazel breed true, and act like the other colors, it would be wise to out breed to plain Indian Blues. Then breed not related split chicks together and keep breeding out. It's a lot easier with trios, just because more birds to breed outwards, and then breed the trio together later, after out breeding.

 

[Midnightman14]

Yeah that's the problem though since they are recessive co-dominant splits. As far as I have discovered when you breed a indigo/hazel to any other color it doesn't pass on as a split indigo. Instead it passes on as its two components which are purple and bronze and not as a true split. You could back cross the young to their parents to get more indigos/hazels but that would kind of defeat the purpose of outcrossing in the first place.

 

[Birdrain92]

Then you might have to out breed using Bronzes and Purples.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

Could u out cross to purple, hang onto the hen chicks and then put them under a bronze male? Or hang onto a purple split Hazel male & put him over bronze hens? Perhaps your out-cross birds could have a little spalding in them to enhance the color? It's probably about whether you'd like to invest a few years & the pen space to this color.

 

[Midnightman14]

If I did get them I'm thinking I'd keep the pair together for one season to get some indigo chicks. Split the pair up and breed the male to purple hens and the female to a bronze rooster. Breed the chicks of the I/P pairing to the chicks of the I/B pairing as well as the original indigos of the opposite gender.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

That sounds like a fantastic plan! What about finding unrelated Hazel/indigos or split Hazel/indigo birds? My pbs hen is split Hazel. I forget sometimes bc I hadn't planned on doing anything w the Hazel, but there are probably many more birds out there like her.

 

[Midnightman14]

I was trying to see what I could do about it. Like I said the problem with hazel and indigo is that you don't get splits to indigo or split to hazel because it's a co-dominant color rather than just an ordinary recessive color like midnight or opal. It makes the outcrossing process more complicated.

 

[Birdrain92]

Do they even breed true? Wouldn't a Purple split to Bronze or a Bronze split to Purple basically be a split to Indigo or Hazel in a way.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

Do they even breed true? Wouldn't a Purple split to Bronze or a Bronze split to Purple basically be a split to Indigo or Hazel in a way.

This is how I see it as well. I think of purple split Hazel/Indigo as the same as purple split bronze. I would think the full Hazel/Indigo birds should breed true when bred to other Hazel/Indigo birds, the same way that peachxpeach breeds true.