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I agree! A silkie cannot "carry" a gene for cuckoo. What you see is what you get with the cuckoo gene. The cuckoo gene is sex-linked and it is not recessive so cannot be "carried" undetected under any other color. The cuckoo gene is linked to the z chromosome, of which roosters have two and hens have only one - always. Therefore, roosters can have two doses of barring which causes them to be dark or light cuckoo, while hens can only have one dose, so are always dark cuckoo. The solid colored chicks resulting from any breeding involving cuckoos are genetically solid in color and cannot produce a cuckoo unless bred to a cuckoo, just like any other solid chick. Also, the fact that it comes from a cuckoo parent does not increase its chances of producing cuckoo offspring when bred to cuckoo.
Here is a simplified breeding chart:
A double cuckoo rooster bred to a cuckoo hen produces double cuckoo roos and cuckoo pullets
A double cuckoo rooster bred to a black hen produces single cuckoo roos and cuckoo pullets
A single cuckoo rooster bred to a cuckoo hen produces double cuckoo roos, single cuckoo roos, cuckoo pullets and black pullets
A single cuckoo rooster bred to a black hen produces single cuckoo roos, black roos, cuckoo pullets and black pullets
A black rooster bred to a cuckoo hen produces single cuckoo roos, and black pullets.
A black rooster bred to a black hen (whether from a black to black breeding or a breeding which included cuckoo) produces 100% black offpspring
Good luck on your auction, peachcick!
