April,
I would recommend to all breeders who are new to lavenders to cross them with a black or a black split. (Just make sure to toe punch as many out there have crossed these birds and have no idea now who is carrying the lavender gene.)
They are going to still need improvement for quite some time and crossing them to a good feathered, appropriately sized black will produce quick results.
This will go a long way to prevent any feather quality issues and will improve egg color should you have a line with that issue.
Jean, I took your quote from Aprils thread so I didn\'t hijack it.
I\'m glad you brought this up. I\'ve hatched around a dozen and a half Lavenders, and at least 2 dozen or more splits. Not a lot, but enough to pick out a few nice birds for myself and a few extras to sell or give away. Well, I\'ve had several people contact me over the past month or so about buying chicks, but no one wants the black splits, even though I\'ve explained why they\'re useful. And all my black chicks carry Lavender, no question, as the Dad of all was Lavender.
I decided I had 2 or 3 extra trios that I\'d like to sell, each made up of 1 Lavender cockerels with 2 black split pullets. I had one trio spoken for, and then a couple of weeks later I got an email saying they really didn\'t have room for another rooster and wanted Lavender pullets only and how many did I have. I told them to contact you or John, lol!
