Silkie thread!

My understanding is that my porcelain chicks came from buff lavender cross and breed the chicks back to lavender to get porcelain. How does that fit into this?
In Porcelain Silkies you can see the 2 color-pigments diluted, the gold (red) became a creamy gold, the black became a gray pearl. This is the work of the black- and red-pigment diluting gene lav/lav which is a recessive gene so it need to be in double dosis to can let see it's effect.
Before the diluting work of the gene lavender (lav/lav) your bird might have be a "Buff" (which is a combination of several genes) or a "gold" Partridge.
So when you look at a bird ALWAYS first determine his groundcolor (that is 1 of the 5 different E-locus allelles) remember all genes (exception for the sex-linked) have 2 allelles.
Secondly you look if that groundcolor of your bird is based on Silver (S) or on gold (s+) (this are the 2 possibilities of the S-locus and these ARE sex-linked).
* EVERY chicken have one of these e-alleles and is based on s-allelles.
Only now you look if their are other color-genes concerned, this can be diluters, intensifiers, restrictors or patterners OR even a combination of several (all of them in 2 dosis or in 1 dosis).

Conclusion : the MOST IMPORTANT is the groundcolor (= E-locus) than based on (= S-locus) all the rest in secondary !
 
Sometime I think I should just stick with white!!!
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Didn't know that about lemon. Will remember now.

I obviously have to pay more attention to the "ground" colour.

Totally off Silkies but since you seem VERY well versed in colour genetics - does a black from a blue breeding pen weaken a black breeding program? I'm using a Blue Copper Marans cock. Wondering if my Black Coppers that result from that are less worthy (less "black"), so to speak, because of that. (I believe I am working with an ER base with my Marans.)
You all know who is Sigrid van Dort, yes the woman of the color genetic book from Holland. She compare working with the color genetics as with making soup .
I suppose all you ladies know how to make (and understand with what ingredients) all different kind of soup, yes ?
Than you all can make all different kind of coloration in chickens and understand the different used ingredients (here the used ingredients are "color-genes).

Indeed the ground color is THE most important (which is 1 of the 5 possibilities of the E-locus).

Exact copper Marans have the ground color ER (which is called Birchen) the word "copper" indicate this ground color is based on gold (s+)
A Blue Copper Marans cock genetic-code should be ER/ER s+/s+ Bl/bl+ => 1 dosis of black-pigment diluting gene "Blue" making him look Blue (all the other color genes are also in him but have in this particular case no importance).
A Black Copper Marans cock genetic-code should be ER/ER s+/s+ bl+/bl+ => 0 dosis of black-pigment diluting gene "Blue" making him look Black.

Blue is Dominant so it need only 1 dosis to be visible on the outside. BUT Blue is INTERMEDIAR Dominant, this means that the result of the diluting intensity by 1 dosis (Bl/bl+) can be somewhere inbetween the Black (bl+/bl+) and the Splash (Bl/Bl) coloration. So it is possible to have a very dark Blue (almost looking as black) or to have a very light Blue (almost looking as Splash).

Conclusion : Black is Black, Splash is Splash but Blue is an intensity somewhere in between those both extremes.

* "less black" is most possible intended for a very dark Blue ;-)
 
I will wait for someone that knows better than me.
It is very early here, give us a few hours!
How many hours difference Belgium to New York?
Right now is 6am.
 
I said before the the S-gene is sex-linked, meaning cocks have 2 alleles for that gene (S/S = pure Silver or s+/s+ = pure gold) hens have only 1 allel and a shriveled allel for that gene (S/- = pure Silver or s+/- = pure gold) the shriveled allel is written as that little stripe "-"
So hens are ALWAYS "pure" for a sex-linked gene (because they have only 1 allel of it) but cocks can be "pure" Silver (S/S) or "pure" gold (s+/s+) BUT cocks can also be "unpure" for a sex-linked gene => S/s+. So at the same time Silver and gold. Silver is wriiten with an uppercase letter "S" (means Dominant) and gold is written with a lowercase letter "s+" (means recessive).
Now I let you see what is being "unpure" for the S-alleles in a cock can show itself in reality. This an "gold-shouldered Blue Silver Partridge" rooster with genetic code eb/eb S/s+ Bl/bl+ :

So Silver is a Dominant gene but when unpure (S/s+) it can leak some gold (as on the shoulder of this cock).
 
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