In that case, I don't think I have any useful ideas for why you are getting unexpected colors of chicks.
A question about the photos: it looks like one has a yellowish tone, unlike the others with their nice clean white. Is that one of the parents of the chicks that were unexpected colors? I...
The white chicks are probably recessive white.
If you breed them together, they should give you just white chicks.
If you have a breeding pen of recessive white birds, you could add them to it.
If you keep them in the Calico pen, they will probably produce some Calico chicks and maybe some...
When someone crosses a Silkie with a Cochin, the first generation chicks will generally have crest, maybe muff/beard, 5 toes, and walnut combs (genetically rose + pea). They will not show silkie-type feathers. If a Silkie is the father, the daughters should show dark skin but the sons should...
That is definitely a bit odd.
Yes. Paints typically have the genes to be a black chicken, plus one dominant white gene. When you breed them together, you get some white chicks (inherit dominant white from both parents), some paint chicks (inherit dominant white from just one parent) and some...
I think that would be possible, especially if it is a multi-generation mix. Maybe Polish x Cochin, crossed back to Cochin.
Silkie-mixes do seem to be more common than Polish-mixes, but I don't see any traits that force the crested chick to be one or the other. I can't see the comb type (Polish...
Definitely not a pure Cochin. Cochins do not have a crest (the mohawk) or muffs (the cheek feathers)
Cochins should have single combs. I think one of your other chicks has a pea comb (the one sitting on someone's shoulder, with no crest or muffs).
I suspect that there have been several crosses...
My understanding is that Mystic Onyx were originally developed from the cross you mentioned, but were then bred for some number of generations with selection for the correct traits. This makes it harder to predict what offspring you will get, but it probably increased the chance that you will...
For all the hens:
Chicks sired by the Cream Legbar rooster will probably have a small crest, and will have a blue egg gene (so daughters will lay blue or green eggs).
Regarding color of the chicks:
Bielefelders are pretty much the same color as Cream Legbars, so chicks will be that color too...
For many colors of chickens, you can just breed a male and a female of the same color and all the chicks will be that color. You don't really need to learn about genetics to do that. If you start getting off-color chicks, then you go check your breeding stock and maybe learn about the genetics...
I can't really predict what color chicks will come from the white hen with any of those roosters. This is because there are several different genes and combinations of genes that can cause a chicken to be white, and I don't know which ones she might have. She might produce white chicks, or she...
I wonder, is there any chance the deaths were due to starvation? That could have happened if the feed was too big for the chicks to eat, especially if the smallest chicks fared the worst.
I'll definitely be curious to hear what the vet thinks.
Given all that, I think the temperature is probably fine. The behavior of the chicks is usually the best "thermometer," and it sounds like yours finding comfortable temperatures, with access to some areas warmer and some cooler than what they are choosing. That's good.
As they get older, they...
What is the temperature at the other end of the brooder? (The coolest place the chicks can get to.)
If they have plenty of cool space, I would leave the lamp alone.
Raising it does make the hottest area cooler, but it also makes the heat spread over a larger area. So that makes the "cool" part...
Sounds right to me!
I think that's right.
Has she produced very many chicks? And if so, were they all blue? If yes, then I think you're right that she is splash and has no Dominant White.
But if she also produces chicks of other colors, then there are other things that could be going on...
Probably female, based on the color of the chest feathers (if that color is all over the chicken, it doesn't mean anything. If that color is only on the breast, it almost always means female.)
Probably female, based on how small and pale the comb & wattles are.
Maybe female, based on the lack...
Silver turns gold/red shades to white.
Dominant White turns black to white.
If you start with a gold and black chicken (example: Gold Laced Sebright), you can add Dominant White to make that black lacing go white. Now you have a Buff Laced Sebright (white lacing on gold). Or you can start with...
Partridge breeds true in other breeds, so I think it should be possible in Silkies too. Examples: Partridge Rock, Partridge Wyandotte.
Obviously they will only breed true if they are not carrying recessive genes for other coloring (example: if a recessive white Silkie produces some chicks that...