Splash or white?

[TheReidHomestead]

We hatched some of our own chicks this spring, and thought at the time that our bantam cochin hen was white. But now all the babies have grown up and are blue, which leads me to believe she is splash. We have offspring from her mating with a bantam black cochin and/or a self-blue OEGB, and all babies are blue. I just read something on the Lav Orp thread that said Lav (Self-Blue) can dilute to look like blue, which I think must have happened with the mixed pullet we have who really looks BLUE. We thought we'd get all black cochin babies, but they appear blue as well.

How does one dilute splash to the point that it looks white? She was the extra chick in a hatchery order, and we thought she was white from the get go. Just curious to know more about how the splash can get so diluted.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Repeated splash to splash breedings will dilute splash to near white. That's why it's good to breed them back to blue or black occasionally to keep the dark spots.

 

[blackclownfish16]

Here's a thread about splash breeding with some pictures

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=374050

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Thanks guys. I'll have to go check out that thread now.