anyone seen a snow white baby chick before?

[dzipperer]

I have a mutt breed chick. Her mother is all black and not sure who the father is but the roosters r all dark. My chick has 2 siblings which both are mostly black. I have never seen a snow white chick before. when she first hatched her beak was blue but now it is turning more yellow. She also had 2 thin black stripes down her back.

Let me know if any of you have seen a white chick before. I'll post pics tonight.

 

[TaLani]

It's probably something to do with recessive genes, but I know next to nothing re genetics, so maybe someone else can lend a hand. I'm so glad you posted this since I have a similar situation. We have a mutt chick who turned out white as well. S/he has a Buff Laced Polish as a mother & the potential fathers are our Buff Orp, Blue Silkie or Black Silkie. I'm leaning towards her father being one of the Silkies since s/he has the dark skin, feathered legs & extra toes like a silkie has (can't see the xtra toes in this pic though). Since she has a Polish for a mother & a Silkie for a father, we call her a Pilkie -

. Here's her pic:

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Most white silkies hatch with white down. There is a specific gene that causes white down versus yellow (which is what most that turn out to be white have).

Recessive white can remain hidden for generations, then pop up when both parents contribute the gene.

 

[Krys109uk]

Most white silkies hatch with white down. There is a specific gene that causes white down versus yellow (which is what most that turn out to be white have).

Would that be Li? We have some red orps which hatch out white with a slight pink tinge. I've wondered what caused this & whether it might be Li.
I was most confused, some years ago, when I had some white silkies which hatched with a smokey colour of down....looked blue, but they feathered up white.

They were't particularly good quality birds.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I believe it is sw. Don't know much about either of them. Whites carrying silver often have pale grey down.

 

[exop]

Hi TaLani,

as proud parent to some Mottled Hilkies, I can state with confidence that is a Pilkie

Actually, that's a *huge* Pilkie! Either that, or a very small hand.

Nice feathering on the legs!

Best - exop

 

[dzipperer]

I finally got pics of my white chick. She has a little more silver now that her feathers are coming in. I can't wait to see what she is going to look like when she is an adult. I think shes beautiful. Let me know if you have any idea what she might be a mix of. Her mother is jet black standard size.