Guys? Confusion? 🤔

[BlueTheBrahma]

Yes, those numbers are definitely big enough to tell something. That's close to a 50/50 split of two colors, plus one other.

If these are all coming from White Cochins, one possible genetic explanation:

--one parent is pure for recessive white, the other is split for Dominant White and not-Dominant White. Most likely the hens are recessive white and the rooster is the one split for Dominant White, but it could be the other way.
That makes 50% of chicks be white, the other 50% show color: a split of 8 white/10 colored is almost perfect for that ratio.

--the rooster and most hens are genetically splash (but that is hidden by the fact that they are white.)
That makes all their "colored" chicks be splash, while the ones with Dominant White just look white.

--one hen is genetically blue
With a splash rooster, she will produce 50% blue chicks and 50% splash chicks, with half of each color actually looking white (because of the Dominant White). Depending on how many of the chicks come from her, that could account for there being only one visibly blue chick so far.

Note, there are plenty of other possibilities. A larger sample set will help decide which ones are actually more likely.

This makes the most sense from the data we have. The only thing I’d say is it seems strange for all the parents to be atypical genotypes. Where are the different bloodlines from?

 

[lilwanderer]

This makes the most sense from the data we have. The only thing I’d say is it seems strange for all the parents to be atypical genotypes. Where are the different bloodlines from?

I have no idea what lines they come from exactly and i don't think the people i got them from know either unfortunately- The frizzle hen and the two currently laying came from the same person- That person got them from another person as chicks.
She did tell me that lady had red, blue, and white cochins but she believes she had them separated, but maybe not. .
The rooster came from an entirely different person who drove 3 hours out for cochin eggs which he hatched out of.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I have no idea what lines they come from exactly and i don't think the people i got them from know either unfortunately- The frizzle hen and the two currently laying came from the same person- That person got them from another person as chicks.
She did tell me that lady had red, blue, and white cochins but she believes she had them separated, but maybe not. .
The rooster came from an entirely different person who drove 3 hours out for cochin eggs which he hatched out of.

This makes a lot of sense (this is what I meant when I asked, I wanted to know which ones were related). That means is probably the rooster that is heterozygous for dominant white, and the hens must be whites that were bred from or with blues at some point, and you’ve ended up with splash and a single blue based ones. I don’t know how the boy has ended up being splash based and heterozygous for dominant white, but that seems to be the case.

A lot of small breeders start with one colour. If they get more colours, they might breed in their existing birds if they have good qualities, which leads to you having whites that are blue and splash based rather than black based. This isn’t a bad thing, only becomes a problem in your case when two are combined and they have different genotypes that produce different phenotypes.
If you breed the blues or splashes, a quarter should be white as the recessive white has matched up again. This way you will get a pure recessive white rooster you can breed your known recessive whites to and prevent this from happening again, unless you aren’t bothered by the variation, then I suppose the different colours might be a welcome surprise.

 

[lilwanderer]

So are you saying if i take the whites and put them with a blue or splash I can get recessive whites out of that? Then I can just take a recessive white roo and use him with the hens?
I don't see how that makes sense, if these guys were crossed with blues at some point and they came looking white, wouldn't they be recessive white anyways?
I actually don't even see how I'd get a white from them when put with blue or splash since I'm getting a whole lot of splash when they're not even with one of those colors.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

So are you saying if i take the whites and put them with a blue or splash I can get recessive whites out of that? Then I can just take a recessive white roo and use him with the hens?
I don't see how that makes sense, if these guys were crossed with blues at some point and they came looking white, wouldn't they be recessive white anyways?
I actually don't even see how I'd get a white from them when put with blue or splash since I'm getting a whole lot of splash when they're not even with one of those colors.

Your splash chicks are, assuming you don’t end up with partridge or Columbians (this won’t matter as rec white masks all pattern and ground colour):

E/E (self colour), i+/i+ (wildtype, not dom white), Bl/Bl (splash), C/c (heterozygous rec white, not showing) that’s all that matters for this.

Your blues are the same but Bl/bl (Blue)

If you cross two of your splash or blue chicks, the blue locus doesn’t matter, but for rec white you will get C/C, C/c, c/C and c/c. The quarter that are c/c will be white as they are homozygous rec white. If you bred one of these blue or splash cockerels to your rec white parent hens, you will get half C/c and half c/c instead, improving your chances of getting more whites. Any white chicks from either of these crosses will be fine for breeding whites as long as you don’t use the dom white rooster or his white chicks.

The blues/splashes you have, have the rec white allele as their mothers were all likely rec white, it just doesn’t show without another copy.

Your white chicks are white not because of two rec white but one dom white, if you breed these you will pass on dom white (I/I, I/i+, i+/I are all white, and only i+/i+ are non dom white) and you can’t tell if they are homozygous for either white very well. You shouldn’t breed these for pure white, as their white offspring may still be able to produce non white chicks without you knowing if they can until then.

Breeding homozygous rec white with no dom white is the easiest way to guarantee true breeding whites in your chicks, in your case anyway. The best way to do this is by crossing the non white chicks with the rec white parent hens (this is what I meant that confused you I think)

I hope this makes more sense.

 

[lilwanderer]

This makes a lot of sense (this is what I meant when I asked, I wanted to know which ones were related). That means is probably the rooster that is heterozygous for dominant white, and the hens must be whites that were bred from or with blues at some point, and you’ve ended up with splash and a single blue based ones. I don’t know how the boy has ended up being splash based and heterozygous for dominant white, but that seems to be the case.

A lot of small breeders start with one colour. If they get more colours, they might breed in their existing birds if they have good qualities, which leads to you having whites that are blue and splash based rather than black based. This isn’t a bad thing, only becomes a problem in your case when two are combined and they have different genotypes that produce different phenotypes.
If you breed the blues or splashes, a quarter should be white as the recessive white has matched up again. This way you will get a pure recessive white rooster you can breed your known recessive whites to and prevent this from happening again, unless you aren’t bothered by the variation, then I suppose the different colours might be a welcome surprise.

Your splash chicks are, assuming you don’t end up with partridge or Columbians (this won’t matter as rec white masks all pattern and ground colour):

E/E (self colour), i+/i+ (wildtype, not dom white), Bl/Bl (splash), C/c (heterozygous rec white, not showing) that’s all that matters for this.

Your blues are the same but Bl/bl (Blue)

If you cross two of your splash or blue chicks, the blue locus doesn’t matter, but for rec white you will get C/C, C/c, c/C and c/c. The quarter that are c/c will be white as they are homozygous rec white. If you bred one of these blue or splash cockerels to your rec white parent hens, you will get half C/c and half c/c instead, improving your chances of getting more whites. Any white chicks from either of these crosses will be fine for breeding whites as long as you don’t use the dom white rooster or his white chicks.

The blues/splashes you have, have the rec white allele as their mothers were all likely rec white, it just doesn’t show without another copy.

Your white chicks are white not because of two rec white but one dom white, if you breed these you will pass on dom white (I/I, I/i+, i+/I are all white, and only i+/i+ are non dom white) and you can’t tell if they are homozygous for either white very well. You shouldn’t breed these for pure white, as their white offspring may still be able to produce non white chicks without you knowing if they can until then.

Breeding homozygous rec white with no dom white is the easiest way to guarantee true breeding whites in your chicks, in your case anyway. The best way to do this is by crossing the non white chicks with the rec white parent hens (this is what I meant that confused you I think)

I hope this makes more sense.

So that roo of mine is the problem- If he were recessive white and not dom I wouldn't get these blue/splash chicks? What if I just found a reliable breeder with recessive white cochins from a different line? (I'd make sure not to end up with a dom white.)

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

So that roo of mine is the problem- If he were recessive white and not dom I wouldn't get these blue/splash chicks? What if I just found a reliable breeder with recessive white cochins from a different line? (I'd make sure not to end up with a dom white.)

That is an option too, but you can definitely get no dom white by using your splashes too, it depends if you want to wait for them to grow and then their chicks to grow or if you’d rather just change roo straight away. The blue and splash thing isn’t a big deal as long as we have recessive white from both parents, because whatever the chicken will look like rec white makes them all white anyway.

 

[lilwanderer]

That is an option too, but you can definitely get no dom white by using your splashes too, it depends if you want to wait for them to grow and then their chicks to grow or if you’d rather just change roo straight away. The blue and splash thing isn’t a big deal as long as we have recessive white from both parents, because whatever the chicken will look like rec white makes them all white anyway.

i like the blue and splash thing and as i mentioned with my chocolates I plan on using the blues an splash in the future- (Even though they might throw white.)
However I eventually would like to sell eggs and what-not from my white cochins and be able to say they won't throw others colors like before and will be white cochins. I'm not too worried about that right now though.

 

[lilwanderer]

This isn't related to my whites but I'll ask her anyways-
I hatched my first chick from my Red frizzle hen who's in with a calico rooster who's really dark.
What is this chick, will they all look like this?

Here's the parents:

 

[NatJ]

Your splash chicks are, assuming you don’t end up with partridge or Columbians (this won’t matter as rec white masks all pattern and ground colour):

E/E (self colour), i+/i+ (wildtype, not dom white), Bl/Bl (splash), C/c (heterozygous rec white, not showing) that’s all that matters for this.

Your blues are the same but Bl/bl (Blue)

If you cross two of your splash or blue chicks, the blue locus doesn’t matter, but for rec white you will get C/C, C/c, c/C and c/c. The quarter that are c/c will be white as they are homozygous rec white. If you bred one of these blue or splash cockerels to your rec white parent hens, you will get half C/c and half c/c instead, improving your chances of getting more whites. Any white chicks from either of these crosses will be fine for breeding whites as long as you don’t use the dom white rooster or his white chicks.

The blues/splashes you have, have the rec white allele as their mothers were all likely rec white, it just doesn’t show without another copy.

Your white chicks are white not because of two rec white but one dom white, if you breed these you will pass on dom white (I/I, I/i+, i+/I are all white, and only i+/i+ are non dom white) and you can’t tell if they are homozygous for either white very well. You shouldn’t breed these for pure white, as their white offspring may still be able to produce non white chicks without you knowing if they can until then.

Breeding homozygous rec white with no dom white is the easiest way to guarantee true breeding whites in your chicks, in your case anyway. The best way to do this is by crossing the non white chicks with the rec white parent hens (this is what I meant that confused you I think)

I hope this makes more sense.

I agree, those breeding ideas would work to get a recessive white rooster (pure for the recessive white gene), and breeding him with the recessive white hens would produce only recessive white chicks. (White, white, white: always white.)

What if I just found a reliable breeder with recessive white cochins from a different line? (I'd make sure not to end up with a dom white.)

Yes, that would work equally well.

I eventually would like to sell eggs and what-not from my white cochins and be able to say they won't throw others colors like before and will be white cochins. I'm not too worried about that right now though.

If you have hens and rooster that are recessive white (look white because they each have two copies of the recessive white gene), then all chicks will be white too. That would work for selling eggs, at whatever future date you want to try it.