Black Leaking Silver - How?

[greenfamilyfarms]

I have a silkie chick that came from black parents but has some silver leaking through on its neck feathers. How is this possible?

 

[Goose and Fig]

Wow- it looks blue to me- and it looks like barring. Crazy!

 

[wclawrence]

It could be that the parents are heterozygous for the melanizers required to make an extended black bird solid black. Maybe. I am no expert. Just a thought.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

The chick does look bluish in the picture, but I think that's due to the flash of the camera. I thought this was a weird fellow. "He" came from Bobbi's silkies.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Do they have birchen silkies? Maybe you got one by mistake. I still think the silver looks barred- kinda cool if that's what you were going for.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

wclawrence has it right. Also, females tend to show colour leakage less, but pass it on just as frequently as males showing colour leakage.

 

[wclawrence]

yeah I meant to say, I'd bet the farm it's a rooster.