Blue Wyandottes??

[WillowMoonWyandottes]

Hi everyone, I just hatched some blue Wyandotte chicks and some of them are almost a lavender color and the others are black. Why is this? Will the light ones grow up to be lavender in color or will they get darker?

 

[Pyxis]

Blues can come in different shades - you can hatch lighter blues and darker blues. Though at least one of those chicks looks like it might be black - did these eggs come from splash wyandottes bred to black wyandottes, or did they come from blue wyandottes bred together? If the latter, you can expect to be hatching blue, black and splash chicks, not just blue chicks.

 

[WillowMoonWyandottes]

Blues can come in different shades - you can hatch lighter blues and darker blues. Though at least one of those chicks looks like it might be black - did these eggs come from splash wyandottes bred to black wyandottes, or did they come from blue wyandottes bred together? If the latter, you can expect to be hatching blue, black and splash chicks, not just blue chicks.

Got the parents from Tractor Supply, they were labeled as blue Wyandottes but one of my hens looks black, the rooster and rest of the hens are blue. I’m actually looking for black Wyandottes, do you think I could get some black chicks from them? If so if I bred the black chicks together would they also throw blue or will all their offspring be black?

 

[Pyxis]

Got the parents from Tractor Supply, they were labeled as blue Wyandottes but one of my hens looks black, the rooster and rest of the hens are blue. I’m actually looking for black Wyandottes, do you think I could get some black chicks from them? If so if I bred the black chicks together would they also throw blue or will all their offspring be black?

A blue rooster bred to blue hens will produce 50% blue chicks, 25% black chicks, and 25% splash chicks. Bred to the black hen, he'd be producing 50% blue chicks and 50% black chicks.

Black bred to black will produce only black. Here's a handy chart:

 

[WillowMoonWyandottes]

A blue rooster bred to blue hens will produce 50% blue chicks, 25% black chicks, and 25% splash chicks. Bred to the black hen, he'd be producing 50% blue chicks and 50% black chicks.

Black bred to black will produce only black. Here's a handy chart:

Thanks that’s really helpful! What does the splash color look like?

 

[Pyxis]

Like these guys:

 

[WillowMoonWyandottes]

Like these guys:

Wow they’re pretty, do you think that’s what the light color ones are? And if I bred a white Wyandotte with a blue could I get lavender? Also is there a way I can tell which chicks will be black? Sorry for all the questions lol

 

[Pyxis]

Wow they’re pretty, do you think that’s what the light color ones are? And if I bred a white Wyandotte with a blue could I get lavender? Also is there a way I can tell which chicks will be black? Sorry for all the questions lol

It's possible the lighter colored ones are splashes, but they might just be light blues. I lean towards splash. You should be able to tell black chicks apart at hatch. They will have black down. Some blues can also be really dark and look almost black, but usually you can tell the difference. I think in your picture I see at least two I think are black.

Lavender, aka self blue, is a totally separate gene and the only way to breed for it is to have two chickens that already are lavender or carry lavender. You never want to mix lavender into a blue line because it can really muddle things up.

White can be either dominant or recessive, and either way, it's masking the other color genes that a chicken possesses, so breeding white to any other color can yield a lot of results, and there's not really a way to tell what you're going to get without somehow knowing what other color genetics the chicken has going on.

 

[WillowMoonWyandottes]

It's possible the lighter colored ones are splashes, but they might just be light blues. I lean towards splash. You should be able to tell black chicks apart at hatch. They will have black down. Some blues can also be really dark and look almost black, but usually you can tell the difference. I think in your picture I see at least two I think are black.

Lavender, aka self blue, is a totally separate gene and the only way to breed for it is to have two chickens that already are lavender or carry lavender. You never want to mix lavender into a blue line because it can really muddle things up.

White can be either dominant or recessive, and either way, it's masking the other color genes that a chicken possesses, so breeding white to any other color can yield a lot of results, and there's not really a way to tell what you're going to get without somehow knowing what other color genetics the chicken has going on.

Okay, thank you so much! I have most of the Wyandotte colors including Silver Laced, Golden Laced, Blue Laced Red, Blue, White and I’m getting some Partridge soon. I really wish I could get lavender and Silver penciled but I can seem to find any. I wish I could breed the colors myself