Buff Silkie Thread!

[chickendales]

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He is carrying splash.

I love his splash buff look! How come it's not intentionally bred?

i want him for my showgirl project

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Genetics question for y'all-

Occasionally when I breed my darker buff roos to my darker buff hens I get a baby that comes out with black mottled down. They eventually feather out as a dark buff with black in their tails or on their wing tips. My understanding is that this is due to some back breeding to black in the past in an effort to darken up the buff. Since black is a default, I don't breed those boys back in and sell them as culls.

This last round I have a clear dark buff boy over my buff girls. He is showing no blue or black at all. None of the girls are showing any dark as well. My first hatch of this mating is coming out this week and I have two babies out that I swear look partridge. They are chipmunky black/buff mottled. Another one is a dark buff with black dots scattered about. Weird. Can you get partridge from a buff to buff mating?

Since the last mating of these girls with a different rooster got me all buff with a tendency to go white, I'm assuming the black/partridge issue is coming from this rooster. Does this sound correct?

 

[chicknfishn]

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I really do not know but I would love to see pictures of those chicks!!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Okay.

Both parents had to be buff as that's all that is in that pen. The rooster is new this season and he came from my original Ferguson stock. I have no other colors of silkies in that pen. I have had dark chicks before, but not like these two. I've never had one with dots, although a polka dotty silkie would be incredibly cool!

Is this just a random genetic throwback? Are they just wonky buffs or are they partridge?

 

[chicknfishn]

I bought some buff chicks from a local breeder and her buffs were like your lighter one with spots on their head, however they didn't have spots on other parts of their body. They turned out to be very nice buff silkies.

 

[chickendales]

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

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I'll get a couple of those really dark chicks each year, less than 5 or 6. End up being smutty buffs.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Love this buff hen. She's a year old.

Isn't she the cutest??




Buff Pullet, 2011 hatch.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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There are several genetic "recipes" to create buff. First, the base, or e-allele must be either E^Wh or e^b. The wheaten based birds tend to have less black in wings/tails and less smut. But they tend to have lighter skin, combs and even eyes. The partridge/brown based birds tend to be a darker buff, have darker skin, combs and eyes, but are more likely to have smutty undercolour and black in the wings and tail. I've never heard of buffs being bred to blacks to improve their buff colouring. Yes, to improve type, but not colouring. If the chicks hatch with backstripes, chances are they have at least one copy of e^b. I suspect that an E^Wh/e^b bird may be about the best compromise you can get between the darker buff plumage, darker skin/comb and least amount of smut or black in the wing/tail. Breeding blue in reduces the appearance of black, but does not remove the pigment. Breeding to dun or choc would be closer to matching buff, but still does not remove the eumelanin--just alters its hue.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Ooooo... she's GORGEOUS, Sundown! Pretty, pretty, pretty!!