Whiting true blue crossed with marans

[bigsurfwaves]

Oops I'm clueless how to post I guess. Thank you NatJ for taking the time to answer those questions. Yes it will be amusing to try this. Green is my favorite color, I love turquoise shades of it, and darker brown or olive eggs might. happen it sounds like. The pure WTB cockerels are all white and red. 2 of them are in fact nearly all white. The other 2 are 50% white, as their mother was almost fully white and their father was about 50% white. The OE/WTB crosses are not very white. These boys hatched from a very olive egg. I'm definitely drawn to them. Honestly nothing looks prettier to me than a stunning barred Bielefelder or Cream Legbar Roo, but these boys need homes and they're just 4 weeks younger than my girls. 4 WTB on the right - their daddy is the mature red/white rooster on the left with fancy white tail, and the OE/WTB cross in the center is my favorite. I also love the one that is cut off on the left so I added another photo of him.

 

[bigsurfwaves]

Beards don't really turn me on, in men or chickens. Just being honest. But this project is being done to satisfy my curiosity as well as help my son's STEM class hatch some neat eggs and I want to make a good decision for the direction of my flock if that makes sense.

 

[NatJ]

Beards don't really turn me on, in men or chickens. Just being honest. But this project is being done to satisfy my curiosity as well as help my son's STEM class hatch some neat eggs and I want to make a good decision for the direction of my flock if that makes sense.

If you don't like beards on chickens, then you might as well choose a non-bearded rooster (unless a bearded one is much better in some other trait that matters to you.)

Oops I'm clueless how to post I guess. Thank you NatJ for taking the time to answer those questions. Yes it will be amusing to try this. Green is my favorite color, I love turquoise shades of it, and darker brown or olive eggs might. happen it sounds like. The pure WTB cockerels are all white and red. 2 of them are in fact nearly all white. The other 2 are 50% white, as their mother was almost fully white and their father was about 50% white. The OE/WTB crosses are not very white. These boys hatched from a very olive egg. I'm definitely drawn to them. Honestly nothing looks prettier to me than a stunning barred Bielefelder or Cream Legbar Roo, but these boys need homes and they're just 4 weeks younger than my girls. 4 WTB on the right - their daddy is the mature red/white rooster on the left with fancy white tail, and the OE/WTB cross in the center is my favorite. I also love the one that is cut off on the left so I added another photo of him.View attachment 3609539View attachment 3609541

From those WTB cockerels, yes you will get lots of white chicks. They have the gene called Dominant White, that turns black into white. Considering the colors of the parents, at least some of those cockerel probably have two copies of the gene, meaning that every chick they produce will have white.

I can think of two reasons that some are all white and the others are red & white. It might be that some would be all black, and the others would be red & black, except that they all have Dominant White turning the black (but not the red) into white. Or it might be that some would be black & red (but Dominant White turned the black to white) and others would be black & red (with black turned to white by Dominant White, and red turned to white by the gene called Silver.)

Given that you like the color of Bielefelder and Cream Legbar roosters, if you do want one of the WTB, I would choose one with plenty of red, not an all-white one. If one has black flecks in his white tail, take that one: he probably only has one copy of Dominant White, so half his chicks will be able to show black and only half will have their black turned to white. I think the one with lots of red, with his tail toward me, 3rd from the right, does have black flecks in his tail and also has no beard. So from what you've said you like, I would probably pick him rather than any of his brothers.

Of the Olive Eggers, the one in the center photo and the one in the separate photo do NOT have Dominant White (I can tell because of how much black they show.) The one in the separate photo does hvae the Silver gene (turns red/gold colors into white), but he probably also carries gold (recessive to Silver). The yellowish tinge on some feathers and the red parts in his wings & shoulders are the things that make me think he carries gold. So he would be able to give either gold or silver to each chick he sires. Gold vs. Silver will make a difference when you breed him to some colors of hens (like Wheaten Marans), but will not make much difference if you breed him to hens that are black, blue, or splash (which all have the genes to be black all over, so you don't see gold or silver unless it leaks through a little bit.)

For the Olive Egger cockerel in the center of the first photo, he is probably pure for gold, with no Silver gene. Since you already said you like him best, I would suggest you pick him

I don't know whether you would be better with one of each kind, or the two Olive Eggers and no WTB.

 

[bigsurfwaves]

Update I took the WTB/OE with black/white mottled chest in the second picture. He's grown into a gorgeous rooster and he's only a little grumpy - easy to handle and likes to be held. Love him. I have a broody hen who hatched out babies from the WTB/OE and several hens... they have grown out. Wow- what gorgeous cockerels and pullets he has sired. Everyone is impressed by his offspring! The colors are fantastic. Thanks for the guidance on this