color questions

[ma hen]

i am new breeding in fact all i have ever breed was my white hen to my white roo and my white hen to my black partiage, that is all my knowleage, so what is a black/blue silkie will that produce pure black and or pure blue ?

thanks

 

[Goose and Fig]

I hope I'm understanding you right- but if you want all black- you have to breed black to black or black to white. (pretty sure) To get all blue chicks- you need black x splash. That's how it is with cochins- I think it applies to silkies & all other breeds too

 

[ma hen]

thank you

 

[LilPeeps]

If you're looking for pure colors, do not breed black x white (or white to any other color). White can mask any color and therefore crossing them with blacks can completely ruin a black line. Any colors, other then bbs and khaki/choc/black, should be seperated by variety or you will ruin them. When breeding bbs (aka blue/black/splash) birds:

black x black = 100% black

blue x black = 50% blue, 50% black

blue x blue = 25% splash, 50% blue, 25% black

blue x splash = 50% splash, 50% blue

black x splash = 100% blue

splash x splash = 100% splash

 

[monarc23]

question about black to splash...


is the reason it produces 100% blue because the splash already has two blue genes? just curious

 

[tadkerson]

Quote:
Yes, the blue splashed white bird will contribute one blue gene to each of its offspring.

Both Happy Mountain and Lil peeps are correct- some recessive white birds are black under the white- these birds can be used to breed a black to a white and produce black birds. The birds may occasionally throw a white bird. If you sell the birds let the buyer know this.

Other whites are not black under the white- they could be red or silver. These birds are not good for breeding with black to produce a self (solid) black bird.

Tim

 

[ma hen]

thank you, i am starting to understand boy it can be confusing

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Blue and splash are dilutions of black.

Chicken plumage is coloured with two pigments: black & red. Various genes dilute or enhance one or both of these pigments, or move the location by extending it to additional areas or restricting it from appearing in certain areas. White is the absence of pigment.

It is usually relatively easy to get partridge in silkies as most are built on an e^b base. By adding the pattern gene to e^b, you form the partridge pattern.

In relation to the blue gene, undiluted black pigment occurs with blbl, that black is diluted to blue with the addition of one copy of the blue gene (Blbl); with the addition of a second copy (BlBl) the black pigment is further diluted to splash.

A black bird passes the not-blue gene to all its offpring as that is all it has for that gene; a splash bird always passes the blue gene to its offspring as that is all it has. Since a blue bird has one copy of not-blue and one copy of blue, it can pass either to its offspring.

 

[ma hen]

so it is fine to go with a soild black roo with a blue silike and get a black?just learning

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Yes, you can breed black to blue. Many breeders do so.