Anyone Working on Cuckoo or Barred?

[Guest]

It has been brought up many times before, and I believe the aswer is this: There are only two true colors of eggs, blue and white; brown is just a tint on a white egg. Blue is dominant, so cross will result as such:

blue egg x blue egg= blue egg
blue egg x white egg = blue egg
blue egg x brown egg = green egg

The blue x brown results in green due to the blue being the dominant egg color with a brown tint.
 
Hope this helps, and correct me if I am wrong.

[Guest]

that seems pretty right, but I\'m not totally sure. thanks for your help

[John]

I agree with jsimon and think of the egg shells like vinyl siding.  White and blue vinyl is the same color inside, outside and thru...like a white or blue egg shell.  If you get some light brown latex and paint the white siding, on the outside, it will be tinted (very light brown) and light brown latex on blue vinyl will look a deeper blue or green.  There are many shades of brown latex and at least several brown egg shell modifiers.  

There are only two true egg shell colors, blue and white. The gene that makes blue egg shells is dominant over the gene for white eggs. Brown eggs are really white eggs with a brown tint or coating. Green eggs are really blue eggs with a brown tint or coating. Just as there are many shades of brown eggs there are many shades of green eggs.

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/2/2-3/John_W_Blehm.html

[Guest]

Ameraucanas have white skin.

I think what Ann is asking is: if ameraucanas have white skin, why don\'t they have white legs?

I would like to add additional information to what Mike had posted.

The dermis on ameraucana is dark because of a recessive sex liked gene called dermal melanin (id+). This gene adds black pigment to the tissue layer just under the skin. Since the skin is white the black pigment can be seen under the skin as a slate or light blue color. The allele to the id+ gene is the incompletely dominant dermal melanin inhibitor allele. In males that are heterozygous or split  Id/id+, certain genetic types of birds will show some black pigment in the dermis.  

In breeds that have green or willow legs, the dermal melanin allele works with yellow skin to produce a willow leg. The darker the color of the legs the more black pigment is found in the dermis.

Tim

[Mike Gilbert]

Good analysis Tim, thanks.    I would just like to re-emphasize that even in the presence of two copies of id, the sex-linked barring gene acts to prevent dermal eumalanin from developing.
Thus we don\'t see any barred birds with true willow or slate shanks.  

[Birch Run Farm]

So it would be impossible to create a slate legged barred variety?  

[Guest]

Don\'t D\'anvers have slate legs?  You could make a cross there or use a D\'uccle, but then you have to weed out the feathered leg gene.  I can\'t remember which John used to create his Lavender Ameraucana\'s.

[Mike Gilbert]

So it would be impossible to create a slate legged barred variety?  

I don\'t like the word \"impossible.\"   Miracles happen every day.
Let\'s just say it is extremely unlikely.   But there are other forms of barring than the sex linked one which prevents dermal melanin.   It might be more productive to pursue those.

[Birch Run Farm]

Well, I will work on color and body type first, see what happens and go from there to get leg and egg color.  I only have the one cockerel at the moment.  Breeding season is over here in the mountains, winter is close to knocking on the door.  I have four mothers with two week old chicks running around (araucana and EE) and it is 34 degrees this morning.

[Guest]

There is always autosomal barring like in campines. That would work.  

The mechanism by which of the barring gene produces barring causes the inhibition of the black pigment in the dermis. If the barring gene did not inhibit the melanin in the dermis it would not produce a bar.

The barring gene also inhibits the production of red pigment. A bird that should be dark mahogany is a light (almost buff) red color when they carry the barring gene.

The barring gene effects the entire bird.

There are exceptions. In birds that are columbian restricted, recessive or dominant white and carry the dermal melanin gene, the barring gene actually enhances the dermal melanin (slate color in legs).

Tim

[Birch Run Farm]

There are exceptions. In birds that are columbian restricted, recessive or dominant white and carry the dermal melanin gene, the barring gene actually enhances the dermal melanin (slate color in legs).

Tim

Tim,

I used a cuckoo maran so my assumption is I could not acheive the dermal melanin?  He actually has darker top coloring on his shanks and toes than my blue wheaten cockerel.  The toe webbing though shows pink.

My goal was to cross the blue ameraucana cock with the marans hens to breed a few pullets then breed them to this cockerel.