selecting splash Marans to keep

[Cluckatar]

I have a hatch of 10 Splash Marans chicks from shipped eggs. Can anyone tell me what things I should be looking for as I select which birds to keep/breed? I also have Black Copper Marans and I'm assuming I'm looking for all the same body shape and temperament things. But I'm not sure about the genetics of splash and how to breed them responsibly going forward. I'm especially interested in anything I need to know about light vs. dark splash coloring? Not clear in this photo, but some of them have quite dark spots, and others seem to have blue spots. Thanks!

 

[1muttsfan]

As far as color goes, breeding splash to splash will tend to produce birds with fewer of the splash markings. It is usually a good idea to breed splash back to blue or black, as crossing 2 splash will only produce more splash. That way you get better color in your birds.

 

[1muttsfan]

Genetics of Blue-Black-Splash (Andalusian blue, as opposed to Self Blue which is sometimes called Lavender)

The blue gene is Bl
Black has no copy of the Blue gene
Blue has one copy
Splash has 2 copies
Blue dilutes black, so one gene dilutes Black to Blue, and 2 genes dilute it to Splash

Black X Black - 100% Black
Black X Blue - 50% Black, 50% Blue
Blue X Blue - 25% Black, 50% Blue, 25% Splash
Black X Splash - 100% Blue
Blue X Splash - 50% Blue, 50% Splash
Splash X Splash - 100% splash