[gsc]

Can anyone tell me about these?

Here's what the seller says:
These birds are Chocolate Cream Partridge Bantam Wyandottes and were bred by Grant Brereton who first created this extremely rare colour. They are similar in appearance to Chocolate Partridge Wyandottes, but the recessive cream gene lightens the hackle, wing bar and saddle feathers. The male in this pen is pure chocolate cream partridge. The  female is chocolate partridge carrying cream and her eggs will produce 50% chocolate cream partridge chicks and 50% chocolate partridge chicks (carrying cream).

For more details on Grant Bereton’s breeding work (and for a detailed account of how the chocolate cream partridge colour was created), have a look at his book entitled ‘21st Century Poultry Breeding’ published by the Gold Cockerel Series.

I have the book - I just wondered if anyone had any or knew about them.
 

[cluckingnuts]

I'm a great admirer of Grant's work. I've not seen choc-cream on partridge. I have for a couple of years been breeding choc-cream onto e+ and E^R. This year I finally had 1 e+ and 2 E^R, all killed by crows.

[gsc]

I'm a great admirer of Grant's work. I've not seen choc-cream on partridge. I have for a couple of years been breeding choc-cream onto e+ and E^R. This year I finally had 1 e+ and 2 E^R, all killed by crows.

That's must have been so frustrating.

i am going to take the 6 eggs and see how I do.  it will be a long term project even if I hatch anything - and of course - a massive learning curve.

[cluckingnuts]

I hope you do get a good hatch. Do you mind if I ask what your project is?

[gsc]

I hope you do get a good hatch. Do you mind if I ask what your project is?

Well my first aim is to gain some practical experience of incubating and rearing and at the same time to try and get a good understanding of the genetics.  This is why I've chosen the Blue Copper Marans as well as the Wyandotte.

It will be interesting to see if I can use the theory to achieve a good Cream Wyandotte.  I am drawn to the fact that it is fairly new but there is still work to be done.  I am also hoping that the Chocolate, which inevitably I will get more of, will be popular enough for me to sell/home some stock, making it a bit easier numbers-wise.

It may be that I will ultimately go down a completely different route with a different breed or even decide that it's not for me and a few layers are all I want,  but at the moment I am trying to keep all my options open.

I was fascinated with the genetics of dogs - going back donkeys years now - got quite disillusioned very quickly with showing (people can be quite ...... in the dog world) but a big drawback with dogs is that you can't do anthing in any great numbers.  We have rescue dogs to help out a breeder friend who really grills potential owners - but still things happen and dogs come back.

I am just hoping I can cope with the cockerels

[Casey76]

One thing I've learned from other people, if you are breeding for traits, you have to be absolutely ruthless when it comes to culling... I'm not sure if I could harden my heart enough to cull healthy birds because their comb isn't correct, or they have thrown a recessive colour

[gsc]

One thing I've learned from other people, if you are breeding for traits, you have to be absolutely ruthless when it comes to culling... I'm not sure if I could harden my heart enough to cull healthy birds because their comb isn't correct, or they have thrown a recessive colour

For the moment I am taking the view that females should be fine for egg laying and most cockerels will have to go in the pot anyway

[cluckingnuts]

Being ruthless is the only way to achieve you goal, sad but true.
I've no doubt that once you start you won't want to stop. Blue-cream, splash-cream, white-cream, isabel. Then you've got the e-alleles + patterns to play with!
What type of Marans?

[gsc]

French Blue Copper Marans from exhibition stock with lovely dark eggs
BUT
sadly I bought them on eBay from someone local but can't get any reply from them - bank holiday weekend I guess.

So I am hoping they will be kind enough to let me have them for my next batch as they will miss Tuesdays batch.

[cluckingnuts]

And are you going to try puting the choc-cream into these?

[gsc]

And are you going to try puting the choc-cream into these?

I hadn't thought about it.
I have ended up with 21 eggs for my 20 egg incubator this time:
6 choc/cream partridge dottes
3 silver/cream partridge dottes
4 silver pencilled dottes
4 lavendar araucana
4 cream legbar (she thinks)

And my local lady is now keen to get some choc/cream genes from where I got mine.  She wouldn't take any money for the 12 eggs I had from her in case they weren't fertile or didn't hatch.  That was nice.

Isn't life fun

[cluckingnuts]

You got enough to keep you entertained for now then!