Silkie Chickens without vaulted skull?

[T3rrorToff33]

I’m not sure what a vaulted skull is either, nor am I a chicken genetics expert, but I looked up crested chickens and found this on Wikipedia: “The extreme upright stand of the head feathers of many breeds, like the Polish, can be attributed to a skull malformation, which is known as cerebral hernia or vaulted skull. Neurobiological investigations showed that this malformation alters the brain anatomy without any functional relevance.”
Here is the full article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_chickens

eurgh, seriously dont know why people refer to severe deformities of the skull as "cute" but alright.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

It is not 100% clear how the vaulted skull is inherited. I have some that have it and some that don’t. In general it is not recommended to breed two birds with vaulted skulls together though.
I have had it pop up even when both parents did not have the vaulted skull.
It is thought that it was originally introduced into Silkies by adding Polish to increase the appearance of the crest. In some breeding lines it appears to also have a sex linked component, in that the majority of chicks that have it will be female. This is not 100% though so don’t count on this when choosing chicks. In the research I found about it I could not find a clear sex linked connection or an explanation of it.
It is correct that birds with vaulted skulls are prone to head trauma.
When you choose your chicks, choose the ones without an obvious crest or “bump”.
Here is few examples. These chicks hatched last week and 2/9 have the vaulted skull. First photo shows a chick without the vaulted skull. This one has significant neck fluff which can be a little misleading. The second chick (photos 2 and 3) has a slight vaulted skull. This can be difficult to see but if you look from the back there is a clear line between the crest and the neck. You will not see this in chicks without vaulted skulls. The third chick, the black one, has a very obvious vault. The amount of vaulting can also vary from bird to bird. The bigger the vault the more prone they are to head trauma.

 

[preciouschick]

heyo!

So im a fan of the silkie feather structure but absolutely despise the fact that they have vaulted skulls, as i would highly prefer to not have a exposed brain on a chicken from a bit of pecking. is it possible at all to breed a silkie chicken without the crest in only a few generations? is there maybe already a project like that?

most of my silky chicks do not have vaulted skulls. The 2 adult pullets pictured do not have vaulted skulls. The white has no puff on her head the other does. Its all about genetics.

 

[Iota]

heyo!

So im a fan of the silkie feather structure but absolutely despise the fact that they have vaulted skulls, as i would highly prefer to not have a exposed brain on a chicken from a bit of pecking. is it possible at all to breed a silkie chicken without the crest in only a few generations? is there maybe already a project like that?

Hi I actually do think it’s possible mostly because i have a couple(by that i mean i got my first vaulted skull on the 29th(didn’t know vaulted heads existed before that), only problem is(to my knowledge) not have it be a purebred. For example you could have say a v silk with a rir and the offspring could have a v or not if it doesn’t breed that one again with another silkie that has no v skull(you could also do it again with another v silkie but because there’s a lot of v in the genes it’ll most likely come out v), and then you’ll have a relatively high chance of silkies without the v skull gene(there will always be a chance though). Happy hatching, also take my words with a grain of salt i know about genes and stuff but not a master a chicken breeding yet.

 

[Iota]

Hi I actually do think it’s possible mostly because i have a couple(by that i mean i got my first vaulted skull on the 29th(didn’t know vaulted heads existed before that), only problem is(to my knowledge) not have it be a purebred. For example you could have say a v silk with a rir and the offspring could have a v or not if it doesn’t breed that one again with another silkie that has no v skull(you could also do it again with another v silkie but because there’s a lot of v in the genes it’ll most likely come out v), and then you’ll have a relatively high chance of silkies without the v skull gene(there will always be a chance though). Happy hatching, also take my words with a grain of salt i know about genes and stuff but not a master a chicken breeding yet.

Edit: just realized you might’ve meant a purebred silkie, in that case it would be harder but still possible because the vaulted gene is so strong in the breed(however modern breeders are getting rid of it but it’s a long process). You’d have to get very lucky without using a not v skulled breed, regardless happy hatching and goodluck