Barred Silkie......

[texaschickmama]

Is this silkie barred? What color would you call this? It does have very faint barring. I hope it comes out in the pics.

 

[speckledhen]

Probably had one Cuckoo Silkie parent or it's a hidden gene. Did you breed it there? Just had a barring gene show itself in my BBS Orps, believe it or not.

 

[texaschickmama]

No, I didn't breed it here, Cyn. I bought it from a woman that lives near me that does breed silkies, but as far as I know she doesn't have any barring going on over there, unless it's top secret.

A barred BBS orp, wow. I can only imagine the beauty. I'm still in shock that I have silkies now. They are so sweet with my kiddos. The big girls look at them like "what are you" or "you call yourself a chicken--HA"

I have such great fun with my chickens and love all the breeds I have. The big girls hold a special place in my heart though.

 

[LilPeeps]

It's a mis-marked black. She's not barred, just has some silver bleeding through. She shouldn't be used for breeding if you plan on showing.

 

[texaschickmama]

Quote:
She/he is just a pet for us to enjoy and snuggle. I thought probably she/he was a mix of colors or something not "standard" just not sure what..

 

[speckledhen]

That mismarking is pretty regular! I know that there are Cuckoo Silkies, so just thought that was a possibility.

 

[nzpouter]

mismarked... she'll get more whites everytime she moult.

 

[speckledhen]

I had a black Ameraucana with his gold base color showing in streaking down the hackles-didnt present like the silkie in the picture, but it certainly could be mismarked. Guess I am remembering jmnjay's Cuckoo Silkies.

 

[melissa508]

Since its a female, its highly possible that its a cuckoo hybrid judging from what i can see in the pics.
The hybrid is the result of breeding a solid color silkie to a cuckoo hen , the offspring can only be sex-links ..therfore your females will be solid color..however, ive seen hybrids have a few faint cuckoo markings or flecks that are unmistakably cuckoo..sometimes theyre molted out, sometimes theyre not.

Most people only want females, and if they dont know how those genetics work, they hatch birds that they think are not cuckoo..when they really are.
One sure way to know is keep her in a pen with a solid color rooster & mark the eggs that are hers..within a few days of hatching you will see about 50/50 solid color & cuckoo chicks...the barred ones will all be males.

Those hybrids are excellent to breed back to barred cuckoos, you get more disctint barring.

 

[FrizzleFreak]

Well, all I can say is she doesn't look like my cuckoo silk!
She's pretty though.