Silkies genetics!

[Hambug]

Hi all! I'm currently working on my silkie breeding program. I'm still learning about genetics and SOP, I would love input and discussion on a few things.
First things first, my current pairing right now is a white hen and a partridge rooster. He's definitely on the lighter side for a partridge and leans more towards buff. With this pairing am I going to get mostly partridge or chicks with red over a lighter base color? Would there be a better color rooster to pair her with? I kind of just ended up with these two before I really had plans to breed them but just fell in love with them and feel like they've matured beautifully.
Ok next, do you think you can pick chicks from day one that'll develop nicely? I just hatched 12 and a few seem like they already fit a better standard than others. a more petite size, dark skin, and big fluffy heads. Only three of the chicks hatched are from my pairing, the rest I got from a local breeder who has splash hens with buff and red roosters over them.
im including pictures of the fresh hatch and my matured silkies, I would love to hear what y'all think!

 

[sylviethecochin]

my current pairing right now is a white hen and a partridge rooster. He's definitely on the lighter side for a partridge and leans more towards buff. With this pairing am I going to get mostly partridge or chicks with red over a lighter base color?

The rooster is definitely carrying the blacktail gene (a partridge rooster should have a black chest). I suspect that's what's making him lighter overall, but there could be other factors at play. He could be black-tailed buff (which is not a recognised/showable color), and you might want to check his feathers to see if he actually has any black laced in (I can't tell. Silkie feathers are weird.)

Now, blacktail is a dominant gene, so if any of his partridge babies have black chests, you'll know that they're properly colored, and will pass on the proper genes to all of their children.

https://www.browneggblueegg.com/StandardColors.html says what the standard colors for silkies are.

As for your hen, silkies are usually recessive white. Recessive white is when a chicken has two recessive white genes (it's in the name) which together completely prevent her from expressing any pigment in her feathers whatsoever. Under that color, she could be any color at all, but it's likely that she's gold partridge. That's the most common color to be covered by recessive white.

Would there be a better color rooster to pair her with?

If you mate her to a recessive white silkie, all of the offspring will be recessive white.

If you mate her to a partridge silkie, the most likely outcome is partridge babies that carry recessive white.

If you mate her to a buff, you'll get buff-ish chicks. They should look like your current rooster, with some pencilling mixed in on the shoulders and chest. (I'm not sure you'd be able to tell--silkie feathers).

If you mate her to a black or blue silkie, you'll get a solid-colored silkie, (black or blue) probably with a lot of gold leakage in the chest and shoulder region.

The only "pure" colors you'll get will (most likely. I mean, she could be black or something under the recessive white. It's not likely, but it could happen) be from crossing her with a partridge or a white silkie. All other colors will be mixed, and you'll be undoing the hard work of the generations before you who tried very hard to separate all those colors out into lines that bred true. So yes, I'd either find a partridge that's colored correctly, or use a white roo.

On that note, buff/red x splash will get you some interesting colors, but if you're trying to breed for showable colors, you might want to pick a color and stick with it.


http://kippenjungle.nl/chickencalculator.html for your color crossing amusement.

Ok next, do you think you can pick chicks from day one that'll develop nicely?

Experienced breeders can, and if you know what to look for, you probably have a pretty good chance.

 

[Hambug]

The rooster is definitely carrying the blacktail gene (a partridge rooster should have a black chest). I suspect that's what's making him lighter overall, but there could be other factors at play. He could be black-tailed buff (which is not a recognised/showable color), and you might want to check his feathers to see if he actually has any black laced in (I can't tell. Silkie feathers are weird.)

Now, blacktail is a dominant gene, so if any of his partridge babies have black chests, you'll know that they're properly colored, and will pass on the proper genes to all of their children.

https://www.browneggblueegg.com/StandardColors.html says what the standard colors for silkies are.

As for your hen, silkies are usually recessive white. Recessive white is when a chicken has two recessive white genes (it's in the name) which together completely prevent her from expressing any pigment in her feathers whatsoever. Under that color, she could be any color at all, but it's likely that she's gold partridge. That's the most common color to be covered by recessive white.



If you mate her to a recessive white silkie, all of the offspring will be recessive white.

If you mate her to a partridge silkie, the most likely outcome is partridge babies that carry recessive white.

If you mate her to a buff, you'll get buff-ish chicks. They should look like your current rooster, with some pencilling mixed in on the shoulders and chest. (I'm not sure you'd be able to tell--silkie feathers).

If you mate her to a black or blue silkie, you'll get a solid-colored silkie, (black or blue) probably with a lot of gold leakage in the chest and shoulder region.

The only "pure" colors you'll get will (most likely. I mean, she could be black or something under the recessive white. It's not likely, but it could happen) be from crossing her with a partridge or a white silkie. All other colors will be mixed, and you'll be undoing the hard work of the generations before you who tried very hard to separate all those colors out into lines that bred true. So yes, I'd either find a partridge that's colored correctly, or use a white roo.

On that note, buff/red x splash will get you some interesting colors, but if you're trying to breed for showable colors, you might want to pick a color and stick with it.


http://kippenjungle.nl/chickencalculator.html for your color crossing amusement.


Experienced breeders can, and if you know what to look for, you probably have a pretty good chance.

oh that is so interesting! Ive been wondering why he was so much lighter than any other partridge roosters I've seen! I'll definitely be looking for another rooster to pair her with.
I think she's definitely carrying gold partridge, the two lighter chicks have like a gold overtone. This is the one dark chick that hatched from them, do you think this would be closer to that typical partridge coloring?

 

[sylviethecochin]

This is the one dark chick that hatched from them, do you think this would be closer to that typical partridge coloring?

I think so, but I'm not going to give any guarantees for three reasons:
1. I don't have silkies. They look weird to me, and I can't tell.
2. When chicks are mixed, the color that expresses in the chick down is not always the color that shows up in the adult bird.
3. Partridge and duckwing have similar chick down patterns.

Given the popularity of silkies, there's probably a silkie-devoted thread around here somewhere that you can consult.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Given the popularity of silkies, there's probably a silkie-devoted thread around here somewhere that you can consult.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-breeding-genetics-showing.690632/ Found it.

 

[Hambug]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-breeding-genetics-showing.690632/ Found it.

thank you so much! ill definitely check it out!