Help figuring out Silkie crosses

[Minniechickmama]

A friend has these two girls and we are trying to determine their parentage. Any guesses to go with the silkie?

Thanks.

 

[M To The Maxx]

Silkie/EE crosses

 

[chickenlover54]

Quote:
beat me to it LOL

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

What breeds are in the flock?

THere are many mutts that are not EEs. WHY do people immediately say EE whenever a bird is mixed?

 

[SunAngel]

I have hatched and raised many EE/Silkie mixes and those two look like them, so that would have been my guess as well.

Here is one of my girls. Different coloring, but head shape, neck feathering and body shape is very similar.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Quote:
Exacctly, that is what I was trying to avoid. My friend does not have the parents nor does she know the parent breeds. I think it is obviously a black silkie and ?? which is why I posted. I am trying to think if there are any other breeds that would give the gold feathering around the neck? It is almost like a silkie type black sex-link. Is that even a possibility? I wouldn't think so. If you breed a sex-link, don't the offspring revert to the parent markings/color?

On the other hand, what might be crossed with a Silkie and what variety of Silkie to produce what looks like a black sex link? Of course, in a month or two, if they do lay green eggs, we will know.

 

[pbjmaker]

The tails look slightly cochinish. I have a silkie X cochin that looks very similiar. She doesn't have the gold color around the neck though. But it would depend on the color of the original chickens.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Colouring does not come from breed, but from variety. Most breeds come in a number of varieties. Gold around the neck can indicate a birchen base, insufficient melanizers with a black or brown base. From the appearance of the bird, and suspecting silkie in hte background, it is probably brown based.

Silkie would usually give 5-toes, dark skin, muffs/beard, walnut, rose or pea comb to offspring in a cross.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I get that. I think there is a cross of other breed because of a couple of things on these two girls:
1. The legs have reduced feathering from what one should see with a Silkie, and I don't think a cochin cross would cause that? I would think it would still have substantial feathering instead of it being a few feathers.
2. The barbed feathering vs. the fluff of the Silkie.

So, if you can indulge me, Black is the dominant base? I thought maybe that it was a red/brown base to bring out the yellow/orange around the neck.
I must be learning something from all the stuff you are posting

Plus, I am trying to find more outside of this site. Can you recommend any books on chicken genetics?

I just got a message from my friend with the list of other bantams that the breeder has:

Feather legged: cochins, dark and buff Brahma, salmon fav, black langshan, frizzles, silkies and bearded mille fleur

Clean leg: polish, wheaten amer., buckeye, RIR, quail belgium, mottled ancona and variety of leghorn.

I was already certain that it is a black silkie on one side. I am going to guess a cross with RIR. I went with clean legged because of #1 above. The body carriage of both the roo and the girls is closest to RIR than the other breeds listed here when the clean leg is taken into account. I wonder if this is a sex-linked outcome too that the girls inherit the Silkie head and the roo gets the RIR traits? The other thing that makes me think RIR is that the black sex link pullets/hen have this same type of coloring, but I know that is when crossed with the BR, but that is a black base color too isn't it? I am curious what you think, Sonora, because you seem to have the most knowledge on these things of anyone I have seen so far.

Here is the roo that came with them.

Thanks.
Theri

Just found out they also lay a white or very light off-white egg. AND when I say "head" I mean all the traits of the head - comb, wattles, earlobe, etc.