Educate me!!!

[ChicknThief]

Okay, so I have some questions about Showgirl genetics. Here is what I know:

Showgirls are a Turken Silkie cross
The first generation of Showgirls will be naked necked, regular feathered chickens
When hatching Showgirls, one will get approximately 50 % fully feathered chicks, and 50 % chicks with the naked neck gene


What I want to know:

Are my above statements correct?
How many generations does it take to make a Showgirl breed true in terms of Silkie feathering?
How do the colors work with Showgirls?

I know that with blue/black/splash orpingtons, if you have two blue birds you will get 50% blue, 25% black, and 25% splash chicks.
If you have one black bird, and one blue bird, you will get 50% blue, and 50% black chicks.
If you have one splash bird and one blue bird, you will get 50% splash, and 50% blue chicks.
If you have one splash bird and one black bird you will get 100% blue chicks.
And if you have two splash birds you will get 100% splash chicks.

Does the coloration of Showgirls work in similar ways?

I would like to know absolutely everthing about this, so please, post what you know!

 

[S0rcy]

Sorry I dont have an answer, but I do have a question about the orpingtons!

Does that mean that black and splash birds have blue genes that are recessive , and put together you will get all blue chicks?

S0rcy

 

[ChicknThief]

Actually, I think that the blue gene is dominant and that the splash and black genes are recessive. So when recessive black and splash birds get bred together, the dormant dominant gene comes out, blotting out the recessive black and splash genes until a later generation...


Did that make sense? I think I lost myself there....

Which means I am probably wrong...

 

[Kev]

You've got it pretty much right on with the crosses.

You can get silky feathered birds in the F2, either by breeding the F1 together or better(if your goal is Silkie type birds) F1 with a pure silkie. Use only the silky feathered birds from that point on and normal feathering won't be a concern again. The BODY type(including good leg feathering and crests( and quality of the "silkiness" is another matter, if you are using large turkens, you will have to consider the size it can take 3-4 generations before hitting on good type birds. Good results come much sooner if using show quality stock silkies.

The genes for color and patterns do not "care" what breed or mix they are on. Blue works exactly the same way across all breeds and mixes.

Blue is called semi-dominant, which means there is a visible difference between animals with one copy and two copies of the gene. Blue is a very good example, birds with one copy are "blue" but birds with two copies are "splash".

Blue is a gene that affects black pigmentation on the birds. Solid blue or splashed birds are merely BLACK chickens with one and two Blue genes, respectively. So it's not a matter of black being recessive; it's the blue changing the black to blue(or splash).

Genes do not change their "dominant" or "recessive" status.. they never become dormant. The appearence can be affected by another gene. Solid black actually is dominant, blue is simply a gene that can alter how it looks but it has no effect on the dominant status of the black.

 

[ChicknThief]

Thank you Kev!!

I feel wonderfully enlightened!! This was extremely useful to me! You are just too awesome

 

[Kev]

Haha thanks for the kind words, that was really nice. Always happy to help.