Confused, is Fm sex-linked?

[bowiebenson]

I read on a few sites a while back that Silkie skin color is sex linked.... crossed with anything light skinned will produce dark hens and intermediate males..... This is not too detrimental to my plans or anything but just not what I expected.....

I hatched 8 chicks so far from a White Silkie Roo and a OEG Bamtam Hen...... along with some eggs from a white silkie x silkie cross for comparison.... obviously the 4 silkie eggs turned out normal/dark.... the others...... not so much... i expected maybe a 50/50 dark/medium skin tone but all i got so far is all intermediate coloring skin with pea combs, and various down colors.....

Did I just read some bogus information or am I really just extreamly unlucky in the hen-factory? They will be beautiful non the less and eventually ill be able to sex them..... I'm just messing with silkies because i want to breed some mixed broody birds that have the dark skin, walnut/pea combs, 5 toes and various fun colored feathers..... some beautiful friends... maybe illbe more serious later on but right now i'm just blown away with all of the possibilites out there.....

My rooster has an awesome walnut on him (looks like he wears his brain on his forehead) and i hope he passes it on! Just can't figure why the chicks have such blotchy skin? I've seen "showgirls" and their skin turns out dark..... i have turkins and was planning for that cross next year and I want to know if this is what to expect, it sounded a bit easier to figure out the hens!?!

Any help from those experienced people out there... i'm not really trying anything new here I don't think!

 

[chickenlover54]

I do not think that is true, never heard it before.

 

[Chris09]

I don't know if it works on silkies or not but I have read about Leg color being Sex-Linked (as long as the two parents are pure for leg color) but cant say that I herd anything about skin color...

A example would be:
Rooster with Blue legs crossed to a hen with White leg will give you pullets with Blue legs and cockerels with White legs. (If Both Pure For Leg Color)

ultimatefowl. com/legchart/leg%20color%20chart.htm

Chris

 

[bowiebenson]

I must find the crazy stuff on the internet! Hahaha!

 

[blackclownfish16]

It depends on Id and that can cause sex linked chicks but in general all chicks will be intermediate skin color, I know it's been true with my oopsies that I seem to get whenever I set eggs to soon after splitting pens

BUT I hope someone else comes along and confirms this and or corrects it.

Depending on the rooster and depending on the hen(s) that it was crossed to, the expected percentage of chicks with black skin can vary between 25-100%. If the silkie roo is homozygous for Fm, and is mated to a hen with id+, then all chicks should have dark skin and shanks. If the rooster is heterozygous for Fm, and again mated to a hen with id+, then only half should have dark skin and shanks.

However, if the hen has Id, then only the female chicks can have dark skin (all female chicks if the roo is homozygous Fm, only half the female chicks if the roo is heterozygous Fm). In these scenarios the cockerel chicks should have light skin and shanks.

Also seems sex determined, as it is very much easier to produce dark skinned females than males, especially males whose skins don't turn cranberry at maturity.. this problem becomes VERY obvious on a naked necked bird.

It was concluded that fibromelanosis was primarily caused due to a single autosomal gene (Fm) that exhibited incomplete dominance. The study also highlighted the epistatic effect of the dominant sex-linked ‘Id’ gene in White Leghorns and White Plymouth Rock crosses on ‘Fm’ induced melanin deposition

Thats from another forum. Here's an extensive discussion about Fm http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=29833&page=1

Hope that helps​