Russian orloffs?

[NatJ]

In this case, dominant white is not going to get you very far towards a solid white bird. Dominant white basically only affects black (and black based) pigment. It does not affect red. Recessive white will turn both black and red pigment white, so recessive white is a better option for this project.

I was figuring that a "white" chicken with Dominant White would have to be black based. Since that's dominant too, it would also show in some of the chicks.

I just didn't bother to explain that, because "select a white bird" would select for both at once: a chicken that has the genes to be black and then also has dominant white turning that black to white.

For a completely white bird, I agree that recessive white is probably a better choice. But if the goal is to get some mostly-white birds in the shortest possible time, I think Dominant White could be a faster path to that. Which is "better" would depend on what the OP actually prefers.

The silver gene can also make white chickens. Silver changes red pigment to white but does not affect black pigment. So you would need dominant white in addition to silver to get from spangled to white orloffs.

I was ignoring silver, partly because it's an extra detail to explain (including sex-specific inheritance), and mostly because there are a couple of other ways to get white chickens that I thought would be better.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I was figuring that a "white" chicken with Dominant White would have to be black based. Since that's dominant too, it would also show in some of the chicks.

You're right, I forgot that black (hidden by dominant white) is going to be dominant over both the red and the spangling pattern.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I have a trio of Russian orloffs coming come spring never heard of any other colors

 

[Burnttoast5475]

In this case, dominant white is not going to get you very far towards a solid white bird. Dominant white basically only affects black (and black based) pigment. It does not affect red. Recessive white will turn both black and red pigment white, so recessive white is a better option for this project.

The silver gene can also make white chickens. Silver changes red pigment to white but does not affect black pigment. So you would need dominant white in addition to silver to get from spangled to white orloffs.

Hmmm okay. So maybe recessive white ameraucana?

 

[Burnttoast5475]

I have a trio of Russian orloffs coming come spring never heard of any other colors

There is white,black,mahogany, spangled and mottled. Spangled being the most common color. black being the rarest I believe.