Splash Question

[daytonfarm]

I know how you get a splash from splash or a blue, but if you need a splash to make a blue, how do you make a splash "from scratch" so to speak? What started the splash? black and white??

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Splash is two copies of the blue gene. White is not a dilution gene; it is essentially an OFF switch that prevents pigment. Chickens have two types of pigment: eumelanin (black) and pheomelanin (red). The blue gene dilutes the eumelanin. One copy dilutes all black pigment in teh plumage to blue, a second copy further dilutes it to splash.

 

[daytonfarm]

So how do I make a splash?

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
You can't just make it from scratch, its a sport mutation that just randomly popped up at some point, the way most all colors did, especially recessive ones. So you can't just make it. You have to find a bird that already has blue or splash and work from there.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Blue X Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black, 25% Splash
Blue X Splash = 50% Blue , 50% Splash
Splash X Splash = 100% Splash

 

[daytonfarm]

Quote:
You can't just make it from scratch, its a sport mutation that just randomly popped up at some point, the way most all colors did, especially recessive ones. So you can't just make it. You have to find a bird that already has blue or splash and work from there.

Okay, that answers my question. So "back in the day" someone didn't cull the odd colored bird they used it!

Recently I've been hearing the term "sport" what does that mean?

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
You can't just make it from scratch, its a sport mutation that just randomly popped up at some point, the way most all colors did, especially recessive ones. So you can't just make it. You have to find a bird that already has blue or splash and work from there.

Okay, that answers my question. So "back in the day" someone didn't cull the odd colored bird they used it!

Recently I've been hearing the term "sport" what does that mean?

Yep that's right they bred the odd colored bird back trying to replicate it. There is a story somewhere on a wedsite that sells. Blue jersey giants and it explained how it happened. And a sport is the odd colored bird that pops up. And sport is sometimes used refering to the Splash color, especially in gamefowl.