Black or Blue Silkies??? PICS

[Teresaann24]

Here is two of my new girls i got a few days ago the one on the right looks black to me but her under side looks like a dark blue i'v been told she is black and by others i'v been told she is blue.


ETA: Forgot picture

 

[HatchingFever]

both look to be black to me

 

[M To The Maxx]

I would say black.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

I'd also say black.

We're in the same state and my Silkies almost never go outside. My male also exhibits some of that brownish undercoloring......I just don't know anymore.

 

[kelar]

I think she looks blue - I don't see the green sheen or brownish undercoat you normally see with the blacks. Sonoran is right - it's the undercoat that usually tells you whether it's a dark blue or a black.

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

Quote:
I said that.....

I have several dark blues and I have to be sure and check them before I swap them between breeding pens. My girls seem to be the worst about appearing black, but they aren't. They aren't immune to producing lighter blue offspring though, thank goodness!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
My silkie eat cracked corn for 4 years now I also give them pellets and scratch I'v never seen any discoloring in my birds from eating corn.

Well, I am asking because I know white birds can become yellow from eating corn.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I have to say that if the bird is not sun bleached or wearing old feathers, and the undercoat is BROWNISH, that it is not black. It MAY carry blue, but there is something else going on as well. My first "chocolates" came from a white mother and a self-blue splash father. Obviously, they were blue, but there was much more to their colouring than that. I was very new to chickens at the time, and had no understanding of poultry genetics. Colourwise, they were much too dark to match the chocolate standard, but they were most definitely not black. They never had gold leakage, though.

I never had that issue until I added blacks from a different line

I was never able to predictably produce or lighten their colouring, but as I said, I was quite new to breeding back then. It did get me interested in the chocolate colour, and years later I am having good results after having bred in dun from chocolate polish. That said, my chocolates and khakis are darker than I've been told is usual.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Ms.FuzzyButts :

I have one that looks black by all outward appearances. But I know for a fact that he is blue. He's just dark dark blue. One way I can tell is to part the fluff on their bum or anywhere really, and see what color the "undercoat" is.. A blue should have a blue-ish hue.. A black will be anywhere from black to a dark charcoal color. It's best if you can look at a black, then a blue so you can see the difference, until you get the hang of it.

The males undercolor is a lighter blue color, so I guess he is blue then. Just got around to checking this morning. Thank You.

Once I get enough offspring from the bbs birds, I am going to try to keep only the lighter blues (which I really prefer anyway).​