Blue and/or Slate Sweetgrass
Porter's Heritage Turkeys is one of my most visited websites because of his vast knowledge of Color Genetics and the many color varieties he breeds and maintains.
Last year he posted the above picture in his "Various Color Combos". When I saw this picture my mind started working on what the Slate Blue Sweetgrass was and what I had in my flock that would create this beautiful color combination. I contacted Mr. Porter and gave him a list of the birds I have and asked for his guidance in how I could reproduce the color.
I already had the Sweetgrass and even some from Porter's bloodlines. I had several of the Blue Slate and Self Blues and one Lilac hen. On his advice the Lilac hen was bred to a nice Sweetgrass Tom last year. As predicted this did not produce the pure Slate Sweetgrass but a Blue Red Bronze phenotype bird.
Last year he posted the above picture in his "Various Color Combos". When I saw this picture my mind started working on what the Slate Blue Sweetgrass was and what I had in my flock that would create this beautiful color combination. I contacted Mr. Porter and gave him a list of the birds I have and asked for his guidance in how I could reproduce the color.
I already had the Sweetgrass and even some from Porter's bloodlines. I had several of the Blue Slate and Self Blues and one Lilac hen. On his advice the Lilac hen was bred to a nice Sweetgrass Tom last year. As predicted this did not produce the pure Slate Sweetgrass but a Blue Red Bronze phenotype bird.
Genotype for this project:
Sweetgrass Tom - (b1b1cgcg) Black winged bronze base color with 2 Grey (AKA) Palm genes.
Lilac Hen - (b+b+DD) Bronze Base color with 2 Dominate Slate genes.
All offspring will be (b+b1CcgDd) a combination of Bronze and Black Winged Bronze with a single grey (AKA) Palm gene and a single Slate gene.
This year (2014) I will breed the F1 Hens that I keep back to a different Sweetgrass Tom.
Sweetgrass Tom - (b1b1cgcg)
F1 Offspring Hens (b+b1CcgDd)
In the F2 Offspring, This will give me the following color genetics: Sweetgrass (b1b1cgcg) which will bred true, Blue Red Bronze (b+b1cgcgDd) (just like their dame) Slate Sweetgrass (b1b1cgcgDd) with a single Slate gene and look like the picture of Porter's Slate Sweetgrass along with some (b+b1CcgDd) and (b+b1Ccg).
Sweetgrass Tom - (b1b1cgcg) Black winged bronze base color with 2 Grey (AKA) Palm genes.
Lilac Hen - (b+b+DD) Bronze Base color with 2 Dominate Slate genes.
All offspring will be (b+b1CcgDd) a combination of Bronze and Black Winged Bronze with a single grey (AKA) Palm gene and a single Slate gene.
This year (2014) I will breed the F1 Hens that I keep back to a different Sweetgrass Tom.
Sweetgrass Tom - (b1b1cgcg)
F1 Offspring Hens (b+b1CcgDd)
In the F2 Offspring, This will give me the following color genetics: Sweetgrass (b1b1cgcg) which will bred true, Blue Red Bronze (b+b1cgcgDd) (just like their dame) Slate Sweetgrass (b1b1cgcgDd) with a single Slate gene and look like the picture of Porter's Slate Sweetgrass along with some (b+b1CcgDd) and (b+b1Ccg).