Lavender Cockeral

[Guest]

This is my nicest looking lavender cockeral hatched from Harry\'s eggs.  I know the \"standard\" calls for little/no wattles on Ameraucanas....are his too big?  Also if you zoom in on his wing you can see some barring, any breeding advice to help clean that up in future generations.  Thanks.
(words link to photo)
Lavender Cockeral

[verycherry]

Just wondering, how old is he?  I\'ve had a few cockerels (other colors, not lavenders) show some faint barring on juvenile feathers, but not as adults.  I wonder if it has to do with wild type in the background somewhere.

As far as the wattles, he might not be homozygous for beard and muffs.  If that\'s the case, I\'d only breed him to females that are.  He\'s a beautiful boy, and you probably aren\'t going to see too many perfect lavenders at this early point in the game.

[Guest]

He\'s 17 weeks old.  I\'m mostly concerned about his wattles.  Can someone brief me on wattle genetics.

[verycherry]

Oh, sorry, I just edited my post to say something about the wattles.

I should also say that I\'m pretty new to Ameraucanas, so I\'m eager to see what the experts say.  I may be totally off.

[Mike Gilbert]

I don\'t breed lavenders, but I can tell you that barred looking feathers are quite common in juvenile birds.   As for this guy, I would venture to say he is not pure for the muffs and beard gene (Mb).    I agree with Verycherry\'s advice - breed him to females that have the full muffs.   When pure for Mb the wattles tend to go away.    This is nothing major for a new variety under development.  BTW - it is cockerel.