Why are grey chickens called every other color but grey?

[BigBlueHen53]

So it the 'grey' is uneven then it's called a 'blue', but if the color is even it's a 'lavender'? What if it's dark grey all over?

Got a pic?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Self Blue is what the APA calls Lavender.

Thanks, Moony!

Edit: Oops. Typo.

 

[Ikslo]

So what would this one be? Blue?

 

[redinator]

Got a pic?

They're chicks one is a Blue Jersey Giant, the others are presumably Self Blue Old English Bantam. I got them at Tractor Supply

 

[redinator]

This is an EE, very cute and I'm hoping male so I can replace my barnyard mix cockerels.

 

[NatJ]

I can't explain "Self Blue" because I don't know anything about it.

As best I can tell, at one point there was just one kind of "blue," caused by the gene we call blue. It was most often seen in Andalusians, which have pretty obvious lacing (dark edges on the feathers).

So when gray chickens ("blue") started showing up with a nice even shade all over, caused by some other gene, it got called "self blue" (meaning solid blue) to distinguish it from the laced blue (which also got called "Andalusian Blue" after the Andalusian breed that was known for that color.)

By now the one gene is called Blue and the other is called lavender, which works just fine for keeping them straight when you are breeding them. But "self blue" still hangs around as a color name in anything written before the name "lavender" got popular, and in any varieties recognized by the American Poultry Association because apparently they don't want to change their name for it.

And given that the APA cares what a chicken looks like, not what genes it has, if anyone breeds a Blue chicken with a very even shade all over and no visible lacing, they can probably enter it in a show as "Self Blue" without anyone complaining.

 

[DSJMHenDen]

So self blue = lavender = all over even color grey
Blue = grey with darker lacing?

This forum keeps me straight so I don't get took by people selling on the local classifieds I see EE'S with the rust patches on their wings being sold as pullets, and I say no no sir, that right there is a cockerel. I've read enough threads to know male specific coloring at least sometimes!

 

[redinator]

As best I can tell, at one point there was just one kind of "blue," caused by the gene we call blue. It was most often seen in Andalusians, which have pretty obvious lacing (dark edges on the feathers).

So when gray chickens ("blue") started showing up with a nice even shade all over, caused by some other gene, it got called "self blue" (meaning solid blue) to distinguish it from the laced blue (which also got called "Andalusian Blue" after the Andalusian breed that was known for that color.)

By now the one gene is called Blue and the other is called lavender, which works just fine for keeping them straight when you are breeding them. But "self blue" still hangs around as a color name in anything written before the name "lavender" got popular, and in any varieties recognized by the American Poultry Association because apparently they don't want to change their name for it.

And given that the APA cares what a chicken looks like, not what genes it has, if anyone breeds a Blue chicken with a very even shade all over and no visible lacing, they can probably enter it in a show as "Self Blue" without anyone complaining.

So, if the bird is dark grey all over, or light grey all over it's still considered Self Blue or Lavender, but varying shades of grey throughout is considered Blue?

 

[redinator]

So self blue = lavender = all over even color grey
Blue = grey with darker lacing?

This forum keeps me straight so I don't get took by people selling on the local classifieds I see EE'S with the rust patches on their wings being sold as pullets, and I say no no sir, that right there is a cockerel. I've read enough threads to know male specific coloring at least sometimes!

^^^ This is why I'll continue to ask the questions everyone else seems to just 'know'.

 

[NatJ]

So, if the bird is dark grey all over, or light grey all over it's still considered Self Blue or Lavender, but varying shades of grey throughout is considered Blue?

For showing purposes, the appearance matters and the genes do not. So the even color all over would be considered Self Blue, no matter which gene actually causes it. Just like white all over would be "White" or "Self White," even though there are at least three different genetic ways to cause that appearance.

But for all other purposes, people care very much what gene is involved, so the even or uneven color is just used to make an educated guess about what gene(s) the chicken actually has. That would apply to breeders or hatcheries or most people on this forum.

The lavender gene is much more likely to cause the even coloring all over, and the blue gene is much more likely to cause a variety of shades. That is so common that it can usually be used to tell which genes are actually present in the chicken.