Ash yellow can be found in all the same patterns as the ash red but the most common pattern we see in the show king is the ash yellow bar. Until recently there were not very many ash yellows being raised by the king breeders but their popularity seems to be growing and some excellent yellow bars are starting to show up. I have been raising ash yellows for many years and can finally see a great improvement in their quality. Part of the reason for this improvement has been the fact that these yellows are now being out-crossed to other colors more often. When the quality was less than desirable and these yellows were bred to each other, they would not improve much. Earlier breeders felt they had to breed yellow to yellow in order to raise yellow barred kings, much like the thinking of many breeders who think they need to breed black to black in order to raise blacks ! As I have mentioned in earlier articles, this is not necessary, you can outcross in colors to improve the quality of some kings. With the ash yellows the most obvious color to outcross to would be the ash red bar, but the blue bar will also work well. But you do not have to stop there ! Red checks or blue checks will also work, especially if they carry the gene for bar, which they could. If you mate a yellow bar to a check that does not carry bar, then you will not get any barred birds from that mating, but all the offspring will carry the bar gene and you may then get bars from them (the offspring).

All you need to get started in raising ash yellows (bar or check) is one yellow, cock or hen. However, a yellow cock will get you there much quicker. When you mate the yellow hen to an intense color bird, all the cocks raised from this mating will carry the dilution factor for yellow and they can then produce yellows for you when they are bred. But when you breed from a yellow cock to an intense (or non-dilute) colored hen, you will raise hens that are all yellow. This is a sex-linked mating, something I discussed in an earlier article. The problem with using a yellow bar cock is that there are very few yellow cocks available, and finding a good quality yellow cock is even harder ! However, I think this will change in the near future. I have been very fortunate raise a few good yellow cocks in the last year and I know a few other breeders who are starting to breed good yellows. A good ash red bar cock carrying yellow is another good way to improve on yellows. This cock on a yellow hen will give you yellow cocks and hens, as well as ash red cocks and hens. The bottom line is this : It will take a few generations and some out-crossing with quality birds to get some good yellow bars raised, but it can be done and the more breeders that try, the better the quality will become.

One thing to note, do not confuse ash yellow with recessive yellow ! Recessive yellow is the dilution of recessive red and an entirely different genetic occurrence. You do not want to use recessive yellows in your breeding for ash yellows !

Besides the ash yellow bar, we can introduce ash yellow in our checks and in grizzles. Photo #1 shows a yearling yellow bar cock raised from an ash red bar cock, carrying yellow, and a yellow bar hen. This pair also raised another yellow bar cock, an ash red bar cock, and a blue bar hen.

Photo #2 is a yellow grizzle hen. Her parents were an ash red grizzle cock carrying dilution and an ash read bar hen. In photo #3 we see a yearling yellow check hen raised from an ash red bar cock carrying dilution and a red check hen. Photo#4 shows a yellow check squeeker from this year. The parents are an ash red bar cock carrying yellow and the yellow check hen in the previous photo. The final photo #5, is of another squeeker from this year, a yellow bar. This bird comes from a pair of yellow bars !

So, as you can see, there are many ways to get ash yellows once you have introduced the dilution factor for yellow in your birds. If we can get increased interest in this color then the quality should get much better. As a footnote, it should be mentioned here that a yellow bar hen placed fifth overall in the parade of champions at the 2001 Fifth District show, and this same hen placed sixth overall in the parade at the Tacoma Grand National. Probably the best ever placing for an ash yellow king !

So watch out for them yellow's, you may see more in the top ten in the future !

By: Dennis Rogers