One of our club members, Jessica Rodgers, asked the following question on a group I help admin. I thought it was great question and useful for us to have on the forum, so I am sharing it on here with her permission. Thank you Jessica!
“SOP question about Wheatens/Blue Wheatens... under Blue Wheatens it says about Body and Stern: “Blue, orange-red ticking in fluff permissible“ but nothing is said about the “orange-red ticking” regarding the Wheatens (Under the Wheaten OEGB that your referred to). Why is that? I have a few males with the red ticking that is mentioned but in Wheaten. And the word “permissible“ gave me the feeling it’s allowed but not really wanted. Would I be correct in assuming that? Here is a photo of one of my Wheaten males in question.”
My response:
Ticking is referred to in the standard as “minute but distinct specks of color on feathers other than the ground color, a defect.”
For the plumage on a wheaten male, we are instructed to refer to the color description for the wheaten old English game bantam. Under that color description, it states that the body and stern should be “black.” On the blue wheaten male description, it states that the body and stern should be “blue, orange-red ticking in the fluff permissible.” The genes that are responsible for creating the pattern on the wings and breast of a blue wheaten male are the likely culprits for what you are seeing on the wheaten cockerel’s stern.
Interestingly, if we hop over to the American Bantam Association standard for wheaten plumage, under body and stern, it states “body- black, sparsely laced with red at approach to stern, pure black preferred.” I think the bantam color description tells us two things, one, that the red lacing you are seeing at approach to the stern has been seen and dealt with by other wheaten and blue wheaten Ameraucana breeders throughout the years, and two, that it is not preferred.
All other elements equal, a wheaten male that has a black body and stern most closely adheres to the standard outlined by the American Poultry Association. I personally cull for what you are seeing in the stern of the wheaten male. As the saying goes though, we have to “build the barn before we paint it.” If he has the best type out of all of your cockerel grow outs, I would consider using him in one of your pens, hatching a lot/culling hard and selecting away from it. As we all know, there are no perfect birds out there.
A special thank you to the APA for granting me permission to use portions of the standard when answering breeding questions and creating educational posts. To buy a copy of the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection book, visit the following link:
http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/store.htm
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