Splash or Mottled

[EmptyNest]

Could someone please explain the difference between splash and mottled to me? Or, if has already been explained somewhere else, direct me to the right forum.

 

[Kev]

Mottle- white tips to the feathers, usually on a black chicken. Mottling on a red chicken often is called Mille Fluer pattern.

Splash is the "pure" form of the Blue gene. Highly variable in appearance, hard to describe all the variations, the usual appearence is an off white body with numerous black/bluish very random speckles all over the body.

 

[crazyfowllady]

Very interesting! I didn't know this. Does this mean that my "mottled" cochins that have large white areas on bellies and throughout their bodies are really splashes? I have a splash silkie hen, and she's really blue...

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
No, mottled and splash are two completely seperate genes.

The mottling gene is capable of producing a "pied" appearance with the right combination of modifiers.

Splashes are homozygous for the blue gene, and can vary greatly, but they are still blues, just pure for the gene.

 

[Kev]

Mottling is variable too- some birds have mottling only at the very tips, while others have quite a lot of white, nearly a third to about half of the feather.

Mottling also changes according to age- the amount of white tends to increase with age.

Look at mottling this way: the budding feather "starts out" white then the color "turns on" for rest of the feather.

Splash is extremely variable, they can be off white to greyish to light bluish background, the speckles can range from very few to very very many.. the speckles can be all tiny, medium size or even a couple large patches of color or a mix of all. The difference is, the speckling is completely random, with no clear pattern. A single feather from a splash can be solid colored, has speckles, has a streak of color(again completely random).

It's hard to tell what you mean by large patches of white. If most of the feathers are colored with white tips(doesn't matter if the white tips are large or small, as long as rest of feather is colored) then it is mottled.

 

[crazyfowllady]

Thanks for the info. I have mottled Japs and they look really different than my mottled cochins. The japs did get alot whiter after their first real molt and are really pretty. The cochins have big sections of white and black, only a few mixed feathers like the japs. My cochins are only 5 months old so maybe they will change?

Slightly off topic, can you tell me how to breed splash silkies? I've bred my splash hen to a black roo and got 100% pure blue.

 

[ParkerVA]

Blue genetics work like this:

Blue x Black = 50% black, 50% blue
Blue x Blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash
Blue x Splash = 50% blue, 50% splash
Black x Black = 100% black
Black x Splash = 100% blue
Splash x Splash = 100% splash

 

[newchickowner]

could any of ya'll post some pics? I'm learning something new and have a pretty good understanding, but if it's possible I'd like to have a visual example. Thanks.

 

[crazyfowllady]

Thanks so much for the breakdown on breeding blues and splashes! I've saved this info and will refer to it many times.

1iahawkfan, I don't know how to post pictures yet, so I hope somebody better than me will show you their pics!