Black roo/Blue roo or both

[Jean]

I had a question for some of the more experienced breeders out there.  I have only three breeding pens available and have four colors of chickens.  One of the pens is twice the size of the other two, so I am combining my blacks and blue hens in it.  My question is; when breeding blacks and blues in a combined setting do you prefer to use only black roosters or do you use blue also?

I know some people like to breed their blacks and splash.  But I am working with a space issue, and I am concentrating more on my buffs since they are in need of the most work.

Two more questions:

1.  How much purple is too much purple on a black pullet or hen?  I know they are preferred to be green and most of mine are, but a few have some purple sheen.

2.  Have you ever seen a chicken with a kind of black comb?  I have a couple that look black, should they be culled?  If you want a picture, I think I can get one or two.

Thanks everyone!

Jean

[bantamhill]

Jean,

My answer depends on what you have for blues and blacks. Irregardless of sex, I would keep the birds with the best type and the green sheen from the blacks and the blues with the best/darkest lacing. IF memory serves, I believe that lacing in blues and green sheen in blacks is connected.

Purple sheen can be caused by many factors like stress, genetics, nutrition, etc . . . so I would keep the best and work from there.

I too have a few blues and blacks that have so much pigment that the comb appears to have some black at the base . . . again I would suggest a balanced approach and compensate mate with fully red combed bird to balance the genetics.

[Jean]

I would say I have quite a few nice birds so I wouldn\'t need to keep any that were slightly off in color.  

Since you mentioned the blues, are light colored blues acceptable if they have nice lacing?  I actually have three colors of blue; light, medium and dark.

There is so much to learn about breeding, so I will be asking lots more questions.  I don\'t want to mess up the good genetics I paid for with ignorance.  And I want to get a good reputation and have nice birds when I sell or promote them.

Jean

[Guest]

Jean,

Black crossed with blue will produce 50% BLACK AND 50% BLUE chicks.

blue crossed to blue will produce 25% splash, 50% blue and 25% black chicks.

splash crossed with black produes 100% blue

The purple sheen can be caused by autosomal red genes or the birchen gene. You may have birchen instead of extended black in your black bird gene pool.

What color is the skin of the black combed birds? Ameraucana should have white skin.

Tim

Learn some chicken genetics at http://home.earthlink.net/~100chickens/id5.html

[John]

1. How much purple is too much purple on a black pullet or hen? I know they are preferred to be green and most of mine are, but a few have some purple sheen.

If you have plenty of birds to choose from then I would suggest not keeping those with the purple sheen.  As Michael said \"keep the best and work from there\".  Some of my best, in some varieties, several years ago would be culls this year.

2. Have you ever seen a chicken with a kind of black comb? I have a couple that look black, should they be culled? If you want a picture, I think I can get one or two.

Once again I would cull them, if you will still have enough good ones to breed from by doing so.  I have had that show up in my LF blacks/blues and see I have the same problem with my bantam brown reds.  Continuous improvement will come about with selective breeding.

[bantamhill]

Since you mentioned the blues, are light colored blues acceptable if they have nice lacing? I actually have three colors of blue; light, medium and dark.

In the blue, I would use the birds with the best lacing. My personal preference and advise would be to lean toward the medium and dark shades of blue base color.

Michael

[Mike Gilbert]

There are many, many factors to consider when culling other than color of the feathers.   Type should be the foremost consideration.   Look for a well balanced bird, full fairly deep breasts, 40 to 45 degree tail angle, tail neither too long nor too short, color of eyes (especially a problem in blacks and blues), and yes the EGG color.   I use a double fault method of culling.   I will accept one major fault in a breeder as long as I have a mate to compensate for that fault - as Michael recommended.   Two major faults and out they go.   There is enough decent black and blue stock available that you should not have to tolerate black or dark brown eyes AND green eggs AND/OR poor shape, etc.    

[Jean]

So, back to the original question, do you prefer to use a black roo on the black and blue hens or a blue?  Or is it just a matter of which bird/birds are the best representation of the breed standard?

Also, I read a post about possibly getting splash accepted as a standard color; has anything happened with that lately?

Thanks alot,

Jean

PS I am showing off some of my chickens tonight... attached is my BOB and BAOSB pullet from last year\'s local fair.  The judge was Jeanette Frank, so I know she knew her Ameraucanas.

[Mike Gilbert]

My vote:   go with the best male overall, but what you need in a male depends on the faults you see in your breeding females.   Color would be my last consideration.   From a black rooster over black and blue females you will get more of the same.    Using a blue male will give you some splash progeny out of the blue females along with some blacks and some blues.    No big push to get splash accepted that I know of.    Anybody else out there concerned about getting splash in the standard?     We already have eight colors with a couple more in the works, and we don\'t have adequate representation of some of the current colors, even at our national meets, now.    Ultimately it won\'t be up to me, but I personally don\'t see much of a challenge in breeding splash.

[John]

use a black roo on the black and blue hens or a blue

I generally have two pens/coops set up for bantam blues and blacks.  I put black cocks over blue hens and blue cocks over black hens.  

[Jean]

Well, since I am working with a space issue, I will keep one roo of each color.  I will pick the best two and go from there.

Thanks alot,

Jean

[Guest]

Anybody else out there concerned about getting splash in the standard?...Ultimately it won\'t be up to me, but I personally don\'t see much of a challenge in breeding splash.

I agree that it\'s not a challenge per se to breed Splash birds, but some of them are lovely. (See my photo of a Splash BW pullet in the Splash thread.)

I know I\'d like to see Splash added to the Standard, as I\'d like to be able to show my Splash BW birds. I think if it happened we\'d have to differentiate between Splash BW and Splash from Blue/Black, yes?

So, count my vote as Yes for Splashes added to the Standard, fwiw.

[John]

we\'d have to differentiate between Splash BW and Splash from Blue/Black

We already do.  \"Splash\" is different than \"splash wheaten\".  In the \"SPLASH\" thread about accepting them most people were referring to getting splash accepted, not splash wheaten.  Either or both could be recognized, if enough breeders get together and push to do so.  

[Jean]

Tomorrow is culling day for major color flaws in my flock.  I have some roos that I will be getting rid of also just because of the way they carry themselves.   (tails down and look as if they have a corncob stuffed... well you know.)

I do have a couple questions if any of the pros out there could answer for me please.

1.  Hen feathered(?)- Can a cockerel grow out of this?  I have some chickens that look like pullets, but I can tell they are cockerels because of the size and because they have a few pointy hackles and saddle feathers.  Get rid of them now?

2. Aggressive/Nonaggressive?  My cockerels are not aggressive towards me, but some of them are very aggressive towards the others.  Are nonaggressive cockerels/roos good for breeding or are they too laid back to get the job done?

Thanks so much!!

Jean

[Mike Gilbert]

If they have pointy hackle and saddle feathers they are not hen feathered.   They are probably slow maturing, so if they are the same age as the others that is a good reason to cull them.
I much prefer nonagressive, but unfortunately in my experience those are the most prone to be non-fertile.   It must be a testosterone thing.   Bottom line?   Try for the tamest ones, other factors being equal, but keep a back up somewhere just in case.