Truth or not...blue birds

[BamaChicken]

I would be interested in the anwser to that question also .

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I am so thrilled with this topic! Thanks halo for posting it. I've been breeding parrots for years so I've got the genetics of those down. Now I have to get the chicken genetic thing down. This is an excellent question!!!

Thanks to everyone who has added to this!

Laurie

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I don't think so--if anything, the genes for lacing will be reinforced--if you are missing a copy of any of them, you are increasing the chances that the offspring will have the correct two copies of each. However if you are continually diluting the amount of pigment available, the contrast between the laced edge and the interior of the feather may become less obvious. That last comment is speculation, however.

Now in breeding blue to black, as I understand it, you can get either blue or black birds. So if the resulting birds are black, has there been a blue diluter in the black, or does the blue have to express itself if its a diluter by being blue instead of black? Can the black birds be "pure" (for lack of the correct term) black without the diluter being passed to them from the blue parent, or is the diluter always passed on to the offspring from a blue parent?

Blue is not the only diluter of black pigment. If blue is present, it expresses unless turned OFF, along with all other colour genes by white. If other dilution genes are present, the hue can vary somewhat, depending on the specific diluters.​

 

[Henk69]

Quote:
You are a creative one aren't you...

As to lacing on blue.
There are 2 types:
1. Proper andalusian type of lacing with actual lacing genes.
2. Blue "prone" lacing.
The 2nd type means that Blue tends to form an optical lace around the feather. Melanizers should affect this: more black pigment means more black pigment to be pushed against the rim of the feather.

 

[walkswithdog]

Go Halo - I just love color topics, especially blue.... I love learning.

 

[BamaChicken]

Did this question get anwserded?
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[onthespot]

Okay you guys... I am going to go take some pictures of my freaky blue bunch, my project marans coop of birds. Don't laugh, but you can at least cry with me, lol. I have about every wrong kind of blue there is, every bad fault and every wrong kind, and I am about to post pics so we can discuss these flaws with picture examples of them. I don't know the genetic terms, but I do know what I am looking at, and I know there is a lot of genetic flotsam in my blue bunch. Some of them are even molting out with cuckoo feathers out of their previously flat blue, unlaced plumage!!! What the??? I'm going to try to get pics of the whole flaming mess so we can have lots to talk about on here! Thanks all you geneticists for sharing your knowledge and helping us newbies figure it out. The least I can do in return is post pics!

 

[Goose and Fig]

I have read that breeding a splash roo to a black hen will give you good lacing, but I dont have any old enough to verify that.

I'm going to try this, and vice versa and see if I can tell a difference. I can use Cochins & Orps- seperately of course. I also have several shades of blue- so I'm going to keep track of the "blueness" factor too. Thanks for posting this- food for thought.​

 

[Henk69]

Quote:

Yes, see a few posts back. We are chicken breeders and not lawyers looking for cracks in the genetics' legislation...

A black from a non-blue line has NO blue ancestors.
No bargaining please ...

Sorry to be harsh.

 

[halo]

So is the genetic "code" for blue lacing the same as the lacing for Silver Laced Wyandottes? Can we get the lacing on blues to be as "sharp" as it is on good SLW by breeding good laced blues to each other?