Self Blue (Lavender) Silkie Thread

[promiselandfarm5]

He/she came from a splash/blue pen.  Noticed some splashing today  

Yeah, if it came from a splash/blue pen its probably not self blue....still beautiful though.

 

[promiselandfarm5]

My understanding is that you'll only get genuine self blue silkies from Donnie Eldredge's original line.  He is the person who bred a self blue feather-legged breed into the silkies, then refined it for a number of generations to get the self blue gene into silkies.  Self blue is not a naturally occurring color in silkies, but that doesn't say that it is impossible for it to appear.  Dilute splashes appear to be self blues, but they are not. 

That being said, it is also not impossible the self blue gene could be carried by other silkies IF it had been introduced at some point into their gene pool.  However, I doubt most people who have the true self blues will often cross them with other colors, except in working on a blue cream project.

I am amazed at the amount of imposters sold. A lot of people are selling "self blues" that just happened to hatch out of their flock. Then as they grow and are bred to other real self blues or splits they find out they aren't genuine. Most people just don't know the difference.
They're still beautiful chicks, just not self blue.

 

[MumsyIII]

My understanding is that you'll only get genuine self blue silkies from Donnie Eldredge's original line. He is the person who bred a self blue feather-legged breed into the silkies, then refined it for a number of generations to get the self blue gene into silkies. Self blue is not a naturally occurring color in silkies, but that doesn't say that it is impossible for it to appear. Dilute splashes appear to be self blues, but they are not.

That being said, it is also not impossible the self blue gene could be carried by other silkies IF it had been introduced at some point into their gene pool. However, I doubt most people who have the true self blues will often cross them with other colors, except in working on a blue cream project.

I hatched a Paint male from a Karen Larson of Catdance Farm egg. I crossed him with the only females I had which were recessive white, Blue Partridge, and a Lavender. I got splits, paints, splash, blue, blue partridge, splash, and lavender chicks from all those hens. I know people that regularly breed self blue into color pens other than Blue Cream. And many of them are top breeders in the USA. It isn't a crime. It's called project mating. I toe punch and pedigree all my chicks. When I sell them, I tell their pedigree to prospective customers. Many people do mass pen mate and don't keep good records. This is a buyer beware market. Also, it's true. Many people do not understand how the lav genes works. But many of us love working with it. I know I do.

 

[BetsyOK]

There's definitely nothing wrong with mating self blues with other colors; I didn't know there are a lot who are using them that extensively. Since the self blue gene is recessive, there has to be the self blue gene in the lines of both parents to get self blue chicks. Those resultant chicks are no less pure than those always bred with self blues.

 

[chickchikww]

Anyone knows a reputable breeder that sells lavender hatching eggs? I'd like to get breeder/show Quality. Thanks!

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Hello! Posting here on a suggestion from other member. This chick hatched from my trio of Silkies. Dark blue hen, black hen, and black rooster. Their other chick's have all been either dark blue or black. Until this little one. Never had one this light. I initially thought of splash but that should be impossible. So either is extremely light blue or my blacks are split. What do you guys think. ..what do I have here?

 

[BetsyOK]

Looks to me like there was something in their backgrounds that you weren't aware of. However, some blues are soooo black it's hard to tell they're blue. You won't get a lavender (self blue) unless both parents were split to self blue.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Looks to me like there was something in their backgrounds that you weren't aware of.  However, some blues are soooo black it's hard to tell they're blue.  You won't get a lavender (self blue) unless both parents were split to self blue.

Thank you. My dark blue hen is that way, very dark. I was told the roo was black, and he is certainly darker than my dark blue hen. I know I have one black hen. Here's a pic of my dark blue hen and the roo in question. I don't know the history of these birds so it's possible they were split and we were not aware. I don't know. Here's pics of two of the three possible parents:

 

[BetsyOK]

Your beautiful blue hen is pretty much the color a blue hen should be--maybe a little dark. Looks to me like there is lighter color in the roo's cushion. You can tell from that (if the pics show it correctly) and maybe some other under fluff that he may well be a very dark blue rather than black. That combination could easily produce splash chicks. You'll be able to determine that as the chick grows. It will develop splashing gradually.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Thank you! He does have some lighter shades on the under fluff. Unlike my blue, his is more light brown than gray/blue so I always assumed he was black as I was told when I bought him. That's amazing that he might actually be blue. I appreciate all your input and will post pics as baby feathers out.