The "What Color Is My Chicken?" thread! Calling all color experts!

[alohachickens]

Hi! After seeing some posts on here with really COOL chicken colors (and not knowing what the heck they are) I thought it would be fun for everyone to have a place to post photos of their "mystery color" chickens for feedback and info from the gurus of chicken color that lucky for all of us, lurk on BYC.

I'll get the thread rolling with my own "Mystery Chicken Color". I've been working on a project that requires some serious line-breeding, and last year, I had this color unexpectedly come up in two of my roosters. LOVE it!

Color has absolutely NO BLACK. Areas of tail that would normally be black are a pale milk-chocolate color with red tones. (Darker than body color.) Body color is a bright orange shade. He also has mottling on top, but it's the base color I'm wondering about:



Above: Rooster "Butterscotch" Below: Rooster "Pumpkin"



The strain I've been working with, I believe does contain some kind of random bred Mexican game stock, due to body type and mottling. The original hen that these roosters were line bred from, was purchased from my Mexican neighbors next door, who moved back to Mexico shortly after I got her.

I did find this Craigslist ad for a "pumpkin game rooster" who was located within a few miles of my house. I saved the Craigslist ad photo (NOT MY PHOTO OR MY CHICKEN) because I thought the color kind of reminded me of my unusual guys here:


So my questions are:

1. What color is this?
2. Does it show up in hens, or just roosters?
3. What would be good color crosses, to breed to these roosters, to produce more?
(Currently, I have purebred Speckled Sussex, New Hampshire Red, and Buff Rocks to use as outcrosses.)

Thanks for your help!

Anyone else have a cool mystery chicken color to post?

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I am no expert genetics guru but if you look up the pumpkin hulsey gamefowl, they come in that color. The hens are more of a wheaton color. I know the variety has lots of variance, ranging from light, almost white to a darker red. Hopefully one of the genetics gurus will pop in with a better answer.

 

[tadkerson]

Breed him with a buff rock. He is a variation of buff.

dominant white, gold, dark brown restricted on wheaten.

Cross them with a black hen- if they produces white chick with red faces he carries dominant white.

That is my guess- a look at the mother & father would help.

You can get the same color in chickens with different genetic make ups,

I agree he does look like a pumpkin hulsey.

Tim

 

[Meara]

I am SO glad you started this thread!

Breed him with a buff rock. He is a variation of buff.

dominant white, gold, dark brown restricted on wheaten.

Tim are you referring to both of the above pictured roosters or just one? And when you say dark brown do you mean the gene Db?

 

[tadkerson]

yes both roosters. Yes Db is dark brown restricted.

There is a high probability that the birds also carry columbian. The white in them could be from mottling or dominant white- I do not know.

Hypothetically- I believe a buff bird can be produced that is silver wheaten. I believe this because of some anecdotal results I have obtained from my experimental crosses. This is just a thought I have- I need more data to support the idea.

Seeing the parents would really help.

Buff birds are difficult to analyze because there are so many gene combinations that can cause the buff color. These birds are just a variation of buff. I would like to have seen the pictures of the breasts on the birds.

Tim

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I have seen a lot of pumpkin birds at our shows (most of the shows in my area combine a game show with the regular show), and there is HUGE variation in colour. In game shows the colour standard does not seem to be nearly as strict as in regular APA/ABA shows.

I love the appearance of your buff with mottling roosters--very attractive!

They might also carry dun; I understand it is common in gamefowl.

 

[Vcomb]

your birds appear to be mottled buffs. I've seen that pattern before but I can't recall where. Just like how you can have blacks and mottled blacks or blues and mottled blues. They don't appear to be pumpkins of any sort like you'd find in gamefowl.

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Very pretty color!

 

[CluckyJay]

His color in sunlight looks like molten gold.

 

[Meara]

I never would have looked at that first rooster and thought about him being a variation of buff. He just looks so "chocolatey." The buff color is really starting to irritate me with its unpredictability