White X Wheaten Cross = black & blue?

[Suz]

I read a Q & A on the Poultry Press web page where someone bred a wheaten Old English bantam hen to a white cock and got blacks and blues.  Does anyone know about doing this with Ameraucanas?  I was wondering because the wheatens and whites have much better combs, at least at my place. Would the offspring (if black and blue) have color problems in future breeding?

[Mike Gilbert]

In that particular cross the white was obviously carrying the E (extended black) and the Bl (dominant blue) genes.  Neither of those traits could have come from the wheaten side of the mating.    There is no guarantee that other white birds would be carrying those particular genes, the only way to find out would be to make an experimental mating.   The resulting offspring would by hybrids, because they would be split at the e locus.  That means that mating the offspring back together would yield various combinations.    My recommendation?   Find a black or blue bantam cock with the features you  are looking for and mate them into your own line.   I have several nice blue and black cockerels coming along, and most of them will be available after the national meet in Sedalia.   I expect that others will have those colors with nice combs as well.    It is a common misconception for folks to think that because their sample of a variety has a particular fault that all or most of the others in that variety have the same fault.   Not true.   On the other hand, I can understand that you may not want to bring in outside adult breeders for potential health reasons.   Chicks from a better line would be a safer way to go.

[John]

I think there are about 5 kinds of white.  The recessive white that we deal with, with Ameraucanas can hid other colors and patterns.  When you cross a white with another variety you can end up with whatever.  If your whites are not concealing foreign colors they can be an asset to improve your blacks and blues.  Cross a great looking white with your best black.  Only keep the chicks that turn out 100% black and breed them the next year.  You\'ll get some pure blacks, pure whites and some like the parents that are 1/2 of each, but look black because it is dominant and won\'t let the white show through.  The hard part is trying to figure out which are \"pure\" blacks.  That can be done by \"trap nesting\", but you could just keep breeding from the best.  Then use these blacks to mate with your blues to improve them too.
In general the black\'s and blue\'s combs need improvement and this should help in type and temperament also.