Blue Ameraucana crossed with ??? created this...

[TeeMom]

This pullet is 16 weeks old and I have another that looks like her. Dad is a Blue Ameraucana, but what is mom? They both hatched out of a normal brown egg and the options are Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, Red Sex link or Buff Orpington. I initially thought Barred Rock, but I have had a couple of cockerels come out looking just like a normal barred rock but with the muffs and beard. I'm just curious what brought out that penciling...is that the right term for the pattern? Legs are slate like dad, so no help there. With the exception of the Speckled Sussex, the rest of my brown egg layers are all hatchery stock. Obviously this is purely out of curiosity...I just love this coloration and was surprised when these two showed up.

 

[chicken4prez]

View attachment 1126914 View attachment 1126915

This pullet is 16 weeks old and I have another that looks like her. Dad is a Blue Ameraucana, but what is mom? They both hatched out of a normal brown egg and the options are Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, Red Sex link or Buff Orpington. I initially thought Barred Rock, but I have had a couple of cockerels come out looking just like a normal barred rock but with the muffs and beard. I'm just curious what brought out that penciling...is that the right term for the pattern? Legs are slate like dad, so no help there. With the exception of the Speckled Sussex, the rest of my brown egg layers are all hatchery stock. Obviously this is purely out of curiosity...I just love this coloration and was surprised when these two showed up.

I'm thinking Barred Rock.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If you use a Blue Ameraucana rooster with a Barred Rock hen, you'll get sex links.
Boys will be barred, girls will be all black.

Blue color transfers 50% of the time...meaning you get 50% black and 50% blue base unless the other parent's color trumps the blue. Then you add pattern on top of that. Barred is dominant and black is pretty much dominant too.

So if these were the same (Barred Rock) hen, you could get barred boys looking pretty much like a Barred Rock with muffs and then blue or black girls, however usually they are just black girls as you've got the black base from the BR and the potential for diluted black (blue) and black from the Blue dad....no pattern to put forth.

So with that in mind, I'm thinking this hen is a cross of your Speckled Sussex with the Blue Ameraucana in which the blue base was transferred from dad, the Sussex red/brown base was over-ridden, but the secondary pattern speckles showed in black.

I have several blue gals from a Splash Maran (hen) and Barnevelder (double lace roo) that came out with blue base and some pattern in black.

So I my guess is SS and Blue.
LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hmmm...reading over your post again, yes the pencilling.
That won't have come from the Barred Rock...that is barring only.

Dad, as a Blue, might have something hidden in his background, but if he is showing a blue, without any patterning, let's look at mom.

RSL doesn't really add penciling. I have RSL and Barnevelder which came out red with incomplete lacing. Blue over red produces white, blue or black, unibase. Not seeing that there would be pattern as there really shouldn't be any pencilling from RSL mom.

Buff won't bring penciling, and the gold would be over ridden by the blue/black. You get black or blue chicks, no patterning.

So by process of elimination (using my experience and checking with the breed calculator below) I'm back to that Speckled Sussex. The splotches are showing in black, the penciling is interesting and very pretty. I'm not sure why that would show up from a Speckled Sussex, but I think it is the most likely choice.

Here is the breed calculator link I like to use. You may have to tell your browser to accept its scripts in order for it to run.
https://www.breedbook.org/?action=geneticscalculator&tab=CHICKEN

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes...if you look closely at a Speckled Sussex hen, you see the pattern of the pencilling (pretty subdued) then the strong blotching.

You basically have that in "negative" form...using a blue base instead of the red base and black and white highlights.

Really pretty bird.

To prove my theory, trap nest the Speckled Sussex and set her eggs marked to see if you continue to get this fabulous pattern.

You will likely get 50% black and 50% blue...I'm thinking it is the dilute black (blue) which is allowing for this negative speckled effect.

LofMc

 

[junebuggena]

I see a single comb, so your Blue Ameraucana isn't really an Ameraucana. Most likely an Easter Egger.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Good eye @junebuggena

That is a single comb, so yes, dad would be an Easter Egger, which then add another whole layer of possibility lurking behind his blue pattern.

I still think your best bet is the SS and the Blue EE for getting this pattern type.

My thoughts.
LofMc

 

[TeeMom]

Wow! Thank you for the detailed explanations! So, the pea comb is a dominant trait and always breeds true even when crossed with a straight comb? I'm not really concerned with Ameraucana vs. Easter egger because I'm obviously breeding barnyard mixes and just for my own hobby farm, but he came with 7 siblings all blue with pea Combs and they came from a breeder, not hatchery. I only have him and one sister now. Very interesting! Thank you for the insight.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes, pea comb is dominant over single comb.

You can get some "funk" with a cross if the single comb is large and floppy (say White Leghorn type).

But it will not be a single comb.

So to have a single comb in the chick indicates that neither parent was pure pea comb....which indicates your boy does not have true 2 gene pea comb (which he would have if he were full Ameraucana) or has a single comb...which indicates Easter Egger by default as it does not meet the standard of Ameraucana.

Gorgeous hen though. I'd definitely try to breed some more of those.

I love my backyard mixes. They are hardy, prolific, and give me some really incredible feather patterns. What's not to love.

LofMc

 

[Trish1974]

@Lady of McCamley, your knowledge of genetics blows my mind!