Definitely get lighter as they grow. Here is my LO rooster at one week and then 2 years
Where did you get him? He has a lot of red leakage which the lavender gene dilutes to the lemony color. Looks more Isabel to me
That's an isabel Orpington.
Not necessarily. Some of the Lavenders have leakage too, especially if they’re hatchery quality. I’m sure they’re not supposed to but my boy was starting to get this too and if he had lived longer, probably would have ended up looking more like this one. And I hatched him myself from eggs from a hatchery that does not have Isabel so I knew for sure what he was. He didn’t have nearly as much leakage as this boy though and I don’t know if this one is hatchery or not but I’m just saying it’s possible.
That's why I was wondering the hatchery/breeder. Isabel is a dilute of partridge I believe, so obviously entirely different than plain lavender. If he was from a breeder that had both varieties, I would wonder if he got mixed in. Lavender birds do sometimes have leakage like you said, this just seemed like more than normal
That makes sense!! Could possibly be a mix of the two maybe? He does have a lot of the leakage! My boy only had a little bit on his back/wings. But then again he was only 9 months old. Maybe he would have developed more. Idk. This bird does look to have a lot. But I guess it depends if he’s hatchery or breeder or what.That's why I was wondering the hatchery/breeder. Isabel is a dilute of partridge I believe, so obviously entirely different than plain lavender. If he was from a breeder that had both varieties, I would wonder if he got mixed in. Lavender birds do sometimes have leakage like you said, this just seemed like more than normal
Your rooster is beautiful! The whole concept of the leakage really confuses me because I'm not sure why there is red coming into play! I believe lavender is a dilute of black and even lower quality hatchery black birds don't have too much red leakage. So strange to me. I wonder if when creating the lavender Orps that they used perhaps porcelain from other breeds to get the lavender gene and that being why there's the red? I'm definitely no genetics expert by any means at all, but I feel like I'm missing something. Do the lavender splits ever show the red?
