junebuggena
Crowing
Some breeders swear by breeding in Black to keep the Blue from getting too light. Others insist that breeding back to Black makes it harder to get good edging. There is no specific shade of Blue that is more desireable, so it really doesn't matter if the birds are really dark or really light. It's the crisp, clear edging that is more important.Oops, blue to blue is 50% blue not 25%. I have the chart memorized but typed it wrong. I know lavender is "self-blue" and I know it dilutes black but I don't know how it relates to blue specifically. My guess is that it pulls out the purple sheen in blacks instead of the green sheen that is the desired sheen color for blacks but I don't breed lavenders so I just focus on BBS. I did breed lavender gerbils before but at the time I thought they were just gray, lol.
So does blue to blue or splash to blue dilute blue more than black to blue or black to splash?
Lavender does not relate to BBS at all. It's a completely different gene entirely. You will never get Lavender by breeding BBS. Two very different, completely unrelated genes. A single copy of Lavender has no affect on black.