Breeding gray silkies(nevermind everyone)

[SilkiesAndSuch]

Ok, i have a friend who is not yet a BYC member(I think I have convinced her to join

) She really wants to breed some gray silkies, but doesn't know what colors to cross to get gray birds. I don't know anything about gray silkies, I just raise accepted colors right now. Thank for advice, she really wants to breed some

Oh and please keep the genetics simplistic as I haven't studied genetics, etc yet in college....

 

[destiny_56085]

Grey is one of the 7 accepted colors in silkies. It is like the partridge except without the red and gold coloration. You breed grey to grey. Not very many people in the US with good ones so I wish her luck in her venture.

 

[SilkiesAndSuch]

Hmm this is interesting, I forgot it was accepted! Oh well, don't think anyone near us has any, so anyone know how to maybe get some "gray colored birds" through crossbreeding? I know they aren't true gray birds and the breeding results can vary, but she wants pretty crosses. She has red, buff, blue, splash, and some other silkies so any ideas?

*Again, I know that the results of the crossbreeding will not be true grays and the results of crossbreeding are unpredictable

 

[SilkiesAndSuch]

Oh, nevermind everyone, don't need advice from anyone anymore. She is trying to breed a different color(misunderstanding on my part)

 

[featherbaby]

I am also interested in breeding Grey silkies. If anybody has ideas or sources let me know too! I'm in North Florida.

I'm also looking for Porcelain and Isabelle Silkie eggs/chicks too...

Can anyone help me find them??????

 

[destiny_56085]

I'll have 5-6 of those pastel youngsters I will be selling this fall. My hands are tied til the weather cools off enough to ship again. They will go on auction to be fair to all that have written me. There is one especially nice older pullet and the rest are younger. I don't work with the AOV's but they are coming out of my breeder pens anyway.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

If you have partridge and an opposite gender silver gened bird, you can get greys; it may take a few generations to get all the genes lined up correctly, and you will also produce chicks who carry entirely the wrong gene mix. A silver gened white may be useful, as traditionally silkies tend to be e^b based; however, as more and more varieties are being bred into them, the e-allele is becoming less predictable. A silver gened black (preferably with silver leakage) would probably be another useful choice.

If the male is silver gened, half his chicks will receive a copy of silver. On the girls it will be obvious; on the boys, less so as they will be het. for the gene (one copy of silver, one of gold). Breed the girls back to their father and/or to their het. brothers. You should get pure silver offspring of both gneders from the first scenario. In the second, all males will receive silver from their mother, and about half will receive it from their father. About half the females will receive silver from their father.

What I've not included in this is the work to get proper penciling and pattern. A partridge with good patterning sill go a long ways towards giving you this, and it is the reason I suggest that a silver gened white may be a good choice as there is a fair chance that they may carry the pattern gene. However, it is also possible that they do not. Using a silver gened black is less likely to carry Pg.