which cockerel to keep for future breeding ? splash or white?

[The Moonshiner]

black and white crossed will not give you a color somewhere in between.
If we're talking recessive white then it is possible for a black to produce a white and a white to produce a black.
Recessive white takes two copies to be expressed. One copy goes sight unseen.
if you breed a white to a bird that doesn't carry or show white then it can produce a black.
you can also breed two blacks together that both carry one recessive white gene and produce some white chicks.

 

[AstraChick]

Thank you @BlueBaby, yes im leaning towards keeping the splash

Thank you @The Moonshiner, in the past i have only had cross Australorps and didn't know the parents so there was a colour bleed. I had a white australorp cross hen that ended up having black flecks through it which was kinda cool and all the other chicks i had also had colour bleeding but i'm assuming that must happen with crosses.
So im thinking these white ones i have now being pure breed may not bleed in colour.
I'm only breeding them for me, not for re-sale.

So if i kept a white boy over the black girl, would i get a mix of white chicks and black chicks ?
and would the same apply to the white boy over the blue ?

 

[The Moonshiner]

With your cross birds before you were dealing with dominate white. Dominate white covers black and it's dilutes like blue, splash, chocolate. Dominate does nothing to the gold tones like gold, buff and red. With dominate it only takes one copy to show but one copy usually doesn't get the job done to eliminate all the black. Thats why your hen had some black specks showing throughout.
I believe you new birds should be recessive white. Recessive covers or eliminates all colors but takes two copies to show at all. If a bird has one copy it won't show and will be sight unseen. The good thing with recessive is that it won't allow any leakage.
If you cross your white cockerel with white hens you will get 100% whites everytime. Thats all they can produce. When crossed to blacks and blues you won't get any whites but they will all receive a white gene so in the future they can produce whites if bred to a white or white carrier.
You white cockerel is probably black under the white so he will produce as a black bird. He could be blue underneath but odds are on black.
So if you use the white you'll be producing white (from the white hens) and blacks and blues from the others. You won't get splash unless by chance he is blue underneath.
If you use your splash cockerel you'll get blue and splash offspring. With the white hens you'll get blue that carry white but won't express it. You won't produce any white chicks until further generations and until you breed them to a white or white carrying cockerel.
It looks like without plans to add or switch roosters in the future using splash will eliminate all chances for white offspring.
With the white cockerel you'll get whites but I don't think you'll ever produce splash without changing roosters.

 

[BlueBaby]

Thank you @BlueBaby, yes im leaning towards keeping the splash

Thank you @The Moonshiner, in the past i have only had cross Australorps and didn't know the parents so there was a colour bleed. I had a white australorp cross hen that ended up having black flecks through it which was kinda cool and all the other chicks i had also had colour bleeding but i'm assuming that must happen with crosses.
So im thinking these white ones i have now being pure breed may not bleed in colour.
I'm only breeding them for me, not for re-sale.

So if i kept a white boy over the black girl, would i get a mix of white chicks and black chicks ?
and would the same apply to the white boy over the blue ?

I know what you mean about breeding the B/B/S Australorp's and having color's bleed through. You have to know how the back lineage was breed, or you grow-out blue boy's that can have red leakage in the feathering (a no-no) if you want to show them. With white's it's hard to tell what other color may be hiding under them.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I'm not an australorps fan so limited knowledge.
Didn't they only come in black before the BBS and whites? If that was the case seems odd you'd have to deal with leakage issues. Anyone know what was used to bring in the other colors?

 

[BlueBaby]

I'm not an australorps fan so limited knowledge.
Didn't they only come in black before the BBS and whites? If that was the case seems odd you'd have to deal with leakage issues. Anyone know what was used to bring in the other colors?

Orpington's. But, if they were crossed with a Buff then that could start showing up as leakage later on down the line. I was doing the B/B/S Australorp's before I switched over to the Naked Neck's because they handle our summer heat over here much better. I had some of those Australorp's from both the Hupp line and the Rattlesnake Ridge line. I sold those to a lady over in Colorado who came down to buy me out on the Australorp's. It's cooler for them there.

 

[AstraChick]

Thank you so much @BlueBaby and @The Moonshiner
Great information and food for thought. Will probably end up keeping the splash cockerel for next summer breeding.
I will make the decision once i integrate the 4 little ones out with the whites in the big coop.

 

[BlueBaby]

Thank you so much @BlueBaby and @The Moonshiner
Great information and food for thought. Will probably end up keeping the splash cockerel for next summer breeding.
I will make the decision once i integrate the 4 little ones out with the whites in the big coop.

Good luck!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

What makes you think they are white?

 

[AstraChick]

@Egghead_Jr

Purchased eggs from a breeder, pure Australorp

Looks white to me, 5 weeks old

8 weeks old, was their first night in the big coop outside, nest boxes on the right have been boarded up as i don't have any layers right now.

they are 13 weeks old now