Silkies- What colors should I breed together?

Hi,

I just got my first Silkies last year (after wanting them for awhile!) and now I'm so excited to start breeding them this spring/summer. I ordered 9 originally (from a hatchery), 3 of each white, blue, and partridge. One of the partridges died a few days after I got them, but the rest all lived so I have 8 Silkies now.

I have:
2 Partridge roosters; but one is cross-beaked, so I most likely won't be breeding him. That's normally genetic, right? And being from hatchery stock I assume it is in his case :\\.
2 Blue roosters
1 Blue hen
3 White hens

Earlier in the year my plan was to pen the blues and whites together, because I thought I had read somewhere that blue x white would produce splash. I've been reading today though that white masks other colors so when I mix it with a colored bird I won't know what I'm going to get. And blue x blue = 50% blue, 25% black, 25% splash roughly, right? Should I leave my partridge roo in with the blues and whites? What would blue x partridge or white x partridge produce? Or should I put my white hens in with the partridge roo and leave the blues by themselves? Or I can always leave the partridge roo out and just have blues and whites in a pen. I'm really new to genetics, so I'm still learning ALOT.

I was thinking about buying some hatching eggs from someone on here or eBay soon in white, partridge, and blue or B/B/S. Those chicks of course will be for next years breeding. I'd really like to keep whites, blues, and splashes in the same pen. (I'm not a huge fan of blacks yet, but we'll see) And then have partridges in their own pen or possibly with buff if that would work. I can always have white separate also, I'll just have to get another pen

So besides the questions above I'd LOVE any comments or links to pages on Silkie color genetics (or chicken color genetics in general) And if anyone is going to have some hatching eggs that they could sell me (probably 6 white, 6 partridge, and 6+ blue or B/B/S. Maybe more..I'll have to keep thinking) that would be great.

blue and white is ur best cross till your can find a white rooster

ok so mixing the partridge in there is just gana give you problems especially the cross beak one. Your right about the blue over blue in order to get 100% blue you need to cross blue to black. If I was in your shoes and you like blues and splash I would get rid of the partridge cocks and the lesser of the two blue cocks and pen whats left together. Then keep a black cock out of the blue blue cross to breed back to its mother so you can produce 100% blues and pick up a white cock bird. Or honestly What I would do is get rid of all the cocks and pick up a white and a black cock bird. Any way good luck and I hope this helps.

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Out of curiosity from someone who knows nothing of chicken genetics.. why are the partridge ones so "bad"?

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Out of curiosity from someone who knows nothing of chicken genetics.. why are the partridge ones so "bad"?

It's not intact it's great if you have partridge hens to go with your cock, but the op doesn't and I'm assuming she doesn't want mixed color birds

Thanks guys for the replies.

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Okay, I figured it would be.

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Right, I assumed that the partridge wouldn't mix well with the blues and whites from what I've been reading. And I don't plan on breeding the cross beaked one, I'll just keep him for fun or possibly rehome him. Although I think he has nicer colors than the other partridge rooster.

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Okay. Well, the reason I bought the partridge Silkies is because that was a color I'd also like to breed; unfortunately I ended up with 2 cocks. I'm hoping to hatch some hen chicks from eggs I'll purchase soon; and then I'll just get a pen for all the partridges. And are you suggesting I rehome the lesser blue cock or just take him out of this years breeding pen?

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Yes I plan on obtaining a white rooster eventually, that's why I'm going to buy some hatching eggs. I don't like buying adult birds for safety reasons, because I don't have a pen away from my other chickens to keep them in for a few weeks.

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Thank you

More advice, tips, and info is still greatly welcomed

Rehoming, keeping, or culling Your birds is a decision that you have to make for your self. If you like the birds but just don't want to breed them and don't mind feeding and having extra roosters running around keep them. If that is an issue for you get rid of them. Personally if I'm not useing something I get rid of it because space is an issue for me. Just remember you can't keep them all. The advantage of buying mature birds is you know what your getting as far as sex color and type. There are a lot of silkie breeders out there and I'm sure you will be able to find what your looking for in eggs, chicks, or mature birds. Also remember it's important to breed the best of what you have in order to improve your birds. Here are the links to the silkie threads maybe you can find more info there.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=290225
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=297632

Well..these are my first Silkies and I'm rather attached to them. Do you think it would be wise to just buy new stock from say 2 different quality farms and just start breeding those instead of my hatchery babies?

And I know, sadly I won't be able to keep them all . I've already planned on growing out what I hatch this year, picking who I want to keep, and taking the rest to the farmers market or auctions. Or like I just read on one of those topics, possibly selling them to the Asians. Thanks for those links btw.

I want to get the eggs soon but I can't decide who I want to buy from..I assume you either do breed Silkies or have bred them in the past, so do you have any suggestions as to who I should buy from for partridge, white, and b/b/s eggs?

The decision to breed what you have or to get better stock really depends on what your plans are. If you want to raise show quality birds that closely resemble the standard you would be better off getting quality breeder stock. If you want to raise back yard pets just for fun or to sale at market keep what you have, but still try to improve it. It is possible to breed hatchery birds toward the standard, but it takes a long time and a lot of work. Also it's not necessary to get birds from more than one breeder. Line breeding and inbreeding aren't that big of an issue with chickens. Sorry I don't breed silkies or know anyone who does. In fact I don't like them very much sorry. I have old English game bantams. I'm just interested in color genetics and showing chickens and most things translate between different breeds. There are a lot of people who raise really nice silkies and I'm sure you wont have a problem finding quality birds. Ask around on those threads about who raises nice partridge, white, and b/b/s and sales eggs I'm sure they will be more than happy to point you towards some great breeders.

I'd really like to show my birds if I can someday. But I don't really know how. I do know a guy who offered to let me show some of his birds though last summer. Maybe I'll contact him and ask him if he'll teach me.
And I don't really want to get too huge with breeding them right now, just have acouple nice sized breeding pens and produce a few chicks each year, but have nice enough birds so that I could sell their eggs for hatching. Actually the main reason I wanted Silkies originally is for their broodiness. I'm pretty big into broodies. They can just be a lot easier to work with than incubators sometimes, especially for hatching guinea fowl eggs. And to hatch guineas I need to work with light weight hens.

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Oh! It just seemed like you did. OEGBs are pretty cute. And they're so tiny!(The ones I saw were, anyway) I can tell you know your stuff. You've been a huge help to me, thanks!

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Okay, that's great. That'll make it more easy for me then, having to buy from only one person. And I will definitely ask around . Thanks again.