Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[FrenchToast]

Not sure if I posted his question on this thread or not so I will post again. So sorry if its a repeat but I still would like all of your expert opinions.
I have a white bowtie showgirl roo. I also have 2 paint silkie hens, 3 black silkie hens that came from paint roo.
I have 2 paint roos and I have a white roo that if my memory serves me correctly came from a lavender roo on I think black hen (if that is possible) not sure on the hen color but I do think he had a lavender pop.

Anyway. I was wondering if I cross the white showgirl roo with any of the above hens would I possibly get any paint showgirls? I know I will get 50/50 showgirls but will white/paint give you some paint? I don't know if he is recessive or dominant white since I have never bred him before.
Also what are the rules for crossing the black hens that are split to paint or is that not a split type deal (think you know what I mean)
if I cross them with the white showgirl?

As you probably know my goal here is to get paint showgirls. I just love my Sunny boy. He is actually my house chicken and would love some of his babys and also love the paint coloring so that would be a big plus !
Thanks

 

[Tammylr]

Not sure if I posted his question on this thread or not so I will post again. So sorry if its a repeat but I still would like all of your expert opinions.
I have a white bowtie showgirl roo. I also have 2 paint silkie hens, 3 black silkie hens that came from paint roo.
I have 2 paint roos and I have a white roo that if my memory serves me correctly came from a lavender roo on I think black hen (if that is possible) not sure on the hen color but I do think he had a lavender pop.

Anyway. I was wondering if I cross the white showgirl roo with any of the above hens would I possibly get any paint showgirls? I know I will get 50/50 showgirls but will white/paint give you some paint? I don't know if he is recessive or dominant white since I have never bred him before.
Also what are the rules for crossing the black hens that are split to paint or is that not a split type deal (think you know what I mean)
if I cross them with the white showgirl?

As you probably know my goal here is to get paint showgirls. I just love my Sunny boy. He is actually my house chicken and would love some of his babys and also love the paint coloring so that would be a big plus !
Thanks

I have a paint as well. Depending on the white show girl is recessive white or dominant white. If you put him over the paints and if he is dominant white you have a chance at 50% paint depending on what is hiding under the white showgirl. I like the look of the show girls. Hope that helped, I'm sure others will chime in too. Good luck!

 

[JulianaRussini]

I'm drooling to see these beautiful silkies more than the other ...

 

[gojira]

Not sure if I posted his question on this thread or not so I will post again. So sorry if its a repeat but I still would like all of your expert opinions.
I have a white bowtie showgirl roo. I also have 2 paint silkie hens, 3 black silkie hens that came from paint roo.
I have 2 paint roos and I have a white roo that if my memory serves me correctly came from a lavender roo on I think black hen (if that is possible) not sure on the hen color but I do think he had a lavender pop.

Anyway. I was wondering if I cross the white showgirl roo with any of the above hens would I possibly get any paint showgirls? I know I will get 50/50 showgirls but will white/paint give you some paint? I don't know if he is recessive or dominant white since I have never bred him before.
Also what are the rules for crossing the black hens that are split to paint or is that not a split type deal (think you know what I mean)
if I cross them with the white showgirl?

As you probably know my goal here is to get paint showgirls. I just love my Sunny boy. He is actually my house chicken and would love some of his babys and also love the paint coloring so that would be a big plus !
Thanks

There are a lot of unknowns in what you are asking. The white "showgirl" male could be recessive white or dominant white. If he is recessive white, you don't know what color is hiding underneath, so you could get anything. If he is dominant white (not likely), then he would possibly produce paint. If bred to the paint hens, he might produce paint, but the chicks may have red and black leakage. Unless he is dominant white, he will not have paint chicks by the black females. The black females do not carry dominant white, so they are not split for paint.

 

[gojira]

Sorry, don't want to leave a newbie without an answer. Lets see, If he's recessive white, babies will be like mom in appearance and carry the recessive white. Which can come out later if back bred to him or if breeding siblings. Or another bird that carries it, that isn't recessive white. If he is dominate white, then babies will mostly look like him. Could get other colors depends on what's under the dominate white.
Bearding is hit or miss here. If they're not mixed with something, they're silkies. Don't stress it. There are people here to help.

Some Silkie books you might want to look up since the rest of the thread is talking about it, and might help some other people too. Is "Silkie Chickens" by Harry Goldcroft. It has a lot of really good information. There's another one I have, got this one from the UK actually. It's "Silkies: The Owner's Manual" by Roland Ruthersdale. It's got some good stuff in about breeding, egg care and incubation and over all welfare of Silkies. Then one I have that is also from www.chickencolours.com (same place I got Genetics of Chicken Colors. In other posts is information for the contact person here in the US.) Is "Silkie and Silkie Bantams", great book, but expensive. Think it's the most comprehensive one I've found to date. Great photos. And lots and lots of them. There are others, but these are the three I liked. Personally I would like to get my information from books or DVD's from professionals, then maybe get it wrong listening to the wrong persons.

If you truly would like to get your information from books or DVDs from professionals, why don't you do it? The only books you mention are from lay people, not professionals. So you are telling people they should not listen to you? That is the best advice you have given on here.

 

[gojira]

please can someone tell me what to expect if i breed these two will the chicks be bearded or non bearded what colour will they be and will they be classed as purebred ( sorry im new to this so please bare with me!!)

This is rather complicated. It depends on whether the male is recessive white or dominant white. If dominant white, the chicks would likely be white with red/gold leakage, and possibly black leakage. If recessive white, the chicks could end up a variety of color combinations, and none likely to be recognized, unless the male is based on buff. The female seems to have nice muffs and beard, and the chicks would likely have sparse muffs and beard, with medium to large wattles, which would look odd. In a purist sense, they would most likely not be considered purebred, as they would most likely not be a recognized color variety. Also, the male appears to have something else in the mix with the small crest reddened face, sparse foot feathering, and the stiffened tail feathers.

 

[Arcnova]

Whew! Got through page 47 and my brain started to shut off.

I'm in a position to get some silkies in trade. My neighbor wants to rent incubator space for his silkies eggs. He has a white roo, two white hens, one black hen, and one other hen I couldn't get a look at. He has offered to share the chicks with me. My question is this: to establish good stock should I keep three pairs or would two trios be enough?

I know it's going to take a while to get good showable silkies with this stock and I may have to bring in new blood to even hope for quality birds in the future. The Roo is too big and has a very small crest. One of the white hens are also too large but the black hen looks nicer. All of their crests are on the small side. Couldn't see much else.

At least I can produce pet quality birds for a few years.

 

[Troubadour05]

Whew! Got through page 47 and my brain started to shut off.

I'm in a position to get some silkies in trade. My neighbor wants to rent incubator space for his silkies eggs. He has a white roo, two white hens, one black hen, and one other hen I couldn't get a look at. He has offered to share the chicks with me. My question is this: to establish good stock should I keep three pairs or would two trios be enough?

I know it's going to take a while to get good showable silkies with this stock and I may have to bring in new blood to even hope for quality birds in the future. The Roo is too big and has a very small crest. One of the white hens are also too large but the black hen looks nicer. All of their crests are on the small side. Couldn't see much else.

At least I can produce pet quality birds for a few years.

Lucky you!

It's hard to say exactly what would be best, there really is no way to tell. One thing I would warn about though is if they are all being housed together Silkie roosters, or any roosters really, can get feisty with each other. Every one is different I've had some that got along well with any other rooster, and some others that would fight to the death at first sight.

I think the best thing to do would be to take what you can get, and once they are full grown evaluate each one and decide which ones would compliment the others and remove any that would be detrimental to your final goal. Introducing new bloodlines, in my personal opinion, is vital to reaching your goal in a reasonable period of time.

 

[Arcnova]

Lucky you!   It's hard to say exactly what would be best, there really is no way to tell. One thing I would warn about though is if they are all being housed together Silkie roosters, or any roosters really, can get feisty with each other. Every one is different I've had some that got along well with any other rooster, and some others that would fight to the death at first sight.

I think the best thing to do would be to take what you can get, and once they are full grown evaluate each one and decide which ones would compliment the others and remove any that would be detrimental to your final goal. Introducing new bloodlines, in my personal opinion, is vital to reaching your goal in a reasonable period of time. 

They would definately have divided runs, thanks for the tip!
I've got 14 eggs for the first batch to be set tomorrow. Neighbor says I can keep half the hatch . Gonna set at least one more batch after that, maybe two.

I'm tentatively considering some of my other non silkie birds for strengthening traits since the quality of my starting birds will already be not so great.
For example I have a half polish hen with amazing wing carriage and flawless black color and with very little vaulting to her skull that I'm considering crossing into the black project. But it could really complicate things color wise (she may be E/+ rather than E/E). Not that my black project won't be complicated anyway color wise. Chicks will all be split for recessive white plus whatever it's hiding in the rooster. Next year should get really interesting lol!

 

[Troubadour05]

They would definately have divided runs, thanks for the tip!
I've got 14 eggs for the first batch to be set tomorrow. Neighbor says I can keep half the hatch . Gonna set at least one more batch after that, maybe two.

I'm tentatively considering some of my other non silkie birds for strengthening traits since the quality of my starting birds will already be not so great.
For example I have a half polish hen with amazing wing carriage and flawless black color and with very little vaulting to her skull that I'm considering crossing into the black project. But it could really complicate things color wise (she may be E/+ rather than E/E). Not that my black project won't be complicated anyway color wise. Chicks will all be split for recessive white plus whatever it's hiding in the rooster. Next year should get really interesting lol!

Is she a polish silkie cross?
That will definitely be interesting!