From silkie mix to new breed?

[Cool_Catrules456]

A little update:

The 2 month olds have gotten sick with coccidiosis. I've been treating them for it. I've sadly lost three. Olive and two of the white pullets (yellow and green rings). Good news is that no more are badly sick. A couple others were looking off a couple days back, but they're almost back to normal now. At least Orion, Onyx and Onell weren't affected. Everything is almost back to normal and if it continues to go the way it is right now then I don't think I will lose any more chicks. At least I hope so.

That sucks. I am so sorry for you’re losses. Is there anyway you can get the chicks vaccinated? (Once you get more hatched. As there is no point in vaccinating older chicks.)

 

[Cloverr39]

I've got an idea on what to do about tails. I really like the square shape of the tails of Onyx and Orion. I also really love the little round bump of feathers Oakley has at the start of the tail.

Onyx with his square tail. It will likely get long feathers in it when he's older, but I would like their tails to not have the long feathers hanging over, sort of like what sebrights have.

Sebright tail. Image from McMurray hatchery.

I don't have any good pictures showing Oakley's tail bump (and it is quite subtle), so I got a picture of a brahma from the internet. That round poof of feathers by the tail is what I'm referring to.

Together it might look something like this. (Please excuse my very bad photo editing skills). Main rooster image is a brahma rooster I had. The tail is from the image above. I not sure if those tail poofs would show on roosters or only on hens. The saddle feathers would probably ruin it. Either way, the square tails are something I would like for them to have.

Here's a quick sketch I drew of a hen.

I'm also thinking of mixing in some Welsummer for speckled eggs in the far future, as I've always loved the look of speckled eggs. I get speckled eggs from Zombie and one of my silkies, but that is because of excess calcium or something, not genetics.

Would something like this be possible? What do you think about it?

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

I've got an idea on what to do about tails. I really like the square shape of the tails of Onyx and Orion. I also really love the little round bump of feathers Oakley has at the start of the tail.

Onyx with his square tail. It will likely get long feathers in it when he's older, but I would like their tails to not have the long feathers hanging over, sort of like what sebrights have.
View attachment 3572571

Sebright tail. Image from McMurray hatchery.
View attachment 3572586

I don't have any good pictures showing Oakley's tail bump (and it is quite subtle), so I got a picture of a brahma from the internet. That round poof of feathers by the tail is what I'm referring to.
View attachment 3572572

Together it might look something like this. (Please excuse my very bad photo editing skills). Main rooster image is a brahma rooster I had. The tail is from the image above. I not sure if those tail poofs would show on roosters or only on hens. The saddle feathers would probably ruin it. Either way, the square tails are something I would like for them to have.
View attachment 3572594

Here's a quick sketch I drew of a hen.
View attachment 3572606

I'm also thinking of mixing in some Welsummer for speckled eggs in the far future, as I've always loved the look of speckled eggs. I get speckled eggs from Zombie and one of my silkies, but that is because of excess calcium or something, not genetics.

Would something like this be possible? What do you think about it?

It is possible, it just will take a few extra generations, and lots of culling/selling the “defects” but definitely possible. Be prepared to find lots of new homes for some of them.

 

[Cloverr39]

It is possible, it just will take a few extra generations, and lots of culling/selling the “defects” but definitely possible. Be prepared to find lots of new homes for some of them.

Alright. I think I'll start working on their body type, tail and all those things once the color breeds true.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I've got an idea on what to do about tails. I really like the square shape of the tails of Onyx and Orion. I also really love the little round bump of feathers Oakley has at the start of the tail.

Onyx with his square tail. It will likely get long feathers in it when he's older, but I would like their tails to not have the long feathers hanging over, sort of like what sebrights have.
View attachment 3572571

Sebright tail. Image from McMurray hatchery.
View attachment 3572586

I don't have any good pictures showing Oakley's tail bump (and it is quite subtle), so I got a picture of a brahma from the internet. That round poof of feathers by the tail is what I'm referring to.
View attachment 3572572

Together it might look something like this. (Please excuse my very bad photo editing skills). Main rooster image is a brahma rooster I had. The tail is from the image above. I not sure if those tail poofs would show on roosters or only on hens. The saddle feathers would probably ruin it. Either way, the square tails are something I would like for them to have.
View attachment 3572594

Here's a quick sketch I drew of a hen.
View attachment 3572606

I'm also thinking of mixing in some Welsummer for speckled eggs in the far future, as I've always loved the look of speckled eggs. I get speckled eggs from Zombie and one of my silkies, but that is because of excess calcium or something, not genetics.

Would something like this be possible? What do you think about it?

The lack of curved tail feathers on a sebright rooster is due to hen-feathering. So it’s probably not possible to get what you want, unless you bred in hen-feathering (from sebrights, campines, or henny gamefowl) and were fine with all your roosters having the same coloring as the hens. The tail bump is called the cushion and is required in some breeds and a fault in others. I believe it’s most prominent in Cochins.

 

[Cloverr39]

The lack of curved tail feathers on a sebright rooster is due to hen-feathering. So it’s probably not possible to get what you want, unless you bred in hen-feathering

Ah, okay then. I will still try to get the tails to have a more square shape, even if they'll have the longer feathers in roosters.

 

[Cool_Catrules456]

Alright. I think I'll start working on their body type, tail and all those things once the color breeds true.

That sounds like a good plan.

 

[Suzmanville]

Every time I post my black silkie/isabel brahma mix online in my local FB groups everyone always asks what her breed is and that she's absolutely gorgeous and they'd want one. I posted something about her being broody and trying to get her to stop and someone said that I should definitely let her hatch chicks and that I should breed her parents again. She also said that it would make a very pretty breed.

View attachment 3350550
View attachment 3350566

So that got me thinking...
If so there would be demand for it, I love working with genetics and breeding, and I love Oakley's color and temperament why not give it a shot? Plus it's something I could combine with my silkie breeding as long as I only keep pure silkie roosters around. And the F1 (I think that's what it's called) crosses (brahma hen to silkie roo) should be sexlinked by skin color just like Oakley.

So let's set up a few simple goals with this:

• Crested, maybe bearded
•  More brahma-like body type with thick feathers and a lot of leg feathering, which would make them more cold tolerant
• Dark skin
• Small dark combs

I think that's enough for now. Now isabel is lavender over partridge, yes? Then my first gen crosses like Oakley will carry lavender. I think lavender would look super cute on them.
My black rooster, the father of Oakley and her 2 full sisters was taken by a hawk. Now I have a dom white silkie roo with red leakage on the shoulders and streamer feathers (background of 2nd photo). I don't know how that will affect the chicks, but I do plan on getting black silkie chicks in spring for my silkie breeding and I really hope I'll get 1 nice rooster from those.

Can someone please inform me on how the penciling genetics work? Thanks.

What do yall think of this project? Should I keep you updated on how it goes?

Have you gotten to subsequent generations back to silky feathering? I’m looking for giant silkies are used to dabble in the same kind of cross breeding.

 

[Cloverr39]

Have you gotten to subsequent generations back to silky feathering? I’m looking for giant silkies are used to dabble in the same kind of cross breeding.

Are you asking if I've had chicks with silked feathers hatch from this cross in later generations? If so, yes, I have. 2 have hatched silked so far. They had a 50% chance of being silked, but out of 11 chicks I only got 2 silked.

 

[Cloverr39]

I tried to make a sketch of what it may look like, but I think it turned out looking a bit too much like a brahma. Though I guess these would have a more slim, slender chest area. Any ideas on what may help make them look a bit more different from brahmas?
Although I suppose when you add all the traits different from brahmas (dark skin, walnut comb, 5 toes, crests, dark mulberry earlobes) they're not that similar. And brahmas are supposed to have smooth fitting and not loose plumage, whereas I'd like my birds to have more loose and fluffy feathering.