American Dutch Bantam Society - Understanding the Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantam

Breeding the Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantams
Understanding the Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantam

Breeding The Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantams

By Jean Robocker

The first week of January, 1999, attendance at the NoordShow in Zuidlaren, The Netherlands , the mission was to study the breeding of the CLB,. I have felt truly uncomfortable about crossing the CLBs and LBs for correct color, this was one major question I wanted answered.. . . . My very first introduction to this variety, was 13 years ago, Bob Bassett called the color "Champagne". And when I ordered chicks from him, he planned to include chicks from this breeding-pen. Of the 19 chicks, he sent, only 7 chicks survived the Infectious bronchitis they had when they arrived! (new experience!) Bob indicated when CLBs appeared in LB x LB breeding and then bred together, the color would breed true. Of my 7 survivors, there were 3 cockerels, 2 LB and a Red ShouIdered Black (mahogany genes added), and 4 pullets, 3 LB and l BLB. Totally new to Dutch Bantam varieties, I thought it would be fun to just raise Blue Light Browns-(a problem which exists with new would-be breeders of Dutch Bantams today!)
In my first hatches of chicks, there appeared a pair of CLB and a pair of CBLBs! These were to me, the most beautiful of any Bantams of any breed, I had ever seen (and I still rate them at the top!) The first CLB pullet died young-no chicks, the CBLB pullet was not thrifty-no chicks from her either. So the next CLB chicks were out of LB hens. Only was able to keep a few birds at a time, and there was a lot of variation in the Cream hackle and saddle color of themales, when chicks were produced by CLBxLB. (And I was never really sure about the females, those with palest gold hackles were kept as CLBs.) Indeed some males had straw colored hackle and some had reddish heads tapering to creamishs ends of hackle or even the reverse, lighter at top, darker ends--certainly not uniform. Just learning the names of the varieties was a focus in those early years, and watching the chipmonk chicks turn into all colors and trying to spot the boys from the girls, as early as possible, wonderment at the first Splash chick that hatched--although I knew how I got it and had avoided producing them.
Genetics, although I understood the charts with dominant and recessives, was not as high priority--and I took the advice of any Dutch breeder who offered it. Always, in the background was the Cream Light Brown, which by then I had discovered had a counterpart in Holland, the Geelpatrijs, and I still had plans to raise just Geelpatrijs and forget the other varieties. Reports from other Dutch Bantam breeders who raised the variety was not encouraging--some thought it a dull, uninteresting color, and most felt, it was necessary to cross with LB to keep the color nice and bright. On the trip to Holland in 1992, I saw many Geelpatrijs--GLORIOUS--and very unifrom in color, and glamourous in type!!! Language barrier was difficult, and my guides were Light Brown fanciers!!! I really didn't learn anything about their breeding--it didn't appear that any were outcrossed! In 1994, same guides, who emphasized Patrijs (Light Brown) and intimated that in the U.S., we should improve the LB before interest in any other variety.
Years later, I now agree with that statement! Never have been really attracted to LB, but that is where the best birds are in The Netherlands, and these birds are what has given every other variety in Dutch Bantams, their goal for type, and while individual birds in other varieties of Dutch Bantams in Holland, have achieved good scores in judging, few have the outstanding scores that LBs achieve regularly at shows all over the Netherlands. (Yes, I'm back into LBs and have sorted out some very good birds-but not yet like Holland's)! In 1996, I spent more time learning about Light Browns. (Language barrier still exists, and the same guides.) And it was not until the 50th Anniversay Show at Klarenbeek, that I saw a number of correct -colored female Cream Light Browns. The YELLOW, bright and shining yellow off the females hackle was outstanding. My own CLB (Swavers) tended to get darker at a year or 2 of age, scarcely distinguished from the LB females-and I worried how a judge would be able to see the slight variation in a CLB from a LB female. No doubt any more-their hackles are Creamy yellow, not light gold and they do not darken with age!
But in January of this year, my mission was-(on my own, this time), to learn how to breed Geelpatrijs! Met with Dr. Gankema, had his book in hand, and have added new information about the breeding of this variety! Our Cream Light Browns, to put it simply, should be bred selectively from best Cream Light Browns, discarding for breeding the off color individuals. It will take some time to breed uniform Cream Light Browns, but if we go for qualifying the variety with ABA/APA, there should be a quite uniform -in- color exhibit of 50+ CLBs, without the variation we now see with just a few birds exhibited at a show. We have lost some time in breeding correct CLBs by adding the LB genes, which, according to Dr. Gankema, become "attached" to the Cream genetic code of the birds. ( This is what has happened to some of our Silvers that have acquired "rust" or "gilt" on the back or wings. ) When producing Goldens, a proportion of the Silver females in the downline, will keep the "attached" LB gene influence, and what should be pure Black and White birds, are "almost" forever contaminated with color, other than black and white! With CLBs the contaminant is not as visual, but will be seen in the reddish or darker orange on the head, saddle of the male. And the females will have a brown cast to the body, especially on the wings coverts, instead of the grey-black back, wings and body. That the CLB females should bear. Female Cream Light Browns should have orange breast instead of the salmon color of the Light Brown females. And a dark brown feather line will be evident where the top of the wing folds against the body. It becomes visual at a glance, and these birds have been named Swavers by Dr. Gankema. A large proportion of our CLBs in the U.S. are undoubtely Swavers. That is not a really bad thing, by breeding to a good LB, there may have been a positive influence of better combs, tails, backs, etc, that we are looking for in breeding our "perfect" Dutch Bantam in any variety!
Until we have a large flock of just CLB to choose the finer points, we may have little choice but to sometimes, outcross to another variety. But to breed exhibition Cream Light Browns, they should be bred together. And the next chapter of the story is: TO BREED EXHIBITION Dutch Bantams of the highest quality, they should be double mated-a breeding skill that I did not previously feel was necessary with the Dutch Bantam!
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Understanding The Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantam

By Jean Robocker

While the varieties LIGHT BROWN and BLUE LIGHT BROWN are probably the best known colors in the Dutch Bantam in America, another variety is very common in the Netherlands, the CREAM LIGHT BROWN. And while the CREAM LIGHT BROWN is a major member of the "RED SHOULDERED" varieties of Dutch, as far as I can learn, it is one of the few varieties not found in any other breed listed in the APA or ABA Standards! And I get to write about it, because to me, it is the most beautiful of all the varieties of Dutch Bantam!
Now becoming of interest to American breeders of the Dutch Bantam, this very old variety in Holland may become recognized in the U.S. in the not too distant future and, of course, only in the Dutch Bantam! GEELPATRIJS is its Dutch name, which translates to a Cream/Yellow color, the hackle and saddle color of the male. The back is the same red color of the Light Brown and Blue Light Brown. All the rest is black, except the wing tip of cream. The female is similar to the Light Brown, but the neck and hackle is yellow/gold of some brilliance in the best colored females. Because the addition of the gene for Cream color is a simple recessive, the Light Brown carriers of the gene will produce some Cream Light Brown offspring. But these birds may have red or dark orange heads instead of the beautiful blond heads of the correctly colored birds.
Red CLB The best hackle color will be Creamy-yellow from head to tip of hackle, but with the same black striping that the Light Brown and Blue Light Brown birds show. Some individuals will have "dead-straw" colored or very pale cream hackle, not really correct. The best birds will be not be from recessive genes on Light Brown birds, but selectively bred from "pure" Geelpatrijs birds. The pale-hackled Dutch in Cream Light Brown are almost indistinguishable from a GOLDEN Dutch Bantam. And it would take a great judge to tell the difference! But unlike the GOLDEN variety, which is based on the LIGHT BROWN gene with the SILVER gene added, and does not breed true, the CREAM LIGHT BROWN is based on the Light Brown gene with the CREAM gene added and breeds true! There are a number of breeds of poultry, both Standard and Bantam that recognize the GOLDEN variety, which, when brilliant, does resemble the CREAM LIGHT BROWN. But it is in breeding the Golden birds that one finds out--it is the Silver gene that makes the beauty, the BBred that gives some contrast, but unfortunatly it can only be put together for one generation. The CREAM LIGHT BROWN Dutch Bantam goes on forever! Because the variety in Dutch may not have been recognized as a TRUE variety, early U.S. breeders did not raise many Dutch Bantams in this color--and while it appeared now and then, who knows what was thought??-"No other breed in America has this color- is it undesirable???"
However, this may have been a PLUS for the breed, as some of the finest Dutch TYPE is found in the CREAM LIGHT BROWN's, as the variety was not outcrossed with other breeds, and thus did not lose or lessen the Dutch TYPE by adding OEG, Rosecomb, Leghorn etc. type--and then work to regain the Dutch type, which is such a delightful little Bantam! With a number of Dutch Bantam breeders now multiplying this variety (and doing some great winning at smaller shows!) it is time to look for qualifying the CREAM LIGHT BROWN variety to "catch up" with its Holland ancestors! Some of the other "RED SHOULDERED" varieties will be described later.

Breeding The Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantams By Jean Robocker

The first week of January, 1999, attendance at the NoordShow in Zuidlaren, The Netherlands , the mission was to study the breeding of the CLB,. I have felt truly uncomfortable about crossing the CLBs and LBs for correct color, this was one major question I wanted answered.. . . . My very first introduction to this variety, was 13 years ago, Bob Bassett called the color "Champagne". And when I ordered chicks from him, he planned to include chicks from this breeding-pen. Of the 19 chicks, he sent, only 7 chicks survived the Infectious bronchitis they had when they arrived! (new experience!) Bob indicated when CLBs appeared in LB x LB breeding and then bred together, the color would breed true. Of my 7 survivors, there were 3 cockerels, 2 LB and a Red ShouIdered Black (mahogany genes added), and 4 pullets, 3 LB and l BLB. Totally new to Dutch Bantam varieties, I thought it would be fun to just raise Blue Light Browns-(a problem which exists with new would-be breeders of Dutch Bantams today!) In my first hatches of chicks, there appeared a pair of CLB and a pair of CBLBs! These were to me, the most beautiful of any Bantams of any breed, I had ever seen (and I still rate them at the top!) The first CLB pullet died young-no chicks, the CBLB pullet was not thrifty-no chicks from her either. So the next CLB chicks were out of LB hens. Only was able to keep a few birds at a time, and there was a lot of variation in the Cream hackle and saddle color of themales, when chicks were produced by CLBxLB. (And I was never really sure about the females, those with palest gold hackles were kept as CLBs.) Indeed some males had straw colored hackle and some had reddish heads tapering to creamishs ends of hackle or even the reverse, lighter at top, darker ends--certainly not uniform. Just learning the names of the varieties was a focus in those early years, and watching the chipmonk chicks turn into all colors and trying to spot the boys from the girls, as early as possible, wonderment at the first Splash chick that hatched--although I knew how I got it and had avoided producing them. Genetics, although I understood the charts with dominant and recessives, was not as high priority--and I took the advice of any Dutch breeder who offered it. Always, in the background was the Cream Light Brown, which by then I had discovered had a counterpart in Holland, the Geelpatrijs, and I still had plans to raise just Geelpatrijs and forget the other varieties. Reports from other Dutch Bantam breeders who raised the variety was not encouraging--some thought it a dull, uninteresting color, and most felt, it was necessary to cross with LB to keep the color nice and bright. On the trip to Holland in 1992, I saw many Geelpatrijs--GLORIOUS--and very unifrom in color, and glamourous in type!!! Language barrier was difficult, and my guides were Light Brown fanciers!!! I really didn't learn anything about their breeding--it didn't appear that any were outcrossed! In 1994, same guides, who emphasized Patrijs (Light Brown) and intimated that in the U.S., we should improve the LB before interest in any other variety. Years later, I now agree with that statement! Never have been really attracted to LB, but that is where the best birds are in The Netherlands, and these birds are what has given every other variety in Dutch Bantams, their goal for type, and while individual birds in other varieties of Dutch Bantams in Holland, have achieved good scores in judging, few have the outstanding scores that LBs achieve regularly at shows all over the Netherlands. (Yes, I'm back into LBs and have sorted out some very good birds-but not yet like Holland's)! In 1996, I spent more time learning about Light Browns. (Language barrier still exists, and the same guides.) And it was not until the 50th Anniversay Show at Klarenbeek, that I saw a number of correct -colored female Cream Light Browns. The YELLOW, bright and shining yellow off the females hackle was outstanding. My own CLB (Swavers) tended to get darker at a year or 2 of age, scarcely distinguished from the LB females-and I worried how a judge would be able to see the slight variation in a CLB from a LB female. No doubt any more-their hackles are Creamy yellow, not light gold and they do not darken with age! But in January of this year, my mission was-(on my own, this time), to learn how to breed Geelpatrijs! Met with Dr. Gankema, had his book in hand, and have added new information about the breeding of this variety! Our Cream Light Browns, to put it simply, should be bred selectively from best Cream Light Browns, discarding for breeding the off color individuals. It will take some time to breed uniform Cream Light Browns, but if we go for qualifying the variety with ABA/APA, there should be a quite uniform -in- color exhibit of 50+ CLBs, without the variation we now see with just a few birds exhibited at a show. We have lost some time in breeding correct CLBs by adding the LB genes, which, according to Dr. Gankema, become "attached" to the Cream genetic code of the birds. ( This is what has happened to some of our Silvers that have acquired "rust" or "gilt" on the back or wings. ) When producing Goldens, a proportion of the Silver females in the downline, will keep the "attached" LB gene influence, and what should be pure Black and White birds, are "almost" forever contaminated with color, other than black and white! With CLBs the contaminant is not as visual, but will be seen in the reddish or darker orange on the head, saddle of the male. And the females will have a brown cast to the body, especially on the wings coverts, instead of the grey-black back, wings and body. That the CLB females should bear. Female Cream Light Browns should have orange breast instead of the salmon color of the Light Brown females. And a dark brown feather line will be evident where the top of the wing folds against the body. It becomes visual at a glance, and these birds have been named Swavers by Dr. Gankema. A large proportion of our CLBs in the U.S. are undoubtely Swavers. That is not a really bad thing, by breeding to a good LB, there may have been a positive influence of better combs, tails, backs, etc, that we are looking for in breeding our "perfect" Dutch Bantam in any variety! Until we have a large flock of just CLB to choose the finer points, we may have little choice but to sometimes, outcross to another variety. But to breed exhibition Cream Light Browns, they should be bred together. And the next chapter of the story is: TO BREED EXHIBITION Dutch Bantams of the highest quality, they should be double mated-a breeding skill that I did not previously feel was necessary with the Dutch Bantam! top

Understanding The Cream Light Brown Dutch Bantam By Jean Robocker

While the varieties LIGHT BROWN and BLUE LIGHT BROWN are probably the best known colors in the Dutch Bantam in America, another variety is very common in the Netherlands, the CREAM LIGHT BROWN. And while the CREAM LIGHT BROWN is a major member of the "RED SHOULDERED" varieties of Dutch, as far as I can learn, it is one of the few varieties not found in any other breed listed in the APA or ABA Standards! And I get to write about it, because to me, it is the most beautiful of all the varieties of Dutch Bantam! Now becoming of interest to American breeders of the Dutch Bantam, this very old variety in Holland may become recognized in the U.S. in the not too distant future and, of course, only in the Dutch Bantam! GEELPATRIJS is its Dutch name, which translates to a Cream/Yellow color, the hackle and saddle color of the male. The back is the same red color of the Light Brown and Blue Light Brown. All the rest is black, except the wing tip of cream. The female is similar to the Light Brown, but the neck and hackle is yellow/gold of some brilliance in the best colored females. Because the addition of the gene for Cream color is a simple recessive, the Light Brown carriers of the gene will produce some Cream Light Brown offspring. But these birds may have red or dark orange heads instead of the beautiful blond heads of the correctly colored birds. The best hackle color will be Creamy-yellow from head to tip of hackle, but with the same black striping that the Light Brown and Blue Light Brown birds show. Some individuals will have "dead-straw" colored or very pale cream hackle, not really correct. The best birds will be not be from recessive genes on Light Brown birds, but selectively bred from "pure" Geelpatrijs birds. The pale-hackled Dutch in Cream Light Brown are almost indistinguishable from a GOLDEN Dutch Bantam. And it would take a great judge to tell the difference! But unlike the GOLDEN variety, which is based on the LIGHT BROWN gene with the SILVER gene added, and does not breed true, the CREAM LIGHT BROWN is based on the Light Brown gene with the CREAM gene added and breeds true! There are a number of breeds of poultry, both Standard and Bantam that recognize the GOLDEN variety, which, when brilliant, does resemble the CREAM LIGHT BROWN. But it is in breeding the Golden birds that one finds out--it is the Silver gene that makes the beauty, the BBred that gives some contrast, but unfortunatly it can only be put together for one generation. The CREAM LIGHT BROWN Dutch Bantam goes on forever! Because the variety in Dutch may not have been recognized as a TRUE variety, early U.S. breeders did not raise many Dutch Bantams in this color--and while it appeared now and then, who knows what was thought??-"No other breed in America has this color- is it undesirable???" However, this may have been a PLUS for the breed, as some of the finest Dutch TYPE is found in the CREAM LIGHT BROWN's, as the variety was not outcrossed with other breeds, and thus did not lose or lessen the Dutch TYPE by adding OEG, Rosecomb, Leghorn etc. type--and then work to regain the Dutch type, which is such a delightful little Bantam! With a number of Dutch Bantam breeders now multiplying this variety (and doing some great winning at smaller shows!) it is time to look for qualifying the CREAM LIGHT BROWN variety to "catch up" with its Holland ancestors! Some of the other "RED SHOULDERED" varieties will be described later.