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 e^b Co (Ml - Pg) - note the Co

Double Laced Barnevelder e^b (Ml- Pg)

Double Laced Cornish e^Wh (Ml- Pg)

Pencilled (Barred) Hamburg e^bc (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,