The Hatch Lab
Already have birds and wondering what the babies will look like? Set the color traits you can see in each parent and The Hatch Lab predicts your chicks’ feather colors — and tells you when a cross can be sexed at hatch by looks alone. It handles the genetics so you don’t have to.
What will the chicks look like?
Set the color traits you can see in each parent. You don’t need Latin gene names — just pick the plain-English description. We handle the math.
💡 New to this? Don’t know what your birds carry?
The simple rule: for anything you can’t see, pick “Doesn’t have it.” Being a hidden carrier is the exception, not the norm, in random backyard or hatchery birds. Only change it when:
• The bird shows the trait — it’s visibly lavender, speckled, or white — then pick the “shows it” option (that’s two copies).
• The breed name or seller tells you — e.g. “Lavender Orpington” or “split to lavender.”
How common each hidden gene is:
🔮 Lavender — rare. Only in lavender-named designer lines.
❇️ Mottling — uncommon. The breeds that have it show it; hidden carriers are unlikely.
🥚 Recessive white — uncommon in colored birds. Low odds unless your bird is white or from white lines.
The only way to prove a normal-looking bird is a carrier is test breeding (cross it to a bird that shows the trait). Without that, “Doesn’t have it” is right almost every time — it just can’t rule out the occasional surprise chick.
♂ Rooster (dad)
How do I know?
Only in designer lines: Lavender Orpington, Lavender/Self-Blue Ameraucana, Lavender Marans, some Silkies. If your bird isn’t grey-toned and didn’t come from a lavender-named breed, pick “doesn’t have it.”
How do I know?
It’s the defining look of the breeds that carry it (Speckled Sussex, Ancona, Mottled Java, Houdan), so those birds show it. A random non-speckled bird carrying it hidden is unlikely — pick “doesn’t have it” unless yours is speckled.
How do I know?
White breeds and meat birds carry it, but if your chick is colored (not white), the odds it’s a silent carrier are low. Pick “doesn’t have it” unless your bird is solid white or from white lines.
♀ Hen (mom)
How do I know?
Only in designer lines: Lavender Orpington, Lavender/Self-Blue Ameraucana, Lavender Marans, some Silkies. If your bird isn’t grey-toned and didn’t come from a lavender-named breed, pick “doesn’t have it.”
How do I know?
It’s the defining look of the breeds that carry it (Speckled Sussex, Ancona, Mottled Java, Houdan), so those birds show it. A random non-speckled bird carrying it hidden is unlikely — pick “doesn’t have it” unless yours is speckled.
How do I know?
White breeds and meat birds carry it, but if your chick is colored (not white), the odds it’s a silent carrier are low. Pick “doesn’t have it” unless your bird is solid white or from white lines.
What this covers (and what it doesn’t)
This predicts the common, well-understood color genes backyard keepers actually cross: blue/splash, lavender, barring, silver vs gold, mottling, and the two “white” genes. It reports each trait’s odds separately, which is accurate and easy to read.
It does not model every rare melanizer or pattern gene, and it assumes a standard black- or red-based bird. Think of it as the 90% tool: right for almost every real backyard cross, without a genetics degree.
Not sure which breed to start with? Try the Breed Finder.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really predict what color chicks will be?
For the common, well-understood color genes — blue/splash, lavender, barring, silver vs gold, mottling, and the two white genes — yes. Set the traits you can see in each parent and The Hatch Lab shows the odds per chick. It does not model every rare pattern gene, but it is accurate for almost every real backyard cross.
What does "feather-sexable" mean?
Some color genes (silver/gold and barring) sit on the sex chromosome. With the right cross, all the sons hatch one color and all the daughters another, so you can tell males from females at hatch by looks alone — no vent-sexing needed. The Hatch Lab flags these crosses automatically.
What is a Blue x Blue cross?
The blue gene is incomplete-dominant, so crossing two blue birds gives roughly 25% black, 50% blue, and 25% splash chicks — not 100% blue. The Hatch Lab shows this split so you know what to expect from the hatch.
How do I know if my chicken carries a hidden recessive gene?
Usually you cannot tell by looking. If the bird shows the trait it has two copies; otherwise you rely on the parents (a chick from a bird that shows the trait is a guaranteed carrier) or test breeding. For random backyard birds, carriers are the exception, so defaulting to "doesn't have it" is right most of the time.
Educational estimate for backyard breeding — real chicks love to surprise you. Odds are per-chick probabilities, not guarantees across a small hatch.