Color Standards in Project Varieties

[Savannah Chivari]

Hopefully I can convey my question clearly, I'm curious if there's proposed/drafted standards for varieties not currently recognized by the APA (mainly, chocolate). Is there anywhere that has a list of  proposed genes and what exactly chocolate plumage should look like? Would it be on extended black, like lavender or ermine? Or would it be on ER with additional pattern genes for edged lacing like blues? Would it be up to individual preference? I'd love to have more experienced breeders weigh in and help me wrap my head around it all.

[Mike Gilbert]

I'm not sure there is much interest in developing a Chocolate variety of Ameraucana.  It's a big commitment to have a new variety recognized.   I know Jean Ribbeck had developed some Chocolate bantams years ago, but I'm not sure about the large fowl.  Chocolate, according to my understanding, is a solid, one colored variety.  Therefore, it seems best to base it on E and sex linked gold.  No lacing. 

[Mindy Waters]

There are several working on Chocolate in both large fowl and bantam. I'm not sure if there is a proposed Standard written up. Chocolate is a solid variety based on extended black. There wouldn't be any laced pattern. If you have both chocolate and laced blue genetics together, the Mauves would have lacing. I'm personally working on these, but it's just for fun. 

[Savannah Chivari]

Thank you both for feedback! The genetics side of plumage colors is an ongoing interest for my 8 year old poultry enthusiast, so I figured no better place to ask questions! She loves the idea of a self-laced chocolate (just for funsies) but wanted to also know what chocolate would look like as a proper variety.

[Mindy Waters]

I don't believe Chocolate is a Standard APA variety in any chicken breed yet. You may need to look at the SOP description from the American Bantam Association. I believe bantam Wyandottes are accepted by the ABA in Chocolate. But it also may be important to note that some of the Chocolate Wyandottes are based on the dun gene, not sexlinked chocolate. The SOP description should still be relevant.