Dominant Partridge in Black Silkie

[LilJoe]

I have a black silkie hen that I bred to a white silkie rooster last year. Out of all the eggs that hatch from all the silkies, two of hers hatched. Those two chicks were both partridge, one silver partridge with red leakage on the wings and one partridge. I have read that a lot of black silkies carry the partridge gene. How did the black silkies get a partridge gene in the first place? What determines whether the chicks will be partridge or silver partridge?

~LilJoe

 

[Sneebsey]

White silkies can carry partridge; Recessive White is very good at covering up any pigment. Black birds, however, particularly cockerels, usually show leakage of reds and browns when they have a wildtype allele in the mix. Occasionally a hen can display as black whilst also carrying a single wildtype allele, particularly if there are melanising genes in play.