"Roan" is a coat pattern and it represents a mixture of white hairs mingled with coloured hairs i.e. having the base colour (such as red, black or brown) muted and lightened by a mixture of white hairs.
For example, an orange roan cocker is a cocker that has red hairs mixed with white hairs.
All parti-coloured orange "roan" puppies are born silvery white, some will have the odd spot of colour, many are a greyish/white all over. As the coat grows the individual white and coloured hairs mix to form the roan pattern. As a puppy matures, the orange colouring starts to come through.
Here are a series of photos that show the changes! The puppy is orange roan.
 |
 |
 |
| 3 Days Old - Clearly white coats with a hint of the odd spot of colour. | 20 Days Old - Still "white" but there is now a few more spots of colour on the coat. | 28 Days Old - Still very pale in colour. |
 |
 |
 |
| 35 Days Old - Still pale but the colour of the spots on the body is deepening. | 42 Days Old - Still quite pale! | 10 Weeks Old - Ears, body spots etc. darkening. |
 |
 |
 |
| 16 Weeks Old - The coats is getting long/fluffy & the pup looks roan. | 10 Months Old - Silvery Roan. | 12 Months Old. |
 |
||
| 2 Years Old - Lots of roan now & very silver/orange. |
