Silkied Ameraucana Project

[DaQatz]

Is this project still alive?

 

[dheltzel]

Is this project still alive?

Everyone I know of that has worked with these has failed to get them really healthy and viable as a population. I still hatch a few each year, but I expect all the homozygotes to die before winter, so I'm not breeding for them. I've spent (wasted?) years working with these and tried to get others started before I exited, but no success that I know of.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Do you suppose it is a limited gene pool issue In the lines?

 

[dheltzel]

Do you suppose it is a limited gene pool issue In the lines?

No, I did an outcross to a completely unrelated line. The splits are fine, and I sold dozens of lavender am chicks that were split for silkied, but when crossed back to get them homozygous for silkied, they fail to thrive. I also crossed to blacks and tried to create black silkieds, same issue, just as delicate as the lavenders.
I think there is something that is on the same allele as the silkied gene that makes them fragile, but I've given up on them. I am still getting a few silkied chicks, but I will likely give them away to see if anyone else can keep them going.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Interesting. Well hubby has been buying silkies I think he is planning to breed them... so when we get to that point I will let you guys know how it goes, pure or crossed breeds.

 

[DaQatz]

Interesting. Well hubby has been buying silkies I think he is planning to breed them... so when we get to that point I will let you guys know how it goes, pure or crossed breeds.

This is a pure breed ameraucana project.

The Silkied Ameraucanas from the project were all derived from a single pair of pure breed ameraucana. They had spontaneously developed silky feathers, likely due to being heavily inbreed.

They have been breeding them to other ameraucana without the silkie trait to improve their genetics. And the split testing and breeding to try and get silkie ameraucana from them.

The issue is the silkie ameraucana don't live long. Often not even long enough to reproduce. Making it very hard to get a healthy stable version.

Personally I suspect to make this work a much larger number of birds would need to be breed. And pick from the few best. I don't think there are enough silkied ameraucana for this to actually happen at this time. And they may never be.

Worse yet the silkie gene, may just be paired with a lethal gene/genes that will stop us from ever being able to do the breed at all.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Oh fudge sickles... I see. I think your right you might need a very big pool to inbreed in hopes the silkie mutation appears... I vaguely remember a study on leghorns, and they did that and it took a certain number of generations but they started getting some really interesting feather mutations... I read it because I wanted to know about a mutation I had seen photos of that is super rare.

Bummer these birds are expressing with a possible lethal gene. Too bad the line couldn’t be DNA tested and compared to other Ameraucana lines... and maybe see to if it is an unique silkie gene different than what we see in the Silkie breed.

 

[dheltzel]

Oh fudge sickles... I see. I think your right you might need a very big pool to inbreed in hopes the silkie mutation appears... I vaguely remember a study on leghorns, and they did that and it took a certain number of generations but they started getting some really interesting feather mutations... I read it because I wanted to know about a mutation I had seen photos of that is super rare.

Bummer these birds are expressing with a possible lethal gene. Too bad the line couldn’t be DNA tested and compared to other Ameraucana lines... and maybe see to if it is an unique silkie gene different than what we see in the Silkie breed.

It would be trivial to test to see if the genes for silkied feathering are the same between silkie bantams and silkied ameraucanas. Cross the 2. I suspect all progeny will be silkied, proving that they are the same gene, as both need to be in a homozygous state to be expressed. If none of the progeny are silkied (all normal, smooth feathers), then the genes are distinct and operate independently. If some are silkied and some not, well that would be hard to explain unless that whole process is considerably more complicated, with modifier genes and such.

 

[Kusanar]

It would be trivial to test to see if the genes for silkied feathering are the same between silkie bantams and silkied ameraucanas. Cross the 2. I suspect all progeny will be silkied, proving that they are the same gene, as both need to be in a homozygous state to be expressed. If none of the progeny are silkied (all normal, smooth feathers), then the genes are distinct and operate independently. If some are silkied and some not, well that would be hard to explain unless that whole process is considerably more complicated, with modifier genes and such.

The problem with crossing them is that then you get silkie traits other than the feathering as well. These, being pure Ameraucanas don't have any bad traits to weed out (other than the suspected lethal gene).

 

[dheltzel]

The problem with crossing them is that then you get silkie traits other than the feathering as well. These, being pure Ameraucanas don't have any bad traits to weed out (other than the suspected lethal gene).

Sorry, should have been clearer, this would be a test cross, don't breed from the offspring in either case, I would give them away as barnyard mixes when they are 2 weeks old, silkied feathering is clearly evident in both silkie bantams and SiAms by then.