Lavender

[Guest]

I am new to this forum but have some questions about some birds that I bred this spring.  I was given what is most likely an Ameraucana mix hen last year.  She was brown with blue base to all her feathers.  I bred her to my white Ameraucana Roo and came up with an interesting combination of birds.  3 birds are blue-ish with white and reddish buff, all 3 have blue heads and one, possibly a roo, has soft blue feathers with the reddish buff, the other 2 have more white.  There is another bird that has the coloring of it\'s dam, the rest look like typical easter-egger mix that is often sold as Ameraucana by hatcheries with several of them having black head coloring.  I am not familiar at all with the genes that involve lavender but am familiar with the genetics of blue/splash/black and this is definitely not the same so I am guessing it is the lavender.  I would appreciate some input from others that are more familiar with this color.  Thanks

Teri in Az

[Guest]

The lavender gene will dilute black pigment and gold pigment.  The lavender gene is recessive. The blue gene is incompletely dominate.

Check the secondary wing feathers. If the shaft of the feather facing out is the same color as the vane then it is lavender. If the shaft facing out is darker than the feather or is a dark color then it is blue.

Rooster

[Guest]

The secondary wing feathers all have a shaft the same light blue color as the feather in the lighter colored birds.  In the blue and brown bird, the feathers are a darker blue and the shaft is the same color.  I no longer have their dam but have 2 hens that are their sisters, they are brown/black/gold though the fluff at the base of all their feathers is medium blue with the shaft also the same color.  I will probably breed them back to the white roo as well as do a brother/ sister mating this next year just to see what turns up.  

When you say that lavender will dilute the gold pigment, what color does it dilute to?  

Thank you for responding to my original post.

Teri in Az

[Guest]

Gold will be diluted to a buff color.

Tim

If you want to learn some chicken genetics go to the following web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~100chickens/id5.html

[John]

My F2 lavender bantam pullets started laying over a week ago at just 18 weeks!  This may turn out to be a good variety when it comes to laying.  
The eggs are very small and the colors aren\'t good.  Crossing back to black Ameraucanas next year is the next step.  

[grisaboy]

Your pullets are much further along than mine.  I don\'t expect to get eggs for a couple of months yet.  The F1 hen I used had very poor egg color so I am not expecting too much.
I will be putting a black male over the lavender pullets also.
In fact I will be looking for an excellent black male at the National.

Curtis