Giant Silkie Project.

[MysteryChicken]

I'll be curious to see how it looks as it gets older yet.

I see why you think it's a cockerel, but I also see why it "should" be a pullet, so I don't know what it really is I suppose you can't go by comb color, because that will just be black.

Comb is a grey color rest of the skin is a dark grey/black.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Guess this just a case of Wait, & See with this one.

 

[MysteryChicken]

It's a boy. Red shoulders are starting. Also has some black breast feathers starting under the pullet colored ones.

 

[NatJ]

It's a boy. Red shoulders are starting. Also has some black breast feathers starting under the pullet colored ones.
View attachment 4132492View attachment 4132493

That's the one that should be a skin-color sexlink, right? Light skin mother, light skin son?

Definitely puzzling.

Maybe the mother actually had the gene for dark skin but some other gene made her skin look light?
Maybe the son has genetically light skin, but some other gene is making it look dark? (But I think that typically happens in Extended Black Birds, not birds that show as much red as yours has.)

Maybe there was a mixup about which hen actually laid the egg that chick hatched from? This would be the simplest explanation from a genetic perspective, but I don't know how likely or unlikely it actually is for the way you're currently housing chickens and identifying eggs.

 

[MysteryChicken]

That's the one that should be a skin-color sexlink, right? Light skin mother, light skin son?

Definitely puzzling.

Maybe the mother actually had the gene for dark skin but some other gene made her skin look light?
Maybe the son has genetically light skin, but some other gene is making it look dark? (But I think that typically happens in Extended Black Birds, not birds that show as much red as yours has.)

Maybe there was a mixup about which hen actually laid the egg that chick hatched from? This would be the simplest explanation from a genetic perspective, but I don't know how likely or unlikely it actually is for the way you're currently housing chickens and identifying eggs.

No mix up, two Silkie roosters in with the Malays. Eggs were all gathered while I had only them as the first flock out of the cages.

 

[NatJ]

No mix up, two Silkie roosters in with the Malays. Eggs were all gathered while I had only them as the first flock out of the cages.

That sounds pretty definite!

So if the hens appear to have light skin, and I can see that the chick definitely appears to have dark skin, I guess it comes down to one of the hens actually having the gene for dark skin, or else the chick actually having the gene for light skin. (Or the chick being genetically female but developing male traits, but I think that is even less likely.)

Weird!

 

[Amer]

No mix up, two Silkie roosters in with the Malays. Eggs were all gathered while I had only them as the first flock out of the cages.

Did the Malays have slate or willow legs?

 

[MysteryChicken]

That sounds pretty definite!

So if the hens appear to have light skin, and I can see that the chick definitely appears to have dark skin, I guess it comes down to one of the hens actually having the gene for dark skin, or else the chick actually having the gene for light skin. (Or the chick being genetically female but developing male traits, but I think that is even less likely.)

Weird!

Not sure who would be hiding dark skin as all the hens I have are obviously yellow/white skinned.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Did the Malays have slate or willow legs?

I've got 1 hen that's got light green(Lays Teal Eggs), the rest have yellow, yellow with brown tinge.

 

[Amer]

I've got 1 hen that's got light green(Lays Teal Eggs), the rest have yellow, yellow with brown tinge.

Well bingo
That's the explanation. Fibro is an autosomal dominant gene that needs recessive sexlinked id+ to express but it's not inherently sexlinked.