Breeding Crele Dutch Bantams

The Light Brown color pattern is a variation of the basic color pattern found in Jungle Fowl, which is called “wild type”. Since the Crele pattern is simply barring superimposed upon the wild type plumage pattern it means that the two may be crossed with each other without creating a mixture which must be “bred out” of the strain. (Of course, this cross cannot be used indiscriminately, because it can produce unwanted black feathers, especially in the tail of the Crele male.)

The same advantage exists with Blue Light Browns because the Blue Light Brown is still the same basic wild type pattern combined with the blue gene instead of black. It is understandable then that varieties such as Crele and BLB which cross well with Light Brown would appeal to breeders who want to keep more than one variety, but have limited space available.

The person interested in breeding Crele Dutch should try to get hold of the best Light Browns they can, and use these from time to time to improve the Creles. I suspect that a problem might arise in maintaining a good deep red color in the Creles. This would be due to the fact that the underlying wild type color in Creles is closer to the black breasted red color (as found in Old English) rather than the lighter colors found in the Light Brown Dutch. For this reason, a Light Brown with darker plumage and good type might be very valuable in the Crele breeding program. I remember someone quoting a saying of the late Warren Beall, a very notable Old English breeder, which is a word of wisdom which all breeders should keep in mind, I don’t know that I can remember Mr. Beall’s exact words, but it was something like this: “Remember, the girls will look like their daddies, and the boys like their mommas”. Mr. Beall stated an important breeding principle in a way which is easy to remember. A study of genetics will reveal the truth of Mr. Beall’s statement.

Quite often, certain characteristics are linked to the chromosomes which also determine the sex of a bird. These sex- linked characteristics are passed from father to daughter, and from mother to son. This is important to the breeder of Crele because barring is a sex-linked characteristic. Understanding this will enable the breeder to correctly predict the results obtained when crossing Crele and Light Brown Dutch.

There is an excellent article on breeding Creles in “Old English Game Bantams as Bred and Shown in the United States” (OEGB) by Fred Jeffrey and William Richardson. They explain how the Crele color pattern is transmitted: “Sex-linked inheritance is involved in the transmission of the Crele color pattern. Daughters cannot inherit a sex- linked character from their dams. They can inherit such a character from either, or both, sire and dam.” (OEGB pg. 82)

A chart is given in “OEGB” showing the various results when crossing Creles and Black Breasted Reds. Even though I understand the basic principle involved, I still find myself referring to the handy chart. The barring found in barred, cuckoo, and crele is the same in all three varieties, but is not the same as found in the penciled Hamburgs. A barred bird, such as Barred Plymouth Rock, is a black bird with white bars, but a Silver Pencilled Hamburg is a white bird with black bars. We can say then that black is the foundation color of the barred varieties, while “wild type” would be the foundation color of the crele.

The Symbols….

The Crele male has two sex-linked genes for barring (BB). The female only one (B_) A male which has only one gene for barring would be a darker color with less distinct bars; this male is called an intermediate. In the U.S. it is the (BB) male that is shown. (I understand from Jean Robocker that in Europe the intermediate male is shown alongside the Crele male.) This is different from the barred breeds, such as Barred Plymouth Rocks, in which it is the dark male which is considered the exhibition male.

In order to simplify our discussion we need to make use of symbols which have been developed to explain the relationship of barring genes to non-barring. The barred female, the cuckoo female, and the crele female all have only one sex-linked gene for barring and the symbol “B_” is used for the barred gene and “_” to indicate that the other sex gene is blank. The symbol for the barred female is “B_”. It is not possible for a barred or crele female to have two genes for barring, for the simple reason that if she had two, she would be a male instead of a female.

The intermediate male crele receives (B) one chromosome for barring and one chromosome for non barring (b). The exhibition, or dark barred male, and the crele intermediate male both have one chromosome for barring and one for non barring. The correct symbol therefore for the intermediate male is (Bb). Sometimes it is written (B_), but I prefer (Bb). A (B_) bird would be a female, not a dark male.

Every Crele male must have a father which carries at least one gene for barring. Crele females may be produced in the first generation by crossing crele male on a light brown hen, but in the first generation all the males would be intermediates, regardless of which parent carries the gene for barring. The females may be mated back to crele males, or the intermediate males may be used with crele females to produce some crele males in the next generation. (This is shown in the chart in OEGB).

Light and Dark Creles

There is something which is very important to the breeder of creles. I have found that barring reacts differently when combined with black that it does when combined with the wild type color pattern. This is very important to remember, because a strain of crele derived from cuckoo may breed differently than a strain which has no infusion of black blood. There may be confusion unless this is understood.

To understand this, the first thing we need to know is that in the barred breeds, the dark male (Bb) is the right color for the exhibition. The BB male is called a “light” barred male, and is not the correct color for exhibition. It would seem then, that the dark male should be the correct color for the exhibition crele male. But let’s see:

The original version of “Bantam Chickens” (1) describes the mating of a crele male with a black breasted red female:

“If a crele male is crossed with black breasted red females, all the first generation will be pure creles but all the sons will be heterozygous for barring (Bb) – having breasts and bodies with very dark barring.” (Original version of Bantam Chickens p. 164)

It is clear here that the male being described is an intermediate male. Mr. Jeffrey is saying that crele males mated to black breasted red (wild type) females will produce 100% intermediate males (Bb).

In the newer version of Mr. Jeffrey’s book some changes were made in reference to the breeding of creles. In the new version it is stated:

“Males, however, come either light or dark (BB or B_), but the standard calls for the breast to be dark grey and white barred” which describes the B type male. In other words the exhibition type crele male should not breed true – if mated with black breasted red females” (New version of Bantam Chickens. p 176)

Notice that this statement is in direct contradiction of the statement quoted above from the original Bantam Chickens, where it said that the cross between crele male and BB Red females will produce dark males and crele females. If you look at the chart given in OEGB and the original Bantam Chickens, a BB male is a true crele, while a Bb male is an intermediate male. But in the new version a BB male is a “light male”, and the Bb male is exhibition color.

Why the change from the original statements, and which is correct?

Actually, we do not have to conclude that either is wrong, even though they contradict each other. It is my opinion that the two different opinions were the result of observing two different strains of creles. Notice that the latter version is in accordance with the genetics associated with the breeding of barred chickens (light and dark).

It is my observation that if a strain of creles are produced using cuckoo (a black bird with white barring) it will behave according as would be expected of a barred breed: the BB males being too light, and the Bb males being the correct color (as in the new Bantam Chickens). On the other hand, if one is observing a strain of crele which has no infusion of black blood, it will behave as described in the original Bantam Chickens, and in OEGB, the BB males being the correct color and the Bb males being intermediate or dark males.

I have found this to be true. A few years back, Dusty Miller had a pair of creles at a show. The female was a very beautiful little bird with very good type, but I noticed that her breast was not a salmon color. She was like a Brown Red with barring added. The male was very light, and Dusty complained that she was having a problem with her males being too light.

It was not until much later that I figured out what caused the problem. I had crossed a crele male with a black hen and produced some nice colored cuckoo females. Both males and females from this cross were Bb. The next year I crossed a crele male back over these cuckoo females. From this cross, I produced some very light males. I had never done this before. My strain of creles always bred true: Crele on Crele producing 100% Crele of both sexes. I realized that the light males were a result of the infusion of black blood. (They were BB, which would have been the correct color if they had not carried the black blood.) I also realized Dusty’s problem was not a color problem, but a genetic problem.

I suppose the way to overcome this genetic problem would be to breed back to Light Brown, but I don’t know how long it would take to fix the problem. The important thing to remember is that the barring behaves differently when superimposed upon a black color pattern than it does in association with the “wild type” gene. This accounts for the different opinions expressed in the two versions of Bantam Chickens and elsewhere.

Happy Breeding!

Joe Arrington

1. Bantam Chickens may be obtained from the American Bantam Assoc. P. O. Box 127, Augusta, NJ 37822
2. Old English Game Bantams as Bred and Shown in the United States may be obtained from the OEG Bantam Association.