The genetics of colour

[Anonymous]

I was just wondering about pekin colours. If I get a black cockerel, say, and put him in with my girls ( buff, lemon cockoo, black and gold birchen) what kind of colours could I expect?

I understand about the dominant/rescessive genes for human hair colour (we two being brown haired bods, and producing two vibrant redheads), but does the chicken gene work the same?

If so, which colours are dominant? In humans it goes brown, blond, red, and the only way you can be a redhead is if you have two rescessive red genes - any other gene just covering it up.

Any thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

Simple answer is black, providing it is pure it will produce blacks of sorts maybe with gold in the neck, black and its variations are dominant to every other colour.

Chicken colours are complicated, most are made up of a combination of genes some dominant some recessive, start mixing them up and all sorts of weird colours come out.