The American Paint Silkie

[stoopid]

Color and markings.
The boy I like the most has what alot of peeps call khaki coloring on him. His neck has alot of smutty leakage.
He looks dirty, but just greyish.
I'll breed him back to a few different colors, and see what I get.
I THOUGHT since the parents both were from Bren, that would not be an issue.
But breeding Paint is a challenge, and since I am NOT a genetics guru, well, It may take a while to see. sigh.
His brother is actually a nicer looking bird, but he is a BRAT. Every time I look at him, he has a mouthful of feathers, and NOT his own!
I have a local peep I might trade with, him for a black roo.

 

[3ChickensinNC]

Breed to a black or to a white from a paint breeding. Some people breed to regular, recessive white birds with good results. I am afraid that may come back to bite them in a generation or two.

Most folks that have bred paint to paint are unimpressed with the results.

Let me make sure I understand correctly because the breeder I got mine from just said to breed with solid white or black. I have 4 paints. Three are white with the black spots and one is a solid black. So to breed for best results I should breed the black one with the paint gene with the white ones with black spots. I have a pair of blacks and whites, so I would not want to use those?

 

[stoopid]

The way I understand it, and I am not good at this.....
Paint is an incomplete color, so if you breed paint to paint, you will get more of a mess.
If you breed paint to either black or white, the spots will be clearer.
There is a color chart that Silversilkie posted in the Silkie thread.
I'll try to find it, I think it was about a month ago.
But I have to go outside and check the birds in this heat, so it won't be right away.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

First, there is no definitive answer as to whether there is or is not a separate paint allele of dominant white. Many of the paints have off-coloured hackles, and some are entirely off-coloured. My hypothesis is that gold and possibly autosomal red play into this off-colouring.

Those who have bred paint to paint end up with birds lacking pigmentation on skin and in the eyes: pigment "holes." And with too light skin.

Offspring from a paint breeding tend to be either paint, black or white. Start mixing in other colours in the breeding and the results will become unpredictable, so it is best to not breed to other colours except as deliberate experimentation with a goal.

Normal white silkies are recessive white, whereas the whites from a paint breeding are dominant white. Different genes that work and breed differently. You can breed ANY black to a paint and not run into issues. Black is about as neutral as you can get, genetically, in chickens. Breed a paint to a recessive white and you are tossing a whole bunch of unknown genes into the mix of a not well understood variety.

 

[3ChickensinNC]

First, there is no definitive answer as to whether there is or is not a separate paint allele of dominant white. Many of the paints have off-coloured hackles, and some are entirely off-coloured. My hypothesis is that gold and possibly autosomal red play into this off-colouring.

Those who have bred paint to paint end up with birds lacking pigmentation on skin and in the eyes: pigment "holes." And with too light skin.

Offspring from a paint breeding tend to be either paint, black or white. Start mixing in other colours in the breeding and the results will become unpredictable, so it is best to not breed to other colours except as deliberate experimentation with a goal.

Normal white silkies are recessive white, whereas the whites from a paint breeding are dominant white. Different genes that work and breed differently. You can breed ANY black to a paint and not run into issues. Black is about as neutral as you can get, genetically, in chickens. Breed a paint to a recessive white and you are tossing a whole bunch of unknown genes into the mix of a not well understood variety.

. Gotcha. Looks like my 2 whites will have to find a new home....one day.... maybe.... I love them! I was keeping them for when the paints grew up. At least my black pair will work with the paints. Off to go write this down.

 

[littlecritters]

First, there is no definitive answer as to whether there is or is not a separate paint allele of dominant white.  Many of the paints have off-coloured hackles, and some are entirely off-coloured.  My hypothesis is that gold and possibly autosomal red play into this off-colouring.  

Those who have bred paint to paint end up with birds lacking pigmentation on skin and in the eyes: pigment "holes."  And with too light skin.  

Offspring from a paint breeding tend to be either paint, black or white.  Start mixing in other colours in the breeding and the results will become unpredictable, so it is best to not breed to other colours except as deliberate experimentation with a goal.

Normal white silkies are recessive white, whereas the whites from a paint breeding are dominant white.  Different genes that work and breed differently.  You can breed ANY black to a paint and not run into issues.  Black is about as neutral as you can get, genetically, in chickens.  Breed a paint to a recessive white and you are tossing a whole bunch of unknown genes into the mix of a not well understood variety.

Great explanation! I have a followup question...Would a dominant white (from a paint breeding) possibly produce paints if bred to a pure black (bl x bl)?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Try it, keep records and let us know your results.

 

[littlecritters]

Try it, keep records and let us know your results.

Thank you very much for your reply.

 

[3ChickensinNC]

I have a black from a paint breeding pen(just a chick now), but when it gets old enough to breed can I breed it to a paint? Or to another black(non paint)?

 

[Fuzzybird]

Breed to a paint.