Bwah ha ha...good one Al...
Sorry I tend to lean to be prone to genetic lingo humour...here's why.
Yer Dark Brown Leghorn is durn near the closest (past maybe a LIGHT Brown Leghorn) to WILD TYPE as it gets (thinkin' chicken, think RED JUNGLE FOWL but he be DARKER version--walkin' on the DARK side!). Add in Mahogany (Mg), I say also Melanotic (Ml), and fur yer really DARK rich coloured ones...recessive blacks which you AIN'T gonna find listed as an option on yer chicken calculator...wah wah WAH...hee hee. Oh you be treading where the wise fear to go Alaskan...FEAR...FEARFUL...run away NOW...
http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html
Years ago, Henk wanted me to add photos of my Call Ducks to the duck calculator...too bad I've been way too busy, eh oh well...ain't got me time to stick yet another feather in me cap...too busy havin' fun over here in Pear-A-Dice...
You have poked some pile with a big stick and not even realized it Al...
The "hobby" names used for breeds and varieties is not standardized...my astute & well credentialed friend good ol' Uncle Roy (Dr. Roy Crawford - editor of THE Chicken Bible)...he tried and was the go to fella (good Canadian eh, keeping the peaceful happiness agoing) for many decades when it came to definitions in the rare livestock and poultry breeds forums. He helped tag down the language used to communicate, bridge the gap when large groups of world persons gathered together to shoot the poo over animal and bird affairs. He answered my request on what PRIMITIVE means like we all tend to ponder exactly WHAT heritage when used in poultry means...har har.
Thing about us worldly persons...we don't use the same tags, the same labels when we talk about poultry and it is an audience for the world. Henk is from Europe...he is not residing in NA (North America) so you have to bridge that gap when using HIS colour calculator. We are indeed blessed that he has even bothered to do translations of this work of his...blessed indeed...but that don't mean it is easy to use. Variety handles are one tough cookie to break when it comes to speaking the same meanings.
What is called for example in Europe as say Isabelle or Porcelain, can be the complete opposite across the Pond here in NA. Hilarious...the hobby name DARK could mean DARK Brahma (silver pencilled), could mean DARK Cornish (double laced) and in your case because the BREED is Leghorn...and yer a Yank...then DARK Leghorn is most often dark brown partridge for the cockerel breeders (that be only for the SHOW MALE BREEDING PEN).
So IF you want completely WILD TYPE, Henk has that as the default and it is a black patterned gold duckwing:
Red Junglefowl (AKA wild type) is where the calculator STARTS at. Subscript plus signs help you know this "+". LMBO--all wild type...change nada, eh.
If you change to pure for Mahogany (Mh/Mh)...you will get black patterned red duckwing:
Now you add in pure for Melanotic (Ml/Ml) fur this one... the male is extended black patterned red duckwing and the female is black patterned red incomplete quail
And here you should be rather close to Dark Leghorn (if based on e"+" not eb--I have not bothered to alter the e-series to eb but you may)...in the cockerel side of the breeding. That be a breeding strategy of male looking male BRED to male looking female. Yeh, read that a few times till you GET ME, eh!
YEH and if'n the MALES look the same with Mh and/or Ml...the FEMALES sure don't...bwa ha ha...yeh you mighta chose a variety that is close to wild type, but not in a colour genetic context is this a cakewalk in identifying it all. If'n you care one itoa about keeping to the SOP descriptions for the varieties going gender wise.
Confused, you should be...you have no idea the pile you uncovered by <<POKE>> asking, eh. They know not what they ask...
Dr. Carefoot tells us to study the Red Junglefowl if you want to get a handle on colour genetics, the LIGHT Brown Leghorn is basically a RJF in colour...wild type with NO mutations. If you cannot identify the wild type...talking about mutations to alter it...are a complete waste of time. Gotta crawl before you walk, walk before you run, run before you fall...down hard & go BOOM, eh...
So for the Darks, you gotta darken her up, you take your Light Brown Leghorn or wild type Red Junglefowl, and add black. Simple other than according to Jeffries, the Dark Brown female "does not have a salmon breast." Always something to louse things up.
I bin studying these chicken FEATHER colour recipes for decades and Sigrid's Colour Chicken book for five years and one has only scratched the surface to all that it can be. Oh well, like a challenge, dive in. Waters tempid today...on the black iced up side too.
Thankfully, the Dark Leghorn is not my BREED and not my VARIETY (Dark Brahma...well that be a whole love it other story for moi...)...
Silver pencilled - wild type on eb plus S/- or S/S, Pg, and ar...
unless you are WISHER
and then for Silver Pencilled...when we are talking Campines...ER, S/- or S/s, Db and Pg...right woman??
autosomal barring is what PENCILLING should mean to Wisher...eh??
Now jest replace the silver to GOLD to the above SILVER Brahma hen and voila...
Gold pencilled (aka PARTRIDGE!) - wild type plus s"+"/- or s"+"/s"+", Mh, and Pg...some have Di (English more diluted dead oak leaf)
My own creation I bin messing with since like 2008 or maybe later. I furget..having too much FUN, eh. Way too much fun playing colour yer bird birds.
According to Sigrid, Dark fer Leghorn COCKEREL BREEDERS is Dark Brown Partridge (e"+" or eb) in the cockerel breeders (yeh, that is WHY the Brown Leghorn was subdivided into TWO colour varieties...the DARK and the LIGHT...dang breeders were welling PAIRS of Leghorns to greenhorns and knew FULL well that male bred to female would NEVER EVER produce show specimens in both genders or EITHER GENDER when crossed like this for F1's. Bwah ha ha...you could sell a pair of SHOW winners for BIG BOCKS knowing the poor easy marks were never EVER gonna do anything with a show pair. Hee hee...love those SLY oldtimers that preyed on the newbies! We could easily still do that now...so many "think" they know it all and none of us ever will. Lifelong career, this poultry biz.
What the female of the Dark Leghorn is exactly genetically speaking colour wise...well I have not stumbled upon that colour genetic recipe past Jeffrey's (and he does not even mention recessive blacks...kinda before his time, eh) but I mighta breezed on over it too--no reason for me to care...not my breed, not my variety so at this point, not high on my list to get a handle upon. Got me own works in progress to pursue.
I can suggest to you for the Dark Brown Leghorns...from Holmes in 1957: "Choose females with a surplus of pigment." You are going to run into lightening of the Dark Brown variety if you do not pursue it's ongoing maintenance.
From all the info in Jeffrey's book, Bantam Chickens, there is more fine details on this keeping the strength of colour in the Dark Brown Leghorn but since Dr. Crawford told me that Jeffrey's book was stolen and plagiarized so often, I will play no hand in further deluging any more info. Buy the book, eh. Lots of great how to breed birds info...that and Dr. Carefoot are two must have's for breeding quality poultry. That and Sigrid's works too.
So here's some homework fer yah Al...grab yer SOP, the APA one...if it's the 2010 edition...turn to page 116...
In 1874, the Single Combed BROWN Leghorn was accepted and then in 1923 was divided into light and Dark...fixed that oops, eh.
Rose Combs...the BROWN was accepted in 1883, but divided (fixed problem) in 1933.
Go to page 120 and 121, you see the photos of actual Brown Leghorn feathers...study those. The Dark Brown being your variety but good to know about the Lights too. Page 135 and 136 show colour images of the Dark and the Light...but I prefer the air brushed artwork of Arthur O. Schillings...a copy of the 1998 APA SOP is much warranted to see poultry as he took photos of REAL birds and airbrushed those into perfection. These handdrawn almost comic type drawings do nothing for me, personally compared to ART's masterpieces. Page 115, tho in black and white...stunning...absolutely stunning of the Dark and the Light in the Leghorns, single combs.
Have fun...fer a Flyday...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
