Is anyone working on a Chocolate Mottled Leghorn project?

[vanesa1984maine]

I'm starting this project! Right now I have a bird who's black and is split for both chocolate and mottled. He's half Exchequer Leghorn and half Chocolate Orpington. I'm actually also working a second project with him to eventually breed Chocolate Mottled Orpingtons too. So I'm growing out my line of Exchequer Leghorns to use in this project. I plan to breed him to the Exchequers once they are grown to start this project. How many generations will it take to get back to pure leghorn?

** Picture of one of my Exchequer Leghorn grow outs and the bird I'll be using who's split for mottled and chocolate. Even though he's a half breed I think he definitely resembles more of the Orpington traits. **

 

[The Moonshiner]

No idea how many generations it'll take but it'll be a long road.
Depends how many chicks you hatch each generation, how and which ones you pick to move forward with and how lucky you get.
The hardest thing imo will be getting back to pure white eggs. Some characteristics won't be too bad. White lobes, yellow skin, etc.
Type will be where more chicks to choose from and luck will come into play.

 

[vanesa1984maine]

No idea how many generations it'll take but it'll be a long road.
Depends how many chicks you hatch each generation, how and which ones you pick to move forward with and how lucky you get.
The hardest thing imo will be getting back to pure white eggs. Some characteristics won't be too bad. White lobes, yellow skin, etc.
Type will be where more chicks to choose from and luck will come into play.

Thanks for the input! I hope my luck plays out well. I hadn't considered the egg color so thanks for mentioning that. I'm hoping within the next 5-10 years to have something closer to Leghorn. I'm definitely posting pictures once I'm there.

 

[SourRoses]

He has dark shanks... Orps are supposed to have white shanks. With the Leghorns having yellow, the offspring should be white or yellow, not dark... ?

So I happened to mix Leghorns with English Orps in the past. They were not the goal but a building block to get larger eggs and faster growth in my main project. Which is mottled, and I have some chocolate mottled too now. Recessives are fun!
I was selecting to size up, and for Orp body type. So I don't know much about sizing down. Only that it's hard.
I would first confirm that your mix is what you think he is, and able to throw chocolate.

 

[The Moonshiner]

He has dark shanks... Orps are supposed to have white shanks. With the Leghorns having yellow, the offspring should be white or yellow, not dark... ?

So I happened to mix Leghorns with English Orps in the past. They were not the goal but a building block to get larger eggs and faster growth in my main project. Which is mottled, and I have some chocolate mottled too now. Recessives are fun!
I was selecting to size up, and for Orp body type. So I don't know much about sizing down. Only that it's hard.
I would first confirm that your mix is what you think he is, and able to throw chocolate.

Black often causes the dark wash on the shanks. It's also an issue with black leghorns. I guess so much so that the SOP allows some on the black variety.
White skin is dominant to yellow so same with the mottling once it's showing you know both genes for it is present.
I always like that better then trying to breed out a recessive gene.
Yes it would be upmost important to make sure the male carries chocolate.
I've worked on chocolate leghorns before and have a tiny project now.
Best way for the OP to go is breed that rooster to exchequer hens. Some female offspring should be chocolate.
Bred only chocolate girls back to exchequer boys. Then breed those boys back to exchequer girls.
Always use exchequer and either chocolate females or known split males.
That'll keep the chocolate going and the exchequer will keep the mottled going until you get to mottled chocolate and mottled chocolate split to exchequer.
Couple generations in you can lock in yellow skin, white lobes etc. Breed for clear yellow shanks and overall type etc.
I'm betting the project will look done before the brown egg genes are completely bred out though.
It's definitely a doable project but not a quick one.

 

[vanesa1984maine]

He has dark shanks... Orps are supposed to have white shanks. With the Leghorns having yellow, the offspring should be white or yellow, not dark... ?

So I happened to mix Leghorns with English Orps in the past. They were not the goal but a building block to get larger eggs and faster growth in my main project. Which is mottled, and I have some chocolate mottled too now. Recessives are fun!
I was selecting to size up, and for Orp body type. So I don't know much about sizing down. Only that it's hard.
I would first confirm that your mix is what you think he is, and able to throw chocolate.

Interesting! I used to have the Exchequer Leghorn cock that I breed to what I was told was a Chocolate Orpington hen, which I also have, to create him. I'll have to take pictures. Recessives are fun! I love anything mottled anyways.

 

[vanesa1984maine]

Black often causes the dark wash on the shanks. It's also an issue with black leghorns. I guess so much so that the SOP allows some on the black variety.
White skin is dominant to yellow so same with the mottling once it's showing you know both genes for it is present.
I always like that better then trying to breed out a recessive gene.
Yes it would be upmost important to make sure the male carries chocolate.
I've worked on chocolate leghorns before and have a tiny project now.
Best way for the OP to go is breed that rooster to exchequer hens. Some female offspring should be chocolate.
Bred only chocolate girls back to exchequer boys. Then breed those boys back to exchequer girls.
Always use exchequer and either chocolate females or known split males.
That'll keep the chocolate going and the exchequer will keep the mottled going until you get to mottled chocolate and mottled chocolate split to exchequer.
Couple generations in you can lock in yellow skin, white lobes etc. Breed for clear yellow shanks and overall type etc.
I'm betting the project will look done before the brown egg genes are completely bred out though.
It's definitely a doable project but not a quick one.

I will definitely be test breeding him to see what I get!

 

[vanesa1984maine]

I will definitely be test breeding him to see what I get!

I have some Exchequer leghorn hens to use with him. He's also with the chocolate and mauve Orpingtons, or so I was told. Either way it's a project and I'm interested to see what I get.