Mixing color varieties (or not!)

[Guest]

Hello, I\'m new to ABC and this forum, but have been fortunate to acquire hatching eggs and started birds from a couple of good breeders.  I have a couple of questions aimed at making certain I understand how the color genetics operate,  If solid birds (black or blue) are crossed with wheaten or blue wheaten roos, what is the practical result (the possible phenotypes that could occur...will I know there has been an \"oops?\")

Another:  is cuckoo always dominant to wheaten?  Will the results of crossing a Cuckoo Marans roo on wheaten or blue wheaten hens be obvious?

I should explain that I don\'t want to cross solids with wheatens, and that any EEs I make will be ONLY for my own enjoyment of olive-colored eggs!   What I want to know is whether I\'ll be able to spot whether any unintended dating has occurred.  :~D
 
Thanks,
Debra

[Suz]

Hi Debra,

Welcome to the forum!

Re: your question about black crossed with wheaten, go to the topic \"Lavender Wheatens--chicks from the first cross.\"  It is currently on page 3, but I will be posting on it soon to add some pictures.

Susie

[Guest]

Thanks, Susie,  I have been enjoying that topic.  To make certain I am understanding correctly....if I have solids they could be masking wheaten, but if I have wheaten chicks, Dad was not the solid roo....does that sound right?  BTW, I do use separator baskets when hatching, food color until I band chicks, etc.!  Just want to learn more and know the possibilities in case one of the chicks gets out, etc.  

I\'d still love for someone with experience to chime in on the question about mixing silver Cuckoo Marans roo with wheaten or blue wheaten Ameraucanas....what are the possible phenotypes that could result?  I\'ve been looking but so far can\'t find a definitive answer as to what cuckoo and wheaten could produce.

Thanks,
Debra

[Suz]

Debra,

If a black is crossed with a wheaten, you will know by their coloring that they are not wheatens or blacks. You will get what looks kind of like a brown red as adults.  The pictures posted on 1-1-06 and 1-2-06 in \"Lavender Wheatens--chicks from the first cross & F2\'s\" are essentially such a cross.  As newly hatched chicks, they were solid black.

Susie

[Guest]

OH!  That DOES help, thank you Susie.  As I said, I intend to be careful keeping my breeding groups and eggs separated, but I recently got a few eggs that are a beautiful blue color that I think are from the solid girls...problem is the solid roo hadn\'t been away from the girls long enough and there were wheatens in the group.  I didn\'t want to hatch them unless I have a good chance of being able to tell if I accidentally incubate eggs from solid blue x wheaten cross.  From those pics it looks as if I would be able to ID any unintentional mix, even with the blue dilution in there.

The way I phrased part of my original question was based on my understanding (perhaps incorrect, I am realizing now) that the Ameraucana wheaten is the recessive wheaten...is that wrong?  I\'ve found a lot in the archives, etc. about blue/black/splash, which I find easy to understand, but not about how wheaten works and is expressed in various combinations.

So is the wheaten we are working with in Ameraucanas dominant?   But only partially dominant?

Debra

[Suz]

From what I understand, the wheaten in Ameraucanas is e Wh, which is dominant wheaten. e y is recessive wheaten.

However, E (black) is dominant to e Wh (wheaten).  Genes with capital letters are dominant genes – only one copy of a dominant gene is needed for that trait to be seen.  Genes with lower case letters are recessive genes – two copies of a recessive gene are needed for that trait to be seen.

The Wh and y should actually be superscript, which is 1/2 line above regular typing.

Susie