Identifying the Parent breeds

[jvanatta]

So i just hatched three chicks from eggs i received from my neighbors and was wondering if anyone had any idea who the potential mothers could be in the chicks that were produced. All the chicks hatched from light brown/cream colored eggs. The possible parent breeds are as follow.
Rooster:
- Blue Bantam Cochin
- Red Bantam Cochin
Hens:
- Buff Orpington
- Lavender Orpington
- Golden Comet
- Rhode Island Reds
- Barred Plymouth Rock
Based on their coloration I’m assuming them to be the product of the Lavender Orpington and blue bantam cochin, though the darker more black chick I question. Their patterning seems very close to what i’ve seen of Blue cochin chicks and it is my understanding that the Blue color would likely be covered by the red pigment of the buff O, GC, and RIR. Is this accurate? In which case if the result of the BPR would the lack of head spot indicate all female? If needed i can provide a better angle.

 

[JedJackson]

Your guesses are as good as any. Yes, if the barred rock was the mother only her male chicks would have the head spot and be barred later on. Lavender expresses as black in offspring unless two copies of the lavender gene are carried by the chicks, but since they're crossing with a blue rooster you'd get 50/50 blue and black chicks.

Later on, if you see a lot of red or brown leakage in the plumage of these chicks, you will need to re-evaluate the parentage.

 

[NatJ]

So i just hatched three chicks from eggs i received from my neighbors and was wondering if anyone had any idea who the potential mothers could be in the chicks that were produced. All the chicks hatched from light brown/cream colored eggs. The possible parent breeds are as follow.
Rooster:
- Blue Bantam Cochin
- Red Bantam Cochin
Hens:
- Buff Orpington
- Lavender Orpington
- Golden Comet
- Rhode Island Reds
- Barred Plymouth Rock
Based on their coloration I’m assuming them to be the product of the Lavender Orpington and blue bantam cochin, though the darker more black chick I question. Their patterning seems very close to what i’ve seen of Blue cochin chicks and

To show blue, I think the chicks must have the Blue Bantam Cochin as their father.

But they could have any mother in the list (exception: a male chick cannot have the Barred Plymouth Rock mother. A female chick could.)

If the darkest chick is black, then it could also have come from the Red Bantam Cochin rooster with a Lavender Orpington mother or a Barred Plymouth Rock mother (female only if the mother is barred.)

Chicks with one red or buff parent will be more likely to have leakage of some color when they grow up (red/gold or white/silver), while chicks who have parents that are solid black/blue/lavender will be less likely to have leakage ("solid black" in this case includes black with white barring.)

it is my understanding that the Blue color would likely be covered by the red pigment of the buff O, GC, and RIR. Is this accurate?

No, not really.

The Blue gene turns all black on the chick into blue. But the genes to make a chicken black all over are dominant over the genes that allow large amounts of red. So crossing a black chicken with a red one will usually give black chicks, and crossing a blue chicken with a red one will usually give some black chicks and some blue chicks.

If the Golden Comet has a white tail, then she has a gene called Dominant White, that turns black into white. She will give that to about half of her chicks. So if you hatch her eggs, and the father is the Blue Cochin, then about half of the chicks will be white, about 1/4 of the chicks will be blue, and about 1/4 of the chicks will be black.

Buff Orpingtons can have Dominant White as well, but they do not have to have that gene. So from a Buff Orpington with a Blue Cochin, you could get a 50/50 split of black and blue chicks, or you could get 50% of chicks white and the others split between black and blue, or you could get just white chicks-- it all depends on whether that particular Buff Orpington has two, one, or no genes for Dominant White (and since her feathers are all supposed to be Buff in color, you would not expect to see black or white in them, so there is no good way to tell by looking at her.)

In which case if the result of the BPR would the lack of head spot indicate all female? If needed i can provide a better angle.

Correct. For any chicks with a Barred Plymouth Rock mother, males will have barring (light spot on top of the head), and females will not (no barring, no head spot.)

 

[jvanatta]

So results are in on coloration. The first chick and the lighter of them all was a barred rooster so i know at least his mother’s ID. The other is black so i guess his parentage could go a lot of different ways. The last chick unfortunately did not make it but he also appeared barred.

 

[NatJ]

So results are in on coloration. The first chick and the lighter of them all was a barred rooster so i know at least his mother’s ID. The other is black so i guess his parentage could go a lot of different ways. The last chick unfortunately did not make it but he also appeared barred.

Thanks for updating!

I agree, the barred rooster must have the Barred Rock hen as his mother. And the other barred one would also have her as his mother. Either rooster could have been the father of each of those two.

The black one might actually be a dark blue. If he is, then his father must be the Blue Cochin (not the Red Cochin), but he could have any mother except the Barred Rock. You could check what color he has on the soles of his feet. White should mean the Lavender Orpington is his mother, yellow should mean one of the other hens is his mother instead.

But I agree, that fellow has quite a number of possibilities for parentage!

 

[jvanatta]

Thanks for updating!

I agree, the barred rooster must have the Barred Rock hen as his mother. And the other barred one would also have her as his mother. Either rooster could have been the father of each of those two.

The black one might actually be a dark blue. If he is, then his father must be the Blue Cochin (not the Red Cochin), but he could have any mother except the Barred Rock. You could check what color he has on the soles of his feet. White should mean the Lavender Orpington is his mother, yellow should mean one of the other hens is his mother instead.

But I agree, that fellow has quite a number of possibilities for parentage!

I was wondering if he would be considered blue or not. He doesn’t have the greenish shine that a lot of black roosters get, and he’s got a lighter blue to his body kinda like the coloring on a blue andalusa just not as light on the body. I’ll check his feet tomorrow and see if i can’t get a better pic

 

[NatJ]

I was wondering if he would be considered blue or not. He doesn’t have the greenish shine that a lot of black roosters get, and he’s got a lighter blue to his body kinda like the coloring on a blue andalusa just not as light on the body. I’ll check his feet tomorrow and see if i can’t get a better pic

Of the three photos you posted recently, is he in two of them? Or am I actually seeing the blue Cochin possible-father in one or both of those?

One picture has a blue male (darker lacing on the breast feathers) and the other also appears to have a blue male (darker and lighter shades of blue, rather than black all over). I could see them being the same bird from different angles, or one each of two birds, but I'm really sure the one with a laced breast is blue rather than black, and I'm pretty sure the other is blue as well.