To Show or Not to Show?

[HHHeritageFarm]

Hello,

I am new to Australorps and am not familiar with desired breed characteristics. I am looking for some advise on confirmation and weather or not my birds are of good quality. My rooster is a Blue Australorp and my hen is black but carries the blue gene.

Any advise is helpful.

Cheers,
Holly

PS I am unable to post my pictures which makes answering my question a little difficult, any suggustions there?

 

[Celtic Hill]

Get the standard of perfection, plus you can always go to a show and talk to the judges about the good and bad qualities of your bird.

Do YOU want to show your birds?

 

[Illia]

Quote:
That's actually impossible. A blue chicken has one blue allele, a black chicken has none, and a splash has both alleles. So, one either has a single gene and is blue or has none and is black.

But, as said before, do you actually want to show your birds? Because it only matters if you truly want to show them and breed them for such, otherwise, they're pretty similar to "hatchery quality" aside from having a higher production but shorter production lifespan as well as less weight and meat on the body.

If you do, the thing to do is get the American Standard of Perfection. Bible to chicken showing and breed characteristics.

 

[HHHeritageFarm]

Isn't the Blue gene recessive? If you cross Blue x blue and you get 50% blue, 25% black, and 25% splash, wouldn't the 25% Black and 25% Splash carry the recessive gene but not express it? And if you breed a two blacks each carring the recessive gene won't you get 25% Blue?

 

[HHHeritageFarm]

I'm not particularily looking to show...I might like to if they are true to breed....but I want to be sure that I am breeding true to the breeds specific characteristics. This is the link to see my fella

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=480386852217&set=a.432729237217.232761.507992217

 

[Illia]

Quote:
The percentages you said were correct, however blue is dominant. What you're seeing is exactly where the genes get spread - 75% carry the blue gene and the 25% chance of blacks don't. Remember, a blue chicken has only one allele. Thus, if you breed the two together, you will not get 100% offspring with at least one of the parent's genes.

There will be the 25% of the offspring with neither, just like if you bred two tufted birds, you get a 25% chance of chickens without tufts.

 

[buffalogal]

Quote:
That's actually impossible. A blue chicken has one blue allele, a black chicken has none, and a splash has both alleles. So, one either has a single gene and is blue or has none and is black.

Could you explain that a little better?

B for Black which is dominant over b for blue
S is for solid which is dominant over s for splash

BB is homozygous dominant for Black
bb is homozygous recessive for blue
Bb is heterozygous for blue; that is, it will be a black bird, but carry the blue gene.
SS is homozygous dominant for a solid color
Ss is heterozygous for solid - will be a solid colored bird, but carries the gene for splash
or
Ss which appears splash because the solid is not completely dominant
ss is homozygous recessive for splash - this bird will be splash colored

If you breed a BBSS to a bbss or a BbSs to a BbSs:
you will end up with a formula like 9:3:3:1
You end up with half solid colored black, 1/4 solid color blue, 1/4 splash. I know, the numbers don't come out exactly even.
9 BBSS black birds, all solid black
3 BbSs black birds carrying the blue gene, splash colored.
3 bbSs blue birds, solid colored that also carry the splash gene
1 bbss blue splash bird that may appear white teeny, tiny flecks of color on the feathers what I think of as erminette, though most pictures show more dark markings

I haven't worked with solid colored birds very much, I have some crossbreed birds around from a dominant white, though on the 2nd and 3rd generations and I'm seeing erminette. I recently acquired a solid blue cockerel to use later this year, but I want to use him over blue wheaten hens. Anyway, I'm obviously not basing the above on personal experience.

So, what is it I'm missing?

 

[Illia]

Quote:
To also add, the rules for BBS (blue, black, splash) can apply in any color, whether it be solid or not. You can have a Blue Wheaten and a Splash Wheaten, and the ruling still applies with normal Blue and Splash that you get 50/50 of blue and splash from them. Or, in this case, Blue Wheaten and Splash Wheaten. Same goes for anything. . . Having blue in whatever will still follow by the BBS rules.

Blue x Blue = 50% blue 25% black 25% splash (which is genetically speaking, homozygous blue)

Blue x Splash = 50/50 blue and splash

Blue x Black = 50/50 blue and black

Splash x Black = 100% blue

 

[HHHeritageFarm]

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge with me! It it so very helpful and apprechiated However, I was hoping someone had a chance to look at the pic of my rooster to let me know if his traits are desireable in breeding.
Cheers,
Holly

 

[buffalogal]

Quote:
If it is homozygous for blue, what color is the bird? Splash is not a color, it's a pattern like solid or barred or mottled. Blue and black are colors. The color of the spots on the splash bird is what color that bird is, and the gene for splash only allows the color to be seen in spots, rather than all over. Throw a tattered white blanket with many holes over a black bird, and it's still a black bird, just the black is only going to show in spots and splotches. This is why there are red splash birds. It's a red bird carrying the splash gene.

Quote:
On the blue X Black cross; isn't this what the OP was saying; that they were going to breed their blue and Black birds and they expected blue chicks because the Black bird carried the blue gene. Since blue is a dilute Black, I'm not following how blue is supposed to be dominant, but it doesn't matter; one is, one isn't. Maybe the OP has a black bird that they know is from a blue/black cross. If it's heterozygous for Black, that is, a Black bird carrying a blue gene, and there will be blue chicks in the first generation when it's bred to a blue bird. If it is homozygous for Black, there will only be Black chicks, no matter what color it is bred to. But, breeding *those* chicks together or back crossing to the blue parent would produce blue. Does that make sense?