Cream Legbar crossed with Speckled Sussex

[FlowerDragon]

I really want to have some sort of lemon mottled chicken. Would it be possible to do that with the mottled pattern from the Sussex and the cream gene from the Legbar? Thank you in advance!

 

[NatJ]

Mottlnig is recessive, so it will not show in the generation of crossed chicks. (They will all carry the gene but not show it.)
Breeding one of the crosses back to a Sussex should produce 50% chicks that show mottling and 50% that don't show mottling but do also carry the gene.
Breeding two of the crosses to each other should produce 25% chicks that show mottling, 50% that carry mottling without showing it, and 25% that do not show or carry mottling.
The ones that carry mottling without showing it may have an occasional white tip on a feather, or they may show no sign at all.

Yes, the cream gene from the legbar should work.

There are two genes that can cause the "cream" color, with one being dominant and one being recessive. The first generation crosses should show which one you're dealing with, because either those chicks will be a light color, or they will have the richer red from the Sussex. If you're dealing with the dominant, the project is easy: just cross one back to the Sussex side, and some of the chicks should show both mottling and cream (about 1 in 4 chicks should have both). If you're dealing with the recessive, it's harder to get birds showing both traits. Your best strategy then might be crossing two of the first-generation mixed chicks, and hatching large numbers of them. About 1 in 16 should show both recessives (cream and mottling.)

I found a site about Legbars:
https://creamlegbarclub.com/genotype/
It says the have the gene "ig" which dilutes gold to cream.
That is the recessive one, so not as convenient as working with the dominant.
But the benefit of a recessive is that once you have a population of the right color birds, they will breed true, without the other trait popping up again later.

 

[FlowerDragon]

Mottlnig is recessive, so it will not show in the generation of crossed chicks. (They will all carry the gene but not show it.)
Breeding one of the crosses back to a Sussex should produce 50% chicks that show mottling and 50% that don't show mottling but do also carry the gene.
Breeding two of the crosses to each other should produce 25% chicks that show mottling, 50% that carry mottling without showing it, and 25% that do not show or carry mottling.
The ones that carry mottling without showing it may have an occasional white tip on a feather, or they may show no sign at all.

Yes, the cream gene from the legbar should work.

There are two genes that can cause the "cream" color, with one being dominant and one being recessive. The first generation crosses should show which one you're dealing with, because either those chicks will be a light color, or they will have the richer red from the Sussex. If you're dealing with the dominant, the project is easy: just cross one back to the Sussex side, and some of the chicks should show both mottling and cream (about 1 in 4 chicks should have both). If you're dealing with the recessive, it's harder to get birds showing both traits. Your best strategy then might be crossing two of the first-generation mixed chicks, and hatching large numbers of them. About 1 in 16 should show both recessives (cream and mottling.)

I found a site about Legbars:
https://creamlegbarclub.com/genotype/
It says the have the gene "ig" which dilutes gold to cream.
That is the recessive one, so not as convenient as working with the dominant.
But the benefit of a recessive is that once you have a population of the right color birds, they will breed true, without the other trait popping up again later.

Thank you so much! That information is very helpful. For this project, would it be better to have a Legbar Roo and a Sussex Hen, or a Sussex Roo and a Legbar Hen?

 

[NatJ]

Thank you so much! That information is very helpful. For this project, would it be better to have a Legbar Roo and a Sussex Hen, or a Sussex Roo and a Legbar Hen?

I think the only real difference would be in whether the F1 daughters have the barring gene.

If you use a Cream Legbar rooster, all chicks will have white barring (sons will carry the gene for not-barred, daughters will not.)

If you use a Cream Legbar hen, the sons will have white barring (and carry the gene for not-barred), the daughters will not have barring.

Sons will be the same either way, but daughters will either have barring or not, depending on whether their father does.

I don't remember if you're familiar with the behavior of genes on the Z sex chromosome? That's where barring is, so it behaves a little differently than genes on other chromosomes, since males have ZZ and females have ZW.

 

[FlowerDragon]

I think the only real difference would be in whether the F1 daughters have the barring gene.

If you use a Cream Legbar rooster, all chicks will have white barring (sons will carry the gene for not-barred, daughters will not.)

If you use a Cream Legbar hen, the sons will have white barring (and carry the gene for not-barred), the daughters will not have barring.

Sons will be the same either way, but daughters will either have barring or not, depending on whether their father does.

I don't remember if you're familiar with the behavior of genes on the Z sex chromosome? That's where barring is, so it behaves a little differently than genes on other chromosomes, since males have ZZ and females have ZW.

Thank you so much! All of your information has been very helpful. Now I'm planning out my project.

 

[Hollyhock Legacy]

Hi FlowerDragon,
I am wondering if you had any success in your project and what results did you get?
I am hatching chicks from a SS roo and a CL hen and I’m very curious about what you got.
Thanks!!

I really want to have some sort of lemon mottled chicken. Would it be possible to do that with the mottled pattern from the Sussex and the cream gene from the Legbar? Thank you in advance!