31st December
1988
Dear
Bill,
I
am fulfilling my New Year’s Resolution to get up to date with my letter
working by replying to your 2 tapes. I can only apologise for not replying to
your first one ages ago; my excuse is that I have been so busy
this year.
I
am delighted your operations seem successful, I hope you will be able to read
this fairly soon. In answer to your questions I will try to write without
frills so that the answers may be more clear.
Question
1
Birchen
Duckwing OEG
There
are indeed two type of colours, crow-wings and duck-wings with various
modifiers.
a)
the basic black-red is modified to
Duckwing by silver genes (S) hence just black-red female and one type of
Duckwing Female, but black-red male, Golden Duckwing Male and Silver Duckwing
Male.
b)
also the basic black-red is modified to Pyle (or Pile) by dominant
white (I).
c)
a blue-red is a black-red with blue substituted for black.
All
these are Modern Black-Reds or OEG Partridge-Bred Black-Reds sometimes called
Dark-Reds.
d)
the Spangle OEG is the same Dark-Red with mottling mo/mo genes
(recessive).
OEG
have Wheaten Black-Reds with wheaten females which the addition of a blue gene
produces Blue-Red Males but Blue-Tailed Wheaten Females.
The
basic Brown-Red (really only two colors lemon and black which must be a
misnomer) is a crow-wing. It can be modified by:
1
- the
addition of silver S to form Birchen
2
- the
addition of Bl to form Lemon-Blue i.e. a Brown-Red with Blue substituted for
black
3
- the
addition of S and Bl to form a Silver-Blue i.e. a Birchen with blue
substituted for black.
Quite
by chance I heard of the word Birching
in connection with Duckwing for the first time only a month or so ago. I
attended a lecture given by an expert colour breeder of Modern Game. The word Birching
(I’m not sure whether there is a g
or whether it is Birchin ) is used
to signify a yellowness in the silver of the shoulders of a Duckwing, together
with ruskiness on the wing bows. He tells me, I have checked today, that my
interpretation is correct and derives from the old breeders of both OEG and
Moderns.
I
do agree with you there cannot be a breed colour Birchen - Duckwing, the two
terms are mutually exclusive, but it does seem that a yellowish and reddish
Duckwing would be identified by its defects and termed a Birching
Duckwing. I hope this helps solve your problem.
Question
2
I
do not appear to have received Mr Compton’s description of colours. I
enclose a copy of the colour description for Modern Game from Bantam
Poultry Standard. Also a photocopy of the colour standard for blue-red,
lemon-blue and silver-blue adopted in 1985 by the (British) Poultry Club. So
you see, Bill, we are of some use, we have done it for you.
Question
3
Birchen
or Grey
Our
OEG classes are usually this way, a Grey being a Birchen without lacing. In
OEG they do not seem to care about colour and most Brown-Reds are only
partially laced, with most Greys
being neither Birchen nor Grey.
As
far as shape is concerned the OEG standard often referred to as Carlisle
type because the OEG Club has always held its show at Carlisle in Cumbria
(Cumberland) near the Scottish border, and defends their interpretation. The Oxford
Club has virtually the same standard and defends its interpretation as the
original fighting fowl. In practice mediocre Carlisle type frequently win the
Oxford or Pit Game classes.
Question
4
Blue
eggs
Yes
the pea comb gene P is still closely linked (5%) with the blue eggshell gene
O, denoted O for Olive because in the presence of a brown egg shell background
an olive green egg results, blue egg shell colour only being present when
otherwise the shell would be white.
I
understand your argument about Malays being in Araucanas, but I’m not sure
that it is correct. Mutations occur surprisingly frequently and it is possible
for several occurrences of the spontaneous mutation. Thus the evidence of a
common gene is not evidence beyond all
reasonable doubt of a common ancestry. The rumpless bit surprised me
because until the importation of Araucanas, Rumpless OEG bantams or Rumpies
were the only rumpless fowl in Britain and were judged for OEG properties too.
I was surprised they were supposed to be a Japanese breed!!
Kindly
give my regards to Frank Fogarty, and please encourage him to keep on
learning, he’s the man that doesn’t like to be called an expert isn’t
he?
In
your first tape you primarily asked about
Blue. I have done considerable research on blue plumage in the absence
of silver or red. I’m convinced there are 3 basic types as follows:
1
- Lavender,
caused by the recessive lavender (lav) genes, which prevents the distribution
of the pigment granules to the keratin of which the feather is composed. Thus
we see black pigment granules through an opaque layer which gives us the
lavender appearance. Because the black saturates the inner layer, there are no
black breaks in lavender as there are in ordinary blues. Lavender also dilutes
orange to shaw and red to buff, i.e. it changes a Millefleur Belgian to a
Porcelain.
2
- Laced Blue
- really black-laced blue as in Andalusian - produced by Bl/bl+ i.e. one blue gene on a suitable background. In the reprint
enclosed I showed this to be E/E Co/Co (Ml - Pg/Ml - Pg) where:
E
is the Extended Black allele at the E-locus
Co
is Columbian
Ml
is Melanotic (F.P.J.’s recessive black)
Pg
is the pattern gene responsible for ordering
and
3
- Self Blue
as in Cochin, Wyandotte, also produced by Bl/bl+
on a suitable background. I am at present investigating this background but
think it will purely and simply be E/E without the other genes. These
self-blue throw splashes and blacks, and frequently have black flecks in the
blue. This is because the blue gene acts by reducing the quantity of black
pigment granules, and altering the shape from cylindrical to round so allowing
them to be viewed through keratin. However if they lie on the surface the
effect is to allow black, hence the breaks of colour.
Obviously
most Splashed throwing Blues are intermediate between Andalusian and true
self-blue, such as Blue Orpingtons etc. This lends further credence to the
multifactorial assessment of the various Blues.
Now
Bill, I have tried to be explicit but still brief so that when you put this on
tape you will only have the essential bits put before you. In that way it must
be easier to understand.
Now
to a little of my own work. I have been systematically working through the
patterned feathered fowl with a view to understanding their genetic
background. An amazing picture of interdependence is being built up, all of
which adds up with your subject, the history of the make up of these breeds.
I have another paper in press demonstrating the Spangled
Hamburg to be pure for E (Db - Ml - Pg) i.e. the supposed spangling gene (Sp)
has its effect produced by (Ml- Pg). The breeds now established are as
follows:
Partridge
Wyandotte eb Pg
Laced
Wyandotte eb Co (Ml - Pg) - note the Co
Double
Laced Barnevelder eb (Ml- Pg)
Double
Laced Cornish eWh (Ml- Pg)
Pencilled
(Barred) Hamburg ebc
(Db - Pg)
Barred
Fayoumi E Co (Db - Pg)
Spangled
Hamburg E (Db - Ml - Pg)
Andalusian
E Co (Ml - Pg) + Bl/bl+ for Blue
Andalusian
The
question remains, and the only major question, is what about the five dominants
E, Co, (Db - Ml - Pg).
By
crossing SSH and Andalusian, each with 4 dominants, I will in the F2
generation extract the 5 dominant phenotypes, which I guess is the
laced-tailed lacing of the Sebright. Time will tell, but if that is so then
all the major distinct feather patterns will have been successful analysed.
Well
Bill, 12 pages handwritten from me is no mean achievement. I hope it keeps
your mind occupied during your recuperation which I hope is quick, steady and
above all completely successful.
All
the best for 1989.
Yours,