As you can see in that thread, genetically retaining the sperm past 3 weeks was the only possibility to get black (split-to-lavender), from the birds in the flock. :)
The hatcheries selling them say that they are indeed red sex links. That means that they're a crossbreed so they won't breed true.
That doesn't mean that if you did get both sexes you couldn't breed them and get a bird with many of the same qualities that you value, but they wouldn't be the...
That depends.
Sometimes hens won't accept a rooster right away. They may refuse to squat until he either impresses them sufficiently or forces them to submit (chicken mating can be pretty rough by human standards). They also have some ability to eject sperm from roosters they don't like.
Don't know anything about Khaki, but my Blue Australorps rooster x my California White hens have produced Blue or Black or White with either little flecks of color or actual paint markings (since CWs carry Barring as well as Dominant White). It should be possible to get single-barred males from...
@nicalandia
I am also interested in the genetics of "Gypsy Face".
I see it a good deal in my deepest Blue girls -- to the point that one or two people said that they couldn't actually be Australorps at all. 🤣
I don't dislike it and am not breeding show birds so I can indulge myself, but I...
P.S. I've named him "Buster" because when I first noticed the red I took him off the roost to examine him for injuries because I thought he'd been in a fight. But it was leaking coming in after a juvenile molt.
The OE is homebrew, hatched from an egg I was given.
Her father was a Marans of unknown type and her mother was an EE. She's got a modified peacomb, beard, and feathered feet so I'm guessing that her blue egg gene is linked to her peacomb. :)
I *think* I know what I'm dealing with here, but just checking.
Blue Australorp rooster, unknown mother but has to be either Blue Australorp or my OE, who is buff and blue.
I've got a splash cockerel with significant red leakage. I first thought he'd been in a fight but couldn't find a wound...
I wonder if I have similar modifiers. Not all my birds are extra dark, but quite a few of the hens are. I've been selecting for it -- selling all my paler girls and keeping the dark ones as long as their lacing was good.
@nicalandia I'm interested in this too, because I have some very dark Blue Australorps but, unlike @pipdzipdnreadytogo, I want to breed them this way on purpose. :D
They are absolute MACHINES for production of big, white eggs.
As for their personality, I call them the dash of hot sauce in my flock of placid Australorps. :D
They're active, alert, and entertaining. (Repecka, get off the roof! You're closer to the hawks up there!)