What Colour Will This Chick Be? -Silkies-

TheBirdLady2001

Songster
Oct 11, 2016
199
118
107
Windsor, Ontario, CA
Hello everyone! I am fairly new to this site, and still trying to figure out how to work it! Lol. I recently got 2 silkies, a rooster and a hen. I was looking through other forums, but my silkies don't look like regular silkies. Are they a different breed? But more importantly! My hen hatched an egg, the chick is 2 days old today. The chick is a yellow colour, with darker feathering on his back and head. What colour will he/she grow up to be? Any info is appreciated! -Madison

The rooster - Armour
700



The hen - Robin
700



The chick- Tiki
700



Hen and chick
700



Sorry for the poor quality!
 
They look like silkie/cochin mutts, not purebred silkies. Purebreds have a crest.
The baby is probably some variation of blue/black/splash. When you cross a black and white chicken, you (usually) get blue babies. Tiki looks like she might be a splash (white with random blue feathers), but maybe mama had another color in her genes, like partridge (brown with fancy lining on the feathers). In that case, she might be partridge with a bunch of white.

I'd say just wait and have fun. Mixed breeds can have totally random colors that won't "breed true" (roo and hen look alike for many generations). All hybrids are different.

Have fun!
jumpy.gif
 
Both the hen and the rooster are mixed breeds. The rooster isn't silkie feathered or crested, so he's probably a few generations removed from 'pure' Silkie. The hen is lacking a crest, beard, and muffs, so she also may be a few generation removed from 'purebred'.
Given the fact that the parents have had other things bred into their background, there is no way to predict how any of their chicks will turn out.
 
They look like silkie/cochin mutts, not purebred silkies. Purebreds have a crest.
The baby is probably some variation of blue/black/splash. When you cross a black and white chicken, you (usually) get blue babies. Tiki looks like she might be a splash (white with random blue feathers), but maybe mama had another color in her genes, like partridge (brown with fancy lining on the feathers). In that case, she might be partridge with a bunch of white.

I'd say just wait and have fun. Mixed breeds can have totally random colors that won't "breed true" (roo and hen look alike for many generations). All hybrids are different.

Have fun!
jumpy.gif
Black to white does not produce Blue.
 
welcome-byc.gif


I agree your rooster is mixed. Your hen may be a hatchery quality silkie.

My understanding of recessive white is not as good as my understanding of dominant white, but here goes....

silkies usually carry recessive white. The "white" gene basically covers the other colors. Genetically the bird may be black, or partridge, but the white gene overrides that and what you see is white. But, what they can pass on genetically is the black or partridge, whatever.

When you breed recessive white to recessive white, you get white offspring. Do that enough, and folks forget the bird is actually carrying other genetics underneath.

When you cross one of those recessive white birds to another color, you get to find out some of what is hiding underneath. Looks like your white hen is carrying something gold. From the pics I can't tell if it's buff or partridge. Mixed with the black father, the color is likely to be non-standard when the chick is grown. but it will be cute!

And just to clarify--white is outside the black/blue/splash arena. Separate genetics. Splash x black will give you blue. White x black will not.
 

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