Any clue to this Silkie's/SG's genetics?

[msdoolittle]

I really, really need to learn chicken color genetics! But since I don't know them well at all, here goes:

I have a white SG roo. His "ladies" are currently other whites, partridge, and buffs. Most of the SG chicks are white, some are white with the striping on the rump at birth (center stripe is light grey, 2 side stripes are dark/charcoal) which molts out to a mostly white bird with some charcoal and grey splotches on the primaries/some tail splotches, and then I have also had 2 which are a grey based pencilled partridge. I hope I'm describing this well. I will attach some photos. Once, he mated with a lemon blue splash OEG hen and most of the chicks came out with what I would call a blue base rather than a black base in the coloring. In other words, they looked diluted in color.

Here are some of his 'kids'. You can see the grey partridge hen in front (that is my name only, this may be completely NOT correct). If you look behind that hen, you see the SG with the splotchy head and to the far left is a tiny SG with the white body/grey splotchy wings.



Close up:


If you look closely to the right and left of the partridge silkie, you will see the colored SGs and on the right you can the the SG's back/tail.





Well, fellow SG/Silkie lovers, what do you think about my SG roo's genetics? Any thoughts? I'm a dodo at this. I do know that white is like an 'off switch', so I understand that.

Thank you all!

 

[msdoolittle]

Also, I'm calling the birds 'grey' and maybe 'silver' is the correct term. I really don't know the difference yet.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Gray is the correct term for her. Your rooster has at least one copy of silver, and she inherited it. With that many whites, I would guess that most of your coloured hens carry a copy of recessive white. All your whites obviously have two copies. There may be some dominant white floating around as well, but it is much less common in silkies.

 

[msdoolittle]

So, genetically speaking, what is the difference between grey and silver?

I also have some chicks whose feathers have a light grey base and the tips of the feathers are white, giving them a 'frosted' appearance.