In my experience the darker blue BLRW sometimes have almost black hackles, just like a solid darker blue wyandotte has (which a solid blue wyandott is suppose to have). If you use a rooster with lighter blue color and good red on the hackles, and you are using a light blue laced hen (with good lacing on the hackles) you should get some chicks that have good red hackles without the black.....now I am talking about raising alot of chicks out of the pair...not a few. If you use a hen with almost no lacing on a badly laced rooster with light colored hackles well....they are not going to improve..IMHO.
The key to good mahogany red is through the rooster...type is through the hen.....good hackle color is the key to having good red in your line...but I still get plenty that dont have the good deep red in the hackles and that is why I raise 150-200 BLRW to cull from each year to pick my breeders, now granted I get less and less of the brassy color in the hackles, but they are still along way off from where they need to be.
The key to good mahogany red is through the rooster...type is through the hen.....good hackle color is the key to having good red in your line...but I still get plenty that dont have the good deep red in the hackles and that is why I raise 150-200 BLRW to cull from each year to pick my breeders, now granted I get less and less of the brassy color in the hackles, but they are still along way off from where they need to be.
