Orpington... but what color?

[bountyofbantams]

Could be mottled. Mottling is recessive, so it could be carried unknowingly by both parents. It'll be interesting to see if the white spots stay or if they molt out

Maybe, it started out as red and started feathering out with so many spots now its developing black spots too

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Just wondering…is Jubilee Orpington not its own variety then?

Jubilee is simply a color that orpingtons come in like lavender, mottled, Isabel, chocolate etc. Besides the coloring they are not any different than any other Orpington.

 

[Evadig]

Jubilee is simply a color that orpingtons come in like lavender, mottled, Isabel, chocolate etc. Besides the coloring they are not any different than any other Orpington.

I don’t mean to hijack this thread but…you can’t get lavender out of two buffs - or can you? So you shouldn’t be able to get a Jubilee out of two reds?

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I don’t mean to hijack this thread but…you can’t get lavender out of two buffs - or can you? So you shouldn’t be able to get a Jubilee out of two reds?

Buff is technically not a single gene, but a combination of genes to get a certain color. For two red chickens to produce the offspring above they had to of been carrying a spangled gene. Since the one above is result of hidden gene showing up it won’t ever be as clean and perfectly patterned as chickens bred from parents both showing the spangled genes and carrying the correct genetic code for jubilee. This is because as you can see from the picture it is only carrying part of the gene sequence for the jubilee pattern so it looks pretty close to one, but not quite 100% jubilee. Jubilee like buff is a combination of genes. Colors and patterns can’t be made spontaneously, but the parent can be showing genes while carrying “hidden” genes that are recessive and simply not showing physically. With colors and patterns in chickens it’s not black and white. A solid black chicken while appearing black may have the genetic code for multiple other colors and patterns. A chicken may look red on the outside, but genetically be carrying other patterns/colors as well. Since you mentioned lavender I will bring up “splits”. A black split lavender for example is all black, but is carrying the lavender gene so if you were to breed to another black split lavender you can get lavender chicks even though both parents are black.

 

[bountyofbantams]

Buff is technically not a single gene, but a combination of genes to get a certain color. For two red chickens to produce the offspring above they had to of been carrying a spangled gene. Since the one above is result of hidden gene showing up it won’t ever be as clean and perfectly patterned as chickens bred from parents both showing the spangled genes and carrying the correct genetic code for jubilee. This is because as you can see from the picture it is only carrying part of the gene sequence for the jubilee pattern so it looks pretty close to one, but not quite 100% jubilee. Jubilee like buff is a combination of genes. Colors and patterns can’t be made spontaneously, but the parent can be showing genes while carrying “hidden” genes that are recessive and simply not showing physically. With colors and patterns in chickens it’s not black and white. A solid black chicken while appearing black may have the genetic code for multiple other colors and patterns. A chicken may look red on the outside, but genetically be carrying other patterns/colors as well. Since you mentioned lavender I will bring up “splits”. A black split lavender for example is all black, but is carrying the lavender gene so if you were to breed to another black split lavender you can get lavender chicks even though both parents are black.

Would my english orpington be considered a red or a spangled? I'm not sure what he is if he isnt jubilee

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Would my english orpington be considered a red or a spangled? I'm not sure what he is if he isnt jubilee

He is definitely red spangled at the very least. He might develop more like jubilee with his first adult molt. The black showing up is making me lean towards a muddied jubilee.

 

[bountyofbantams]

He is definitely red spangled at the very least. He might develop more like jubilee with his first adult molt. The black showing up is making me lean towards a muddied jubilee.

I'm hoping hes jubilee thank you!!