Blue orpington breeding

[galanie]

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If I ever get a chance to talk to him I will ask him then. Chances are close to never though unless he goes to shows in south or central Texas. I know who you mean and I know that he knows his stuff. Just curious if anyone knew the why of it, or if it's "just so." Sometimes it's just so, just is, no one really knows the answer.

Edit to add: Reason I ask is that I have blue pullets and a black roo who is the result of breeding black to black that I planned to use for them. Currently don't have the option of using a black that came from 2 blues.

There are many here who can help you out by getting you a nice Blue male. I know Julie has one available. And she posted it a few days ago he is looking for a new home. She lives in ALABAMA. To get what you need it may be worth the trip.

Thank you, I hadn't realized she had one. But I have something in the pipeline that I'm going to wait and see if it works out for another one, it just won't be old enough till the fall. Just wanted you to realize I wasn't questioning Mr. Kernan's word though I'm sorry, I guess it did sound that way. Just wondered if anyone really knew the why of it.

 

[lildinkem]

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There are many here who can help you out by getting you a nice Blue male. I know Julie has one available. And she posted it a few days ago he is looking for a new home. She lives in ALABAMA. To get what you need it may be worth the trip.

Thank you, I hadn't realized she had one. But I have something in the pipeline that I'm going to wait and see if it works out for another one, it just won't be old enough till the fall. Just wanted you to realize I wasn't questioning Mr. Kernan's word though I'm sorry, I guess it did sound that way. Just wondered if anyone really knew the why of it.

I know that is how Tom described his methods to me. I am not offended at all. you asked a very good question. I am only guessing some how in the genetic make up this Black male from a Blue to Blue breeding reinforces the lacing. Tom said to do this initial breeding twice. Tom is a very approachable guy. He is alot of fun to talk too. Maybe you can write him sometime and ask him why. I think he would be happy to give you the answer.

 

[liv4fun]

anyone know where to find some nice blue orpington hens

 

[OSUman]

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I spoke to Tom Kernan at the Crossroads Show here in Indy. Tom has some of the nicest laced Blue Sumatras. And how he made his Blues is the same way I want to build a nice laced Blue. Breed your 2 Blues to each other. Goal is to get a Black male from that breeding. Then the next year you take your Black male from the Blue to Blue breeding to your Blue hen. This will after 2 generations of using that Black male back to your best Blue pullets/hens will give you the lacing you want. This is a 5 generation plan. Again to repeat first generation Blue to Blue to get a great Black male then use that male 2 seasons in a row selecting for the best type Blues then you should have the lacing for Blue to Blue breeding for the final 3 generations. Hope this makes sense.

Does anyone know the reason for using a black that resulted from a bluexblue breeding as opposed to a different black? I've heard those were better to use than a "pure" black that doesn't have lavender or blue in it's background and I'm just trying to figure out why since both blacks won't have the blue gene anyway.

Most black from blues carry the silver gene which is preferred in blue breeding whereas pure Blacks carry the Gold gene to enhance the beetle green sheen.

 

[galanie]

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Most black from blues carry the silver gene which is preferred in blue breeding whereas pure Blacks carry the Gold gene to enhance the beetle green sheen.

Thank you! Folks on here are the best ever.

 

[liv4fun]

great info from everyone.

if you have a nice blue rooster over a nice blue hen and splash hen...

what do you look for to start culling the chicks to improve your line to have the best blues possible????

 

[dannifer]

So I have a question.. being a newbie to this breed. When I read "blue x splash = 50% blue, 50% splash" Does it matter if it's a blue roo over a splash hen or the other way round: a splash roo over a blue hen?? And does it matter what color those 2 came from? Also, this may be a stupid question, but remember I'm a newbie

, is it a no-no to breed a hen and roo that are from the same batch (related)? Thanks for the help!!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

So I have a question.. being a newbie to this breed. When I read "blue x splash = 50% blue, 50% splash" Does it matter if it's a blue roo over a splash hen or the other way round: a splash roo over a blue hen?? And does it matter what color those 2 came from? Also, this may be a stupid question, but remember I'm a newbie

, is it a no-no to breed a hen and roo that are from the same batch (related)? Thanks for the help!!

Color is not a sex/gender issue. So it can be a Blue male X Splash hen or a Splash male X Blue hen. The genetics are the same.

The parents color could be Blue, Black or Splash. In any case, what color they are showing is their true color. See note below.

Breeding siblings is called line breeding. It can be done successfully. Just look for culls common to the line. Crossing strains can cause more problems than it saves. Our Blue Orpingtons are a composite of several strains on BYC. Our Black Orpingtons are pure Cecil Moore line. So we introduced our Blacks to our Blues. We now have offspring that are 50% Cecil Moore Blue Orpington. These we will take back to the Cecil Moore Blacks to have a 75% Cecil Moore Blue. (We cull all Blacks from this line.)

Note: Self Blue or Lavender is a different genetics. Some will use their Splits (Black carrying Lavender) in their Blue pens. The top poultry breeders suggest against this, though many Orpington breeders say its fine. Self Blue first entered the Standard as an Old English Game in 1960ish. I have spoken with several of these old breeders and they never cross Self Blue/lavender with Blue. A Blue from a Self Blue line could be carrying both the Blue and Self Blue/Lavender gene. Blue is difficult enough without introducing more issues with the lavender gene.

 

[ligermama77]

I purchased hatching eggs from a farmer. He has a beautiful blue orpington rooster on some lovely black austrolorp hens. What should I expect in the hatch?

 

[chixmix]

Does anyone know the reason for using a black that resulted from a bluexblue breeding as opposed to a different black? I've heard those were better to use than a "pure" black that doesn't have lavender or blue in it's background and I'm just trying to figure out why since both blacks won't have the blue gene anyway.

I'm sure this has been answered, but just in case it wasn't.

For good lacing, you need to use birds that you KNOW are carrying the lacing gene. Blacks not from parents with lacing, may or may not, have the lacing gene in them, and if they do, it is probably somewhat diluted.