Help me nail down these genetics and chose a mate for this silkie hen

[RememberTheWay]

I had posted this on in my silkie thread a few months ago asking what this silkie is. Someone suggested red pyle, as I had no buffs at the time this one was hatched. Pyle is impossible here too with what I have. An anomaly, maybe? In a couple of weeks our breeding pens will be done, so I'm going to stick him with a buff hen and a black hen, and see what they make.

View attachment 4005005

Do you mind providing photos of the flock or specific birds you hatched from that created that bird? Maybe I can help? I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I do study color genetics a LOT! It does look like a red Pyle and sometimes it's not totally obvious that that is a possibility out of certain birds.

I did wind up picking a mate for my recessive white hen, who is also dominant white (1 copy). I am going to use her to move my porcelain project forward. I have this guy that is actually a split from a Mille Fleur project (not my breeding- I purchased a set of chicks from someone) Anyways- I will not get all chicks that can be used in the porcelain project but a small percentage of them will be useful colors mainly partridge, so I will retain those and sell the rest of the offspring. I like the males build, he is quite small, has decent chest depths, and he has crest and beard/muffs which not all of the splits did. He should also be split to silkie feathering so when the offspring are breed to another silkie or split they will produce satins and silkies.

 

[Debbie292d]

Do you mind providing photos of the flock or specific birds you hatched from that created that bird? Maybe I can help? I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I do study color genetics a LOT! It does look like a red Pyle and sometimes it's not totally obvious that that is a possibility out of certain birds.

I did wind up picking a mate for my recessive white hen, who is also dominant white (1 copy). I am going to use her to move my porcelain project forward. I have this guy that is actually a split from a Mille Fleur project (not my breeding- I purchased a set of chicks from someone) Anyways- I will not get all chicks that can be used in the porcelain project but a small percentage of them will be useful colors mainly partridge, so I will retain those and sell the rest of the offspring. I like the males build, he is quite small, has decent chest depths, and he has crest and beard/muffs which not all of the splits did. He should also be split to silkie feathering so when the offspring are breed to another silkie or split they will produce satins and silkies.

That one's parents are pretty limited as I believe at that time I was only hatching from the breeding pen. In there at one point was a mauve rooster, splash hen, a chocolate hen, and black hens. I believe that's where he'd have come from.

Since then, it's two cuckoo males, and the same hens.

Again, I had zero buffs at that time. The closest thing I would have gotten to buff was the older pet quality few I have left pop out a partridge on occasion and they turn red/orange if roosters, and just rusty browns if hen. That bunch has a white rooster, a partridge hen, and black hens. The rooster is who must be responsible for the partridges we've gotten, but I don't hatch their eggs anymore.

Here's one of their partridges I kept and one we gave away. Again, these are pet-quality ones I'm fading out of.






Probable father of that buff is Piper, the mauve roo.

 

[RememberTheWay]

Dif

That one's parents are pretty limited as I believe at that time I was only hatching from the breeding pen. In there at one point was a mauve rooster, splash hen, a chocolate hen, and black hens. I believe that's where he'd have come from.

Since then, it's two cuckoo males, and the same hens.

Again, I had zero buffs at that time. The closest thing I would have gotten to buff was the older pet quality few I have left pop out a partridge on occasion and they turn red/orange if roosters, and just rusty browns if hen. That bunch has a white rooster, a partridge hen, and black hens. The rooster is who must be responsible for the partridges we've gotten, but I don't hatch their eggs anymore.

Here's one of their partridges I kept and one we gave away. Again, these are pet-quality ones I'm fading out of.

View attachment 4009419

View attachment 4009420


Probable father of that buff is Piper, the mauve roo.
View attachment 4009421

Did you have any paint hens at all?

 

[RememberTheWay]

That one's parents are pretty limited as I believe at that time I was only hatching from the breeding pen. In there at one point was a mauve rooster, splash hen, a chocolate hen, and black hens. I believe that's where he'd have come from.

Since then, it's two cuckoo males, and the same hens.

Again, I had zero buffs at that time. The closest thing I would have gotten to buff was the older pet quality few I have left pop out a partridge on occasion and they turn red/orange if roosters, and just rusty browns if hen. That bunch has a white rooster, a partridge hen, and black hens. The rooster is who must be responsible for the partridges we've gotten, but I don't hatch their eggs anymore.

Here's one of their partridges I kept and one we gave away. Again, these are pet-quality ones I'm fading out of.

View attachment 4009419

View attachment 4009420


Probable father of that buff is Piper, the mauve roo.
View attachment 4009421

I do not think the mauve roo is the father actually. His babies especially a female would look different then what she does. What color are the cuckoo roosters? And Colombian birds?

 

[Debbie292d]

I do not think the mauve roo is the father actually. His babies especially a female would look different then what she does. What color are the cuckoo roosters? And Colombian birds?

No paints at that time.

Here's the cuckoo dads that replaced the mauve in the breeding pen. I thought that one was hatched before the switch and thought I figured it out one time that these couldn't have been the dad, but perhaps my calculating was off.

 

[RememberTheWay]

I'm excited to see!

So, because I am learning the ropes with genetics and just starting to get a decent grasp on some of the genes I actually consulted my most trusted colleague/mentor regarding your mystery chick. We both seem to think that what most likely explains your chick is that is actually a buff bird, not Pyle and the father is most likely your lighest cuckoo- he appears to have other genes that would explain some of how that chick came to be, and the mother was most likely your partridge hen, but also could of been (slightly less likely though) one of the black hens. Your splash hens would definitely not be a candidate though in my opinion, nor the mauve rooster. Have you bred that light cuckoo to anyone else so far? What about the partridge hen?

 

[RememberTheWay]

No paints at that time.

Here's the cuckoo dads that replaced the mauve in the breeding pen. I thought that one was hatched before the switch and thought I figured it out one time that these couldn't have been the dad, but perhaps my calculating was off.
View attachment 4010227

The hen that is in the upper left? Who is she? Is she a possibility too?

 

[Debbie292d]

The hen that is in the upper left? Who is she? Is she a possibility too?

That's Marsha. She and a chocolate, and a few blacks would have been in there at the time. I've always considered her a splash but some thought a silver partridge.

 

[RememberTheWay]

That's Marsha. She and a chocolate, and a few blacks would have been in there at the time. I've always considered her a splash but some thought a silver partridge.

View attachment 4010516

Is it possible she is actually mauve? Have you pair mated her with anyone?

 

[Debbie292d]

Is it possible she is actually mauve? Have you pair mated her with anyone?

No, he's just 7 months. Our new coop isn't done but should be a couple more weeks and we can use it. Four huge breeding pens!

I plan to put him with a black hen and the buff frizzle cuckoo. The regular buff pullets are 6 months old, so I'll wait a couple of months. Him a couple of months ago, keeping the buff/orange color since birth.


She's almost over her molt.