Wheaten breeding question.

[Guest]

I have some wheatens that have been bred pretty tight for a while now.  I was thinking of taking 2 hens and putting them with my black cockerel.  
Are black ameraucanas E, Extended Black.  I have a feeling my fellow may carry Autosomal Red as not all his sheen is beetle green, there is some purple colour to it.
Because E is dominant to eWh, I am assuming all F1s will be black.  Will they show anything else as well?  Red in the neck or something that would help me choose what to cross back in the next generation.  It is my understanding the next cross should get me back to wheaten.  Am I right in all these assumptions I am making?   :rolleyes:
I am interested to try this just to satisfy my curiosity.  Any info anyone has to help me along would be greatly appreciated.

[Mike Gilbert]

If it is only inbreeding depression you are trying to eliminate, a better cross might be to buff.  Buff is also based on e^Wh.
Black can be on either E or E^R.   While you can get back to e^Wh from there, it might not be so easy to get rid of unwanted melanizers or other genes under the black.  On the other hand, with the buffs, you might be fighting off-color in the male breasts for a while.   Either route will require care and effort.  I guess I would go with the best bird(s) I owned or could access.   Here\'s another thought:   why not bring in someone else\'s line of wheatens or blue wheatens?   To me that seems the simplest, least time consuming, and least costly in terms of numbers of birds that must be raised to achieve the goal.

[Guest]

Thanks for your thoughts Mike, they are very helpful.  I appreciate any feedback.