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I have found that in Germany there is a variety of Leghorn called Goldfarbig (they have it also in the Czech Republic, and there they call it GOLD). How does it differ genetically from Rebhuhnfarbig (which I understand is just e+/e+)? Here are some pictures:

http://www.fluegelvieh.de/italiener.html

http://www.rassegefluegelzucht-linnenkamp.de/Italienergoldfarbig.html

and the Czech ones:

http://klubvlasek.webzdarma.cz/barevne_razy_soubory/zlatezbarvene.htm

There are German bantams called Wildfarbig (although I must admit I haven't seen wild hens in this colour). They look a little similar to brassyback hens but not quite. What is their genetic make-up?

http://www.mein-rassegefluegel.de/deutsche_zwerge.htm
http://www.deutsche-zwerghuehner.de/Ausstellungen/deutsche_zwerghuhnschau.htm

As far as I understand (from partridge Silkies), wild farbig - wild colour is a melanized "ordinairy" partridge. Wild colour can be on e^b and e+. In Silkies the wild colour partridge (e^b) seem to have Cha (dark heads) too and are melanized in total. I would suggest just add Ml, and you have wild colour. Black doesn't "stick" on the salmon breast effectively; therefore, it's still visible.

Goldfarbig are what we call "flitter." Note the shiny gold outer lace on the hens' feathers.

Henk, the flitter itself would not change the colour of the entire body. I have one light brown Leghorn with flitter, and it just looks like a light brown Leghorn with flitter. There must be something added. There were some very distinct pictures on the Internet (which are now gone) on which the colour of the hens looked like show quality New Hampshire "melted together" with e+/e+. The colour is more visible on the Czech birds (much more reddish).

If you read description of patrijs goudflitter on this site:

http://www.leghorn.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=145

"De patrijskleur van de hennen bevat in de grondkleur minder grijsbuin en iets meer geel/oker bruin. De pepering is fijner dan de normale patrijskleur".

you can find more differences. I don't speak Dutch, but I guess through German and Danish, that background colour of the hens is less grey than on normal light brown. So the flitter is not the only difference.

I'm very hesitant if it just can be an example of "varied expression" of wild colour.

What the Dutch sentence means, in my opinion, is that flitters are a selection of partridge that has less heavy black stippling, thus showing more of the gold groundcolor. Of course, other factors can be in play that make the color warmer (autosomal red). They are a beautiful color.

It can stick quite well on this Leghorn:




This pullet is e+/e+, S with melanizers. What makes it different from the birds from the German sites? And what makes the breasts of the German wildfarbige so dark red?

She looks birchen.

Yes, she does, doesn't she? But she was not birchen. She was born as chipmunk, as were her brothers, which were even blacker (it will be the subject of my next thread). She grew up to be less black on the breast, closer to normal. (I lost her.) She is F2 from black mottled Leghorn cock X e+/e+ Leghorn hen. When crossed to a light brown Leghorn cock, all her chicks were chipmunks, none of them melanized, and all her sons were S/s.

Coresponding cock to the pullet above (in the first picture with his grandpa):





He had the deepest imaginable black on his neck hackle; even the sheen was black. (I think a black hole in Outer Space must look like this.) It is recessive. I hatched 30 chicks from him crossed to normal duckwings. None of the chicks were melanized; some had broader black hackle stripes.

I have found a better picture for my first posting.





I have read (don't remember the source), that selecting for lighter background(less stipling) should LEAD to creation of lace. I have some doubts about it, because I have a melanized pullet that got lace too. She popped up out of non-laced parents.




The lace can be better visible if you zoom the page in.
At one point I got one pullet which was even darker and laced. So this 'old truth' is not always true.