Cuckoo silkie with blue eggs Project.

[CountryFlock]

I just read somewhere that in order for the cuckoo gene to be expressed, you had to have a cuckoo roo. Is that incorrect?

She needs a cuckoo roo in order for all the first offspring to be cuckoo. But the males hatched would be Heterozygous for cuckoo. Males would be (B/b) and females (B/-)

There is a sex-linked dilution barring gene but I’ve never seen it because the barring in my cuckoos and barred rocks behave the same genetically.

 

[luckiestck1]

Hey
Picked up my araucana rooster last saterday.
He's beautiful, just the colour i wanted. He will be perfect for my silkie project. Heres pic of my new young rooster. He's 4 months old.

Will have to wait at least a 1 - 2 months until hes old enough to breed.
But that's fine because he will be in quarantine until September 1st. I also bought a white araucana pullet as well so he would have some company.
I'm thinking of selling her later, to cover a little bit of costs. He's still growing in his tail feathers.


.

 

[FowlWitch]

Hey
Picked up my araucana rooster last saterday.
He's beautiful, just the colour i wanted. He will be perfect for my silkie project. Heres pic of my new young rooster. He's 4 months old.View attachment 1856963
Will have to wait at least a 1 - 2 months until hes old enough to breed.
But that's fine because he will be in quarantine until September 1st. I also bought a white araucana pullet as well so he would have some company.
I'm thinking of selling her later, to cover a little bit of costs. He's still growing in his tail feathers.


.

Are Araucanas pretty common in your area? I'd think keeping the pullet to breed with the male for pure bred araucanas down the road could be a good way to get a little cash while working on your silkie project

 

[luckiestck1]

Thats a good idea. I could do that.

 

[MokiYoki]

Thats a good idea. I could do that.

Cuckoo is based on black, so if you want cuckoo, black silkies are the way to go. You will see nice black barring in the F1 chicks.
If I were you Id focus on barring and skin colours first and just make sure you keep at least 1 hen with blue eggs each time. Once everything else is sorted then you can worry about spreading the blue egg gene around.

If you are in Brisbane (im in the Gatton area) I could help you out in the future since Im also raising up black bearded silkies, and in the future hatching a few chicks of the blue egg/silkie type.

Also Id be interested in buying some F2 chicks if any are black!