No secrets.. it was pretty much a matter of keeping the pullets long until they started laying and either picking out the colored egg layers or just simply hatching only the colored eggs out of the group of pullets out of the colored egg "line".
I also bred the pullets each generation back to a pure silkie until their type was fairly decent. Are not show winners but did use roosters from stock that were used for showing or were at least from persons who did show..
I didn't try to keep them a secret either.. had mentioned them occasionally here and there over several years(don't remember if I did on this forum) however there was either no or very little response so they basically got put on the back burner due to the seeming lack of interest plus having many other projects.. actually did not hatch any of their eggs for several years, last year I realized the colored egg hens were very few in number are getting old so I had better let a few of their eggs hatch last fall so they would not be totally lost. Just in time as one hen is now so old she's no longer laying and 2 of the colored egg layers passed from old age over the winter. Luckily there is at least one pullet, maybe 2 that are laying the colored eggs but have not discovered which ones- currently all the silkies and showgirls are together in one big pen.
I don't have any pictures of them yet.. they look like average silkies, did try to keep the ones with general traits such as having shorter and wider backs, short legs with better feathering and tried to keep rounder/bigger crests but unfortunately it appears the last rooster or the previous one didn't quite have good crest genetics as several pullets came out with medium or smallish crests. Most are white, however partridge does show up as does a color I'm not sure what they are- sort of looks like a very dark blue yet never got any splash and they are distinct from blacks.
