Breeding charts

[RachelGilsen]

Hi! Brand brand new here! I have a young flock of 17 assorted silkies and I'm trying to decide which colors to keep and which to sell. I would like to keep 2 roos and 4 hens. I plan to sell their chicks and create a lovely little breeding program for my kids and I to enjoy together. I'm having a REALLY hard time finding some charts in layman's terms that I can understand. Anyone know of an awesome book or site that could help me out with all of the hard to follow genetics junk? Lol! Thanks in advance!

 

[Jabebee13]

Wow. Breeding program for your children. Great idea.

 

[Jabebee13]

Welcome to BYC. We are here to help. Hope my smiley face reaction was okay and positive vibes... I will give you lots of help with likes.

 

[ColtHandorf]

What colors/varieties of Silkie do you have? With that information we might be able to help you choose which colors are best suited to be bred together.

 

[SueT]

Welcome to BYC!
Try out this chicken color calculator, I tried it after the fact and found it was correct for my combination:
https://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#pluginTree

 

[RachelGilsen]

What colors/varieties of Silkie do you have? With that information we might be able to help you choose which colors are best suited to be bred together.

I have one black that I think is a hen. Splash, buff, partridge, white. I originally thought to keep a partridge and a splash roo and a white, black, splash and buff hen. But now I'm reading that the partridge is not a good choice? But it's all so vague! I can only find a chart for the blue, black and splash. I need charts! Lol!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I have one black that I think is a hen. Splash, buff, partridge, white. I originally thought to keep a partridge and a splash roo and a white, black, splash and buff hen. But now I'm reading that the partridge is not a good choice? But it's all so vague! I can only find a chart for the blue, black and splash. I need charts! Lol!

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

Because what you're talking about is not going to be breed true to any color.. you must use the same colors to get the same color offspring.. except the BBS you said you already saw. Partridge is considered hard to get right in Silkies.. WHEN breeding to SOP

Plenty of people will still buy Silkies in non standard colors.. as pets and layers not for showing or breeding per say. I myself enjoy breeding project colors like paint or lavender.. but Paint was accepted into APA for Silkies this past year.. My friend likes "breeding" whatever pops up and considers that part of their fun.

White can be hiding colors under neath. Partridge is a really cool color in Silkies.. but harder to perfect.. What makes something a good choice or not depends on YOUR goals!

I think bearded Silkies are cuter than non bearded but both are considered acceptable. The calculator linked already gives pretty good basic ideas.. not accounting for leakage.. ie buff x black may just say black but there may be a lot of buff pattern leakage in the offspring.

https://silkie.org/silkie-colours.html

Silkie cockerels.. mate just as actively as any other.. With Silkie ladies going broody fairly often.. I highly recommend AGAINST the 2/4 ratio you are currently considering.. Having bred Silkies for a few years.. they don't lay eggs or mate when broody.. and I had some gals go broody every 3rd egg they laid.. and try to brood back to back to back to back even when allowed to raise a brood.. BUT your mileage MAY vary.. That ratio works for some breeds/individuals.. I just think it's asking for trouble.. IF the kids are hoping to enjoy the chickens also.. Broody's are hormonal HAGS.. and make for overall wonderful experiences! I'm suggesting that keeping more ladies may offer a more well rounded and enjoyable adventure.


For consideration.. the one that shows black cross white equaling 100% paint in the following image form google, is when dominant white..

https://www.facebook.com/PineHillSi...about-what-colors-to-breed-/2106203056091737/

Part of any GOOD breeding program.. that is comprehensive.. includes selecting and keeping only best of the best and eating or selling the rest. Silkie boys dress just fine for the table.. If you can't do it yourself maybe another family can tale them off your hands.. The extra boys. I also keep a stag pen.. so the boys can all mature a bit and show their true colors before I decide who gets mating privileges and who's going to freezer camp or the stock pot. Boys CAN get along surprisingly well given the right environment. To be honest.. I'm not above humanely dispatching and feeding to the feral barn cat or even composting into fertilizer.. but it's taken a LONG time to reach this.. not cold, but rather accepting the circle of life state. Also knowing where my food comes from and how it was treated everyday, all plays in.

In my location and with my selection practice.. I was able to sell Silkies all day long as fast as I could hatch them.. standard BBS, white for $8 each straight run and paint/lav/cuckoo for $15.. also $65/dozen hatching eggs.. without any NPIP certifications, etc.. Eating eggs go for $4/dozen standard size. When mature (2+ years) eggs got up to medium in size. Silkies weren't the breed I love despite being a fantastic adventure.. I sold a pair of good quality Lav for $100.. and about 10 BBS (8/2) for $350.. For me breeding to the SOP is not as fun.. It's harder work and less eye candy if your flock all looks the same, but I feel as though the pay off was worth it.. it taught me a lot about life and genetics.. even in my late 40's. When breeding project colors.. all features still go toward the SOP except feather color or pattern.. at least for me. Despite BBS seeming simple.. getting consistent quality blues is challenging once you get more serious. Eventually you even start to check toe nail color, 5th toe spacing and length.. Honing your eye to to know what you are looking for.. no red combs, they should be mulberry IF you are breeding to the SOP and that's important to you. Some hide straight combs under their crest.

Consider adding your general location to your profile as it may help folks make their best suggestions possible at a glance.

How old are your Silkies now? Feel free to post photos so we can help determine color/gender/quality if desired! Where did they come from?

 

[RachelGilsen]

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

Because what you're talking about is not going to be breed true to any color.. you must use the same colors to get the same color offspring.. except the BBS you said you already saw. Partridge is considered hard to get right in Silkies.. WHEN breeding to SOP

Plenty of people will still buy Silkies in non standard colors.. as pets and layers not for showing or breeding per say. I myself enjoy breeding project colors like paint or lavender.. but Paint was accepted into APA for Silkies this past year.. My friend likes "breeding" whatever pops up and considers that part of their fun.

White can be hiding colors under neath. Partridge is a really cool color in Silkies.. but harder to perfect.. What makes something a good choice or not depends on YOUR goals!

I think bearded Silkies are cuter than non bearded but both are considered acceptable. The calculator linked already gives pretty good basic ideas.. not accounting for leakage.. ie buff x black may just say black but there may be a lot of buff pattern leakage in the offspring.

https://silkie.org/silkie-colours.html

Silkie cockerels.. mate just as actively as any other.. With Silkie ladies going broody fairly often.. I highly recommend AGAINST the 2/4 ratio you are currently considering.. Having bred Silkies for a few years.. they don't lay eggs or mate when broody.. and I had some gals go broody every 3rd egg they laid.. and try to brood back to back to back to back even when allowed to raise a brood.. BUT your mileage MAY vary.. That ratio works for some breeds/individuals.. I just think it's asking for trouble.. IF the kids are hoping to enjoy the chickens also.. Broody's are hormonal HAGS.. and make for overall wonderful experiences! I'm suggesting that keeping more ladies may offer a more well rounded and enjoyable adventure.


For consideration.. the one that shows black cross white equaling 100% paint in the following image form google, is when dominant white..
View attachment 2413403
View attachment 2413407
View attachment 2413413

https://www.facebook.com/PineHillSi...about-what-colors-to-breed-/2106203056091737/

Part of any GOOD breeding program.. that is comprehensive.. includes selecting and keeping only best of the best and eating or selling the rest. Silkie boys dress just fine for the table.. If you can't do it yourself maybe another family can tale them off your hands.. The extra boys. I also keep a stag pen.. so the boys can all mature a bit and show their true colors before I decide who gets mating privileges and who's going to freezer camp or the stock pot. Boys CAN get along surprisingly well given the right environment. To be honest.. I'm not above humanely dispatching and feeding to the feral barn cat or even composting into fertilizer.. but it's taken a LONG time to reach this.. not cold, but rather accepting the circle of life state. Also knowing where my food comes from and how it was treated everyday, all plays in.

In my location and with my selection practice.. I was able to sell Silkies all day long as fast as I could hatch them.. standard BBS, white for $8 each straight run and paint/lav/cuckoo for $15.. also $65/dozen hatching eggs.. without any NPIP certifications, etc.. Eating eggs go for $4/dozen standard size. When mature (2+ years) eggs got up to medium in size. Silkies weren't the breed I love despite being a fantastic adventure.. I sold a pair of good quality Lav for $100.. and about 10 BBS (8/2) for $350.. For me breeding to the SOP is not as fun.. It's harder work and less eye candy if your flock all looks the same, but I feel as though the pay off was worth it.. it taught me a lot about life and genetics.. even in my late 40's. When breeding project colors.. all features still go toward the SOP except feather color or pattern.. at least for me. Despite BBS seeming simple.. getting consistent quality blues is challenging once you get more serious. Eventually you even start to check toe nail color, 5th toe spacing and length.. Honing your eye to to know what you are looking for.. no red combs, they should be mulberry IF you are breeding to the SOP and that's important to you. Some hide straight combs under their crest.

Consider adding your general location to your profile as it may help folks make their best suggestions possible at a glance.

How old are your Silkies now? Feel free to post photos so we can help determine color/gender/quality if desired! Where did they come from?

Oh my goodness! So much information! Thank you so so much! Ok. So your saying that for the base colors, white black buff, I have to breed them to the same color? But the mix ones can come from the base parents? So I think I'm gonna need to keep a white roo then? And my buff have a few black fathers on their wings so I already know that I'm gonna want to get a better buff stock. (The problem will be getting rid of my daughter's buff chick). We already have 18 other chickens so I was hoping to keep my silkie stock to a minimum. I tried attaching pics but it didn't work for some reason. I will try again. They came from a hatchery.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

So your saying that for the base colors, white black buff, I have to breed them to the same color? But the mix ones can come from the base parents? So I think I'm gonna need to keep a white roo then?

No, I don't think that's what I'm saying at all.

But that might be what I'm saying. Or maybe I just confused us both!

Here is one more description of the SOP and varieties..
https://www.browneggblueegg.com/Standard.html

Also I have no way of knowing if your white rooster is just white or dominant white or how that plays into your ultimate end goal.. So if you identify your goal I might be able to give a more exact answer or even call on another guru or two for input.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I tried attaching pics but it didn't work for some reason. I will try again.

I copied and pasted from the PM.. if it works..