You might be right, at least partly.
But even without crossing in any other breeds, the hatchery chickens would tend to lay sooner and more frequently than breeder birds, just because of how the hatchery works.
A breeder might raise a certain number of chicks until they are adults, then pick...
I agree with @pipdzipdnreadytogo about what genes the rooster likely has. I wasn't sure what to think about the hen, but I see no reason to disagree there.
For the blue egg gene, there is now a test (probably cheaper than test-mating, considering the cost of feed to raise the daughters to...
I don't know how beginner-friendly it is, but this is the one I usually recommend:
https://kippenjungle.nl/sellers/page0.html
That page links to one about basic genetics, one that discusses some chicken-specific genes, and one with a table of genes (name, abbreviation, a line or two about what...
For that rooster, with hens that are Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, and Black Australorp:
I'm not sure what you will get from the Rhode Island Red. They have mostly recessive genes, so the chicks will mostly show whatever they get from their father. If you get any chicks that are red or gold in...
I appreciated that you typed the whole long thing, instead of me doing it ;)
And I'm happy to see more and more people with enough knowledge to answer these kind of questions, rather than just a few (who might be busy on a given day, or just not feel like answering at a particular time. I've...
For the genes we have been talking about, yes.
Chocolate and Dominant White are two different genes, even though both affect black.
It is just like the crest gene is different than the gene for a 5th toe, and a rooster can give his chicks just one or the other or both or neither.
If you start...
I saw a few points, mostly relating to whether the male is homozygous (pure, breeds true) for various Silkie traits.
Sometimes people say "Satin" to mean a bird that has normal feathering but breeds true for all other Silkie traits. Sometimes people say "Satin" to mean any Silkie-mix that has...
Very interesting. I don't remember reading about that before.
I really don't know whether your Phoenix are more likely to have that mutation, or the usual kind of recessive white (c locus). I suppose they could even have both :idunno
I haven't heard of there being any different forms of recessive white, but that doesn't prove anything-- it might exist without me hearing about it.
All I know about the test is what the page says. I suppose you could pick a bird that you already know about, get the test on that bird, and see...
Breeding her to her own son would work equally well as a test for recessive white. It just takes longer (need to raise a son to adulthood, as compared with using her father who is already an adult.)
Yes, I can see why you would want to keep recessive white out of your flock of BBS.
If you want...
I think the blog just has a mistake, saying that splash x blue can produce 25% whites.
They are discussing black/blue/splash. They are listing percents if you breed black, blue, and splash in various combinations.
So Splash X Blue = 50% Blue, 50% Splash
If they want to discuss birds that...