Green sheen in blues

[Sharon Yorks]

I'd like to revisit the topic of seeing some green sheen in a blue. I found in the forum where it had been talked about back several years ago, but I'm wondering if anyone has figured out anything more about it. I have a young blue male that was hatched in January that I'm starting to see some on his back. Not sure where it's coming from or what causes it. I do not plan to use him for breeding.

[Max]

I too have a male with green sheen in his two main tail feathers. I'm not very knowledgable in genetics but would like to know more about it...

[John]

Reading this topic is helpful...
http://ameraucana.org/forum/index.php?topic=1733.msg11749;topicseen#msg11749

And there is another good reason for not crossing blacks with blues besides the e locus gene.   Good blacks will most often be based on sex linked gold (s) while the best blues will be based on silver (S).    Having said that, the two can be crossed as long as you use a male of the color you are shooting for and only keep his female offspring, disposing of the males.  That's because the females will have their father's (S) or (s) as the case may be.  Sex linked characteristics are not passed down from mother to daughter, only father to daughter.

More important, I believe, is that black should be based on sex linked gold, while blue should be based on sex linked silver.   Blues need to be "silver" so they don't get rusty when the feathers become worn, and blacks can achieve the best green sheen when based on "gold."  Also, if you have GOOD blues, when you cross them with blacks there is a high probability the blacks may not be carrying the pattern gene (Pg) and columbian (Co) that are necessary for good lacing on blues.  Those are my thoughts, but some may disagree. 

I think Christie has the right idea.  Breeding blues to blues to produce the best blues should solve the problem of green sheen and poor lacing.

[Max]

Do you think that blacks with excessive purple barring could be based on silver rather than gold?

[Sharon Yorks]

What causes purple barring in blacks have been a question I've had since day 1. There doesn't seem to be a cut and dry answer for it and I have heard everything from: feeding too much corn, stress, and something about an autosomal gene. I'm still not clear on what causes it. I have noticed that some birds have purple barring, while others just have a purple sheen, and still others have barring that doesn't have any purple. I was reading somewhere (over a year ago) that pertained to parrots or pigeons (can't remember now) that suggest the barring can be caused by stress.

SO, in my genetically challenged mind, this is how I finally settled this issue...and please keep in mind you need to seek profession help by someone who know what they are talking about when it comes to genetics. I'm just putting this out there so someone can jump on it and correct me...

I believe the barring on the feathers is probably a stress issue. I first didn't believe this because most of my birds are overly friendly and don't seem stressed, but then I realized that kids do pick on kids and who knows what's happening on their playground.

I also believe that the purple is more likely a product of a particular gene...not sure what the autosomal gene is, but let's go with something like that. Regardless of what gene it is, it's not wise to breed to it unless you are specifically trying to breed it out of a line that you are highly crazy about. I, too, wondered if the purple was caused by the silver gene, but as much as I was wanting to believe that (would make things a lot easier to fix) I'm seeing a little purple sheen pop up in some birds I would have bet were (G) and both mom and dad didn't have any. Since it is very hard to track down grandparents, and even then, what were they out of, it's still best to keep breeding the best to the best and cull a lot!

One thing that totally confused me was I had a black chick that showed a fair amount of purple up until he turned 5-6 months old, then it basically disappeared. It's either that or the strong presence of so much green took over it is masking it very well. I understand the gold and silver, which to me makes a lot of sense, but I'm still trying to understand how it works in blacks. I've seen it in blues, but it isn't clear to me in blacks as I've never seen silver in hackles or any bleeding.

Another question is, how long does it take to breed out a gene...let's say a blue male is half (G) and half (S) and you breed it to a 100% (S) and that baby back to a 100% (S) and so on. When can you determine the chicks are 100%?   

[Sharon Yorks]

As far as the green sheen in blues, I understand that if you breed a blue (S) male to a black (G) female, you should get a good (S) based pullet, but a bad 50-50 male and that could be where green pops up in a blue male. This makes sense. But how does green pop up in a blue male that is out of a splash male and blue female? This is where the question comes up again about how long does it take to get to a 100% line if trying to breed correctly? I'm wondering if that is even possible since it's so hard to know how far certain lines go back to which genes.