Blue bird, black skin?

In my last hatch, I got one blue (gray) chick. Have no idea where he came from!

Do all blue birds have black skin? Can a blue bird have white/light skin?

This chick has black skin. He is going to be a rooster and he is going to be BIG! I had hoped for a hen, alas.

You have an interesting fellow. You can't have a blue bird without having a blue bird somewhere. It can hide under white though.
Interesing to have a blue bird with black skin. Have you had silkie in your background. Some of my Maran x PChants have dark skin.
Are you willing so share some pictures? This stuff always facinates me.

I posted a pic of this guy somewhere here a while back.

There is no Silkie anywhere in my flock.

I used to have a few more of the all black birds. I was hoping to raise some and cross them and see if they produced all black babies. But raccoons and bears have other plans...so the birds have mostly been killed off.

Jonny Anvil might have an answer to this mystery. I have two roosters right now. One a black mostly Australorp mutt. The other is a black and orange/rust orpington that hatched out of an egg from Jonny Anvil. Maybe somewhere in this rooster a blue gene lurks, because I have no idea where it might have come from from my own stock.

I like blue birds. I will try and get some pics of his skin colour, but my camera skills are pretty poor.

Uno, you may find that Jonny's rooster is actually blue not black. Sometimes the blue is so dark it looks black. Can you put a picture of him up?
There is not way for blue to be lurking, it is either there or not.

Could Uno's bird actually be lavender? Or is that even more of a genetic impossibility?

Could be, seeing the chick would help. If I recall correctly, the chick down looked blue though.
You would need two of the parent birds carrying lav to get a lav chick.

A mystery! Get your butt in gear, Uno. We need pictures!

Uno is this still from your original birds? I have that blue bird with black skin (and shanks, and comb, etc) that I hatched from the eggs I got from you. You had said that you'd bought Amaraucanas from someone (who I will not name) that told you he'd added some Silkie blood into his p/b Ams for some reason, I can't remember what. Do you remember telling me about this?

FarmChiq, I know what you're talking about. But I was never told that Silkie had been introduced. I know what Silkies are and would remember being told that. Something mighth ave been intorduced at some point in the past to improve the line, but it was not Silkie. Farmchiq, if you still have that hen, maybe you cold post a pic of her.

I think I have a little crow genetic lurking. Maybe vulture.

THe most 'exotic' bird I have had in my hen house in the last few years were Ameraucanas.(until Coopslave's Partridge Chanticlers, but they don't look to be carrying any blue)

I am not sure what the difference is between blue and lavender?

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Just posted a study I found.

Your bird could also have gotten it from a Swedish breed, the Bohuslän-Dals svarthöna.

You have any Bohuslän-Dals svarthönas running around?

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uno wrote:I posted a pic of this guy somewhere here a while back.

There is no Silkie anywhere in my flock.

I used to have a few more of the all black birds. I was hoping to raise some and cross them and see if they produced all black babies. But raccoons and bears have other plans...so the birds have mostly been killed off.

Jonny Anvil might have an answer to this mystery. I have two roosters right now. One a black mostly Australorp mutt. The other is a black and orange/rust orpington that hatched out of an egg from Jonny Anvil. Maybe somewhere in this rooster a blue gene lurks, because I have no idea where it might have come from from my own stock.

I like blue birds. I will try and get some pics of his skin colour, but my camera skills are pretty poor.

I think you have a Bluff Orpington from me... Splash Rooster over Buff hen.

I would know for sure if I saw pics.

PLEASE PARDON THE VERY BAD PHOTO QUALITY.

This is the lone survivor from Jonny Anvil's eggs. Others were all bear food.
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In real life he does have a top to his head.
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The other rooster in the pen is this mutt. Mostly Australorp, but he has slightly feathered leg and small comb, throw backs to Dark Brahma from long, long ago.
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A blurry bum. I find if the bum pigment is dark, so is the rest of the bird.

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I was hoping for blue but he's looking more like a dirty white. Sorry but I thought those lavender birds looked dirty white.

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Here is bluish head, dirty white feathers and dark skin. Dark legs.

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Blurry shot of black skinned armpit.

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This chick might grow to be all black. His eye is all black with no sign of greenish or red.

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The skin on his breast bone/stomach is dark.

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This is the pinkish armpit of a third chick, showing regular pigment.

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Good info from Tara for you Uno.

It is difficult to tell from the photo, but if Jonny remembers correctly, then your boy is blue not black. That would solve some of the mystery.

The other mystery is the feathers on that chick appear to be coming in white?? Is that just the computer and they look blue in real life?

A few shots of blue and lavender for you. (my internet service is driving me lately so that means trouble with photobucket as well. Let’s see how much patience I have this morning)

A lavender pullet. This is typical of a lavender bird that has NO red in her.
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Lavender cockerel showing some red. See the beige type colour, that is what lav does to red. Following the first picture is chick pictures of the same bird.
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Blues, they come in many shades. I personally like the pigeon blue, but most covet the deeper blue with lacing. I think that is what many standards call for.
This hen is blue, see how her head is darker? That is often a good way to tell light blue from lavender.
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Here is a hen that is a darker, more even blue. I did have one of a young pullet I thought was black until she matured a bit, but can’t find it, sorry.
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An immature bird showing some nice lacing at a young age.
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This fellow is blue as well, just lots of red because of the Barnevelder influence. Interesting that he is blue, but his beard is black.
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Immature blue Barnevelder cockerel.
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Sorry dial up people. I hope the rest of you have had your fill of blue! I am looking forward to seeing Uno’s bird as it matures. Still a bit of a mystery as it could be lav, but the chick down looked much more blue. Is there White working there? I am not familiar with white at all so others will have to comment on that.

It has taken me so long to put this together, others may have posted...............very slow today!!!

I have no idea where white could have come from! The hens that might be the mother are:
-my mostly Australorp mutts
-Coopslave's Partridge Chanticler's
- Coop's marans x hen

How white could possibly show up out of any of those hens is a puzzler! And both roosters are dark. To me Jonny's roo does not look blue. He is very red and his black parts are very black.

That chick was much darker as a baby and is now looking white. I hear that Sesame Street song, one of these things is not like the other... It always amazes me the weird things that pop up in my hatches.

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Coop, no they do not look blue to me. To my eye, the chick's wing feathers look icky white.

Thank you to both Coopslave and RatRanch for taking all that time to give me so much intelligent information. I know NOTHING about any of this gentic stuff...it boggles the mind!

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Okay HIggins, lets see if I can provide helpful information.

I had one all black hen. Black comb, black beak, black eyes, black skin and legs. She was killed by the bobcat. However, at that time I had a hen sitting on eggs so it is possible that one of those eggs was from my all black hen.

Hens I still have are as follows:

Red comb, amber eyes, black feathers, black legs.
Red Comb, very dark brown eyes, black feathers, black legs.
Red comb, black eyes, black feathers, black legs.

All my mutt hens have black legs.
Coopslave's Marans X hen also has dark legs, but the lightest eyes of all.

The roosters. JOnny Anvil's mystery Orpington, I wouldn't call his legs black, they look like he's short of oxygen, more bluish. But a light blue, not deep. But not yellow or pink either.

My Australorp mutt roo with the small comb (red) and slightly feathered legs has black legs and his neck feathers are...not amber or orange or rust..they are very faintly wheatish? I know not a good word, poor description. The tips of his neck feathers look sooty gold, for lack of a better word. I could take a pic but you've all seen how my pics turn out so forget that idea. Especially photographing a black bird against a snow white background (heavy snowfall today) seems to send my camera into focus spasms.

Blue baby looks like he/she needs a bath. But little back feathers coming in have some sort of pattern on them. Light. Wing feathers are pretty plain smudgy white looking.

If it was a girl and the other all black chick turned out to be a boy and I mated these dark skinned sibling (although wiht many moms and 2 roos, they might not be siblings at all!) what would I get? Pteradactyls?

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Uno if your bird is a roo can I have him? I can breed the black hen I have to him and we'll start a new breed. It will be bigger and meatier than a Silkie, and the Asian cuisine market will go mad! We'll be rich!!

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FarmChiq, is that birdie from my gang? She's awesome looking! We shall have to consider this 'New Breed' thing!