Blue cream silkie genetics

[Slothinc]

Hello! I have a chick that was most likely the result of breeding a blue cream (aka porcelain) to a lavender. The chick is black. Does anyone know what this chick is carrying? Would it be considered a lavender split? Or would it be a blue cream split - is that even a thing?

I’m not sure how the buff in a blue cream can affect a split chick. Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[NatJ]

Hello! I have a chick that was most likely the result of breeding a blue cream (aka porcelain) to a lavender. The chick is black.

A black chick from those parents should not be possible.
The lavender gene is recessive. Breeding two chickens that show the same recessive gene should mean that ALL chicks show that gene as well.

You say the chick is "most likely" from those parents. Either the chick has a different parent than you think, or one of the parents is not the color you think it is.

It may become more obvious as the chick grows its feathers. Or you might take a look at the rest of the flock and find an obvious explanation. I would be looking for a hen or a rooster that does not show the lavender gene.

 

[Slothinc]

A black chick from those parents should not be possible.
The lavender gene is recessive. Breeding two chickens that show the same recessive gene should mean that ALL chicks show that gene as well.

You say the chick is "most likely" from those parents. Either the chick has a different parent than you think, or one of the parents is not the color you think it is.

It may become more obvious as the chick grows its feathers. Or you might take a look at the rest of the flock and find an obvious explanation. I would be looking for a hen or a rooster that does not show the lavender gene.

Thank you @NatJ ! They were shipped eggs so I can’t be 100% sure on the parents but the egg was from a blue cream pen that has blue cream rooster and blue cream hens with one lavender hen. I think one of her blue cream pens has “splits” in it but I don’t think it was this pen. But that is good to know that it wouldn’t be possible. So it must be from different parents. And possibly carries lavender and maybe buff, if it definitely has one blue cream parent??

 

[NatJ]

Thank you @NatJ ! They were shipped eggs so I can’t be 100% sure on the parents but the egg was from a blue cream pen that has blue cream rooster and blue cream hens with one lavender hen. I think one of her blue cream pens has “splits” in it but I don’t think it was this pen. But that is good to know that it wouldn’t be possible. So it must be from different parents.

If the chick does not show lavender, then it must have at least one parent that does not show lavender.

And possibly carries lavender and maybe buff, if it definitely has one blue cream parent??

If it has one blue cream parent, or one lavender parent, either way it would carry the lavender gene.

If one parent is a blue cream, then the chick should also carry the genes for that color pattern (the arrangement of black & gold that gets diluted by the lavender gene to make the blue cream appearance). The variety called lavender has the genes to be black all over, with the lavender gene diluting it all to a light gray shade. The black-all-over pattern is what the chick seems to be showing now, but without the lavender dilution.

 

[Slothinc]

If the chick does not show lavender, then it must have at least one parent that does not show lavender.


If it has one blue cream parent, or one lavender parent, either way it would carry the lavender gene.

If one parent is a blue cream, then the chick should also carry the genes for that color pattern (the arrangement of black & gold that gets diluted by the lavender gene to make the blue cream appearance). The variety called lavender has the genes to be black all over, with the lavender gene diluting it all to a light gray shade. The black-all-over pattern is what the chick seems to be showing now, but without the lavender dilution.

Thank you so much for explaining this to me! I appreciate it!! That is so weird! I had asked the breeder about it and she said that ever since she added the lavender hen to her blue cream pens she has been getting the occasional black chick, so she thought it might be from the lavender. She is a long time show breeder who is trustworthy (not just some random backyard chicken breeder.) And her lavender came from a really famous lavender breeder so I doubt it’s a lightly colored blue or something.

Anyways I thought for sure that it would have a blue cream father as the egg was labeled with the name of one of her blue cream Roos. But you think the chick would look different if it was a black split to blue cream? Would it already be showing some of the gold/buff leakage? It’s possible that maybe the egg was just mislabeled altogether if it is not possible to come from a blue cream.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you so much for explaining this to me! I appreciate it!! That is so weird! I had asked the breeder about it and she said that ever since she added the lavender hen to her blue cream pens she has been getting the occasional black chick, so she thought it might be from the lavender. She is a long time show breeder who is trustworthy (not just some random backyard chicken breeder.) And her lavender came from a really famous lavender breeder so I doubt it’s a lightly colored blue or something.

If the black chicks are only showing up since the lavender hen was added, then the lavender hen might be producing them.

But that would only happen if the hen is not really lavender.

If the breeder really wants to figure it out, she could separate the lavender hen to collect just those eggs, and hatch them, and know for sure if that hen is the one producing black chicks.

I do wonder if hens or roosters ever get out of their pens and manage unplanned matings. That would be an obvious explanation for off-color chicks.

Anyways I thought for sure that it would have a blue cream father as the egg was labeled with the name of one of her blue cream Roos. But you think the chick would look different if it was a black split to blue cream? Would it already be showing some of the gold/buff leakage? It’s possible that maybe the egg was just mislabeled altogether if it is not possible to come from a blue cream.

For black chickens that show leakage, it is fairly common to have the leakage appear when they are partly grown, not at hatch or in the first set of chick feathers.

If you told me the chick was a cross of Blue Cream with a solid Black hen, I would believe that easily enough-- I don't see anything about the chick to disprove that explanation. My only problem is with a chick showing a dominant gene (not-lavender) when both parents are supposed to be pure for the recessive form of that gene (lavender.)

Yes, mis-labeled egg is definitely a possibility.

 

[ChickenChick46]

I know this is an old thread, but my chick looks similar to yours. I thought he was just black until I read an article on here just now that said black silkies should not have a lighter undercoat. Mine definitely does. It's got the black skin and 5 toes. Now I'm curious what color Pippin may grow up to be.

 

[Slothinc]

I know this is an old thread, but my chick looks similar to yours. I thought he was just black until I read an article on here just now that said black silkies should not have a lighter undercoat. Mine definitely does. It's got the black skin and 5 toes. Now I'm curious what color Pippin may grow up to be.

I am leaning towards blue for this chick, but I have also seen chicks like this that end up black, or at least they *look* black when they feather in. The chick that was pictured above did feather in blue (obviously blue) and was a cockerel so I gave him away.

I still have some of my flock that I can’t tell for sure whether they are black or blue. For example I have a hen that I thought was black until she grew up and now she looks brown. Her feathers are more dull, without the green/or purple sheen that is found in blacks a lot of the time. But she also doesn’t look blue. It is a struggle haha!

 

[ChickenChick46]

I am leaning towards blue for this chick, but I have also seen chicks like this that end up black, or at least they *look* black when they feather in. The chick that was pictured above did feather in blue (obviously blue) and was a cockerel so I gave him away.

I still have some of my flock that I can’t tell for sure whether they are black or blue. For example I have a hen that I thought was black until she grew up and now she looks brown. Her feathers are more dull, without the green/or purple sheen that is found in blacks a lot of the time. But she also doesn’t look blue. It is a struggle haha!

Thank you for this info! I just assumed this baby was black, lol. I had no idea. Every time I think I'm grasping chicken genetics, something entirely new comes my way!

 

[Slothinc]

Thank you for this info! I just assumed this baby was black, lol. I had no idea. Every time I think I'm grasping chicken genetics, something entirely new comes my way!

Looking at the little feet feathers growing in on the feet, it actually looks like it may be black. But again, so hard to say!! The only way to really know if a bird is black is to breed to a splash (if black, 100% of offspring will be blue, if blue, 50/50 splash and blue offspring) Or you can breed to a known black and if any of the chicks are blue, then the bird you are testing is as well.