Can satin be bred out of my silkie flock?

[juci]

I was recently gifted 7 silkie chicks from a breeder and thought it would add some much needed genetic diversity to my small flock of purebred silkies. I live in a remote area that makes it very difficult to import new genetics.

I didn’t realize until I picked up the chicks that this breeder has satin genes in her flock and I’m pretty sure half of the chicks are satin, based on how the feathers look. Wing feathers are not frayed like my purebred chicks. And of course it’s the nicest looking ones with good feet that I think are satin lol.

So I’m wondering how hard is it to breed the satin out if I include some of these satin chicks in my flock? I only just started getting more serious about breeding silkies last year, so I’m somewhat new. But I’m trying to breed toward the SOP with my limited genetics. Am I better off rehoming these chicks to someone as pets and continuing to work with my own birds, or is it worth working with these and trying to breed out the satin? Will it keep popping up in future generations?

The new chicks are still very young but some of them look pretty promising and sturdy. I’d love to use them to improve my birds if I can.

Thanks for any advice! I’ll upload some photos when I get a chance to get some good ones.

 

[Rock17]

You may not be able to get to SOP standards but if you cross to silkie 50/50 chance of satin/silkie. Keep on going crossing with silkie you will get silkie though you probably won’t be able to show them since there may be a hint of a normal feather breed. Are they black or white skinned?

 

[juci]

You may not be able to get to SOP standards but if you cross to silkie 50/50 chance of satin/silkie. Keep on going crossing with silkie you will get silkie though you probably won’t be able to show them since there may be a hint of a normal feather breed. Are they black or white skinned?

Thank you for responding! I think the skin is black on all of them, but I’ll post some photos tomorrow.

I’m thinking maybe it would be better to not keep any of them in my silkie pen, because even the ones that have silkie feathering I think might have satin somewhere in their parentage… since the breeder has that I just can’t be sure they’re pure. I wouldn’t want to mess up the feathers of future potential breeders.

 

[Rock17]

Thank you for responding! I think the skin is black on all of them, but I’ll post some photos tomorrow.

I’m thinking maybe it would be better to not keep any of them in my silkie pen, because even the ones that have silkie feathering I think might have satin somewhere in their parentage… since the breeder has that I just can’t be sure they’re pure. I wouldn’t want to mess up the feathers of future potential breeders.

I think the ones that have the silkie feathering you should keep until adulthood because if they do not show signs of satin parentage ( 50/50 chances ) then they are fine. Satins also are just nice birds. They sell very well at point of lay

 

[Cloverr39]

I’m thinking maybe it would be better to not keep any of them in my silkie pen, because even the ones that have silkie feathering I think might have satin somewhere in their parentage… since the breeder has that I just can’t be sure they’re pure. I wouldn’t want to mess up the feathers of future potential breeders.

The ones that have silked feathers can't pass on satin feathers to any offspring. It doesn't matter if one or both of their parents were satins. Since smooth feathers are a dominant trait, it cannot be carried. In other words, if you kept the silked ones and bred them to your silkies there would be no way for any of their chicks to come out satin anywhere down the line because that gene just isn't present. I think you should keep the silked ones.

 

[fluffycrow]

Breeding the satins to the silkieds would give you offspring that carry the silkied gene. Breed the offspring back to the silkieds and you'll get 50% silkied offspring. If you think that the satins are worth adding to your programme, then you could try this

 

[juci]

I think the ones that have the silkie feathering you should keep until adulthood because if they do not show signs of satin parentage ( 50/50 chances ) then they are fine. Satins also are just nice birds. They sell very well at point of lay

Ok good to know! I’ll definitely keep an eye on them as they grow and see how they turn out.

 

[juci]

Thank you all for the advice and for sharing your knowledge about the silkie genes.

Here’s the silkies and satins and their wings. I was most excited about the little blue one (chick 1) but pretty sure it has the satin feathers. The good news is, I think all of them have black skin! Feet could definitely be better too but most have 5 toes.

I might keep a couple of the hens in the flock and just make sure it’s satin to silkie until the satin eventually disappears in next generations.

Chick 1

 

[juci]

Chick 2 (black)

 

[juci]

Chicks 3 and 4 (partridges?) these wing feathers look more like what I’d expect from a silkie.