Breeding for color, silkie crossing, info please!

ebonyann

Songster
10 Years
Jun 27, 2009
371
1
111
Fruita, CO
Hi, I had a question on crossing silkies with a different bantie breed to acheive a new color. What I want to do is take a solid color sikie, either white or partridge, and breed with a wild color type of bantie to ultimately get a silke with that wild coloring. Now, I know that when it comes to eggs you are supposed to select a rooster that hatched from the desired color egg and breed with the hens of the feathering and/or body type that you are going for. But what I wanted to know is if it would be better to take a silkie rooster to the colored hen or should it be a colored rooster to silkie hens to get a silkie with the coloring? Or does it not really matter? I know this will be a long project to get the silkie with the coloring and proper feathering and toes and such, but I would like to start off on the right foot
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Thanks for any help
Dama
 
This would be interesting to find out more about silkie crosses. I just got a blue one as a "surprise" and I'm wondering what will I get if I cross her with a buff cochin (banty) roo.
 
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I am not an expert on color genetics, I know some of them, enough to work on my own projects but far from a comprehensive knowledge. I learn the information as I have a need for it. Sonoran seems to know her color genetics well, she'd probably be better to help you. I am curious though, I thought partridge was wild type color, apparently I am wrong? Being wrong is a good thing LOL, helps me know where I need to learn more. I'd be interested in seeing wild type color if you have a picture so I may learn the differences.
 
I don't know anything about "wild" type colors. The partridge color is basicly the same as the base color of the banties I raise, so I figured it would be the best color on the silkie side to work from.
Dama
 
Oh, and what I mean by wild color on my banties is that they are "wild", as in a crazy looking color. I want a silkie with the crazy color patterns of my banties. I don't want to say what kind because the next thing I know someone on the forum will all of a sudden have that project going too
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That's just my luck
Dama
 
can't be much help I'm afraid... different genes gave different expressions on different base, some seen on F1, some on F2, so unless you give us a specific colur you want to transfer then it's all depends on luck... which means breed as many as you can with all different colours and cull heaps.

Silkie itself is a recessive gene, so you'll need at least F2 for it to show back up again...

btw.. not many colours hasn't been worked on to silkies...
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I don't think anyone has lime green and purple barred projects underway. Nor have I heard about anyone working on robin's egg blue plumage.

Old time knowledge says that colour comes from the father and type from the mother. Modern genetic knowledge does not really support this, but there have been some studies that suggest the idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds in terms of genetic knowledge.

There is no data to back up the idea of egg colour being related to the male other than ensuring at least part of his inheritance. There is one of the white eggshell genes that is sex-linked.

In general, unless the gene is sex-linked, it does not matter which parent provides the source of the gene.

jungle fowl are wildtype
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Generally thought to be red, but there is some evidence that the other junglefowl have some involvement in chicken evolution.
 

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