Lavender Splits

[Trish44]

I\'m new to all of the genetics & all with the Ameraucanas, so bear with me because I know this has been discussed a lot. I just had my first hatch from Lavender hens & a Black cockerell. Most of the chicks have lighter wing color so far & seem like they will end up being lavender. Is there any way to tell at a few days old if they\'re going to be black or lavender with the splits? I know if they were pure lavenders you most definitely could tell, but with the splits they are all dark in the beginning & then start to lighten up. I have more people wanting lavender than I do wanting black, so it would be nice to be able to tell better what they will be.

[crystalcreek]

Lavender hens bred to a pure black male can only give you 100% black in color offspring that carry one copy of the lavender gene hidden, these birds are what are referred to as \"splits\".  If you are hatching lavender (gray chick down) chicks from this cross, your \"black\" bird MUST be carrying the lavender gene hidden, and is therefore a split.

Lavender hens bred to a \"split\" male, then, will give you the following offspring:
50% lavender chicks
50% splits.

If you are referring to a white wing primary on black chicks, that is typical for both pure black and \"split\" chicks and will grow in black once the adult plumage comes in, unless the melanizing genes are insufficient to cover that white completely.

Hope this helps.

[Trish44]

So am I correct in thinking that I need to retain a rooster from the chicks I\'m hatching now from the lavender hens & black rooster & then eventually breed him back to my lavender hens to get more lavender chicks? The people wanting chicks from me want more lavender ones than anything else. I\'m new, so I\'m just trying to get this all figured out.

[John]

breed him back to my lavender hens to get more lavender chicks?

Yes

[Trish44]

John, thanks for the answer.