how did this happen? --Pictures added--

[Miss Red]

Some of the chicks I got from that rescue were supposably out of the silkie and 'sebright'. Now here's my question, why do all of the chicks out of them look like some crazy colored Polish? And are they technically EE bantams? I will get pictures of all the birds tomorrow, then all of the chicks, and maybe we can figure out what the few from unknown pens are?

 

[Redcatcher]

Polish were introduced to Silkies to improve their crests so it does not really surprise me if they look a little like Polish. I am not sure how you are getting EE out of this cross?

 

[hoppy]

Quote:
the hens could have been with a different rooster up to 3 weeks earlier and still have eggs fertilized by that prior rooster.

 

[Miss Red]

I'm wondering if they might be EE because they're a mix... As I know EEs are mixed.

So, at some point the polish were used to improve crests. That explains a lot of the look in these guys.

 

[nzpouter]

they all inherited partial lacing from the sebright.... that's why they're weird colours...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

EE is a specific type of mix: somewhere in its background was a blue egg laying ancestor. Not the case with this cross.

Crest is dominant, so from the cross, the chicks should be crested. Likewise, they should also have 10 toes and black skin. If the silkie parent is split for any of these dominant genes, about half the offspring will not inherit that trait. None will have silkie feathering as that is recessive.

 

[Miss Red]

All the chicks with top hats have ten toes, and black skin. They all also have little rose combs coming in. I'm heading out to move everyone around into a fresh scratch zone so I will get the pictures now.

And yes, they all are wierd colors because of the lacing I got a good look when clearing some OLD pasty butt this morning. Some of them have wierd lacing others are just wierd colors.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

rose combs or walnut combs?

 

[Miss Red]

I'm not going to lie, I didn't even know there was a walnut comb. I'm looking them up at the moment. The two silkie roo's have two different combs. The buff silkie has a straight comb with five points. The white silkie has what I thought was a large rose comb, but I guess it's a walnut comb? It's large and purple, there are two 'creases' in it on either side in the middle.

I am also not sure if I have the breeds right on a few of the possible parents. They're all pictured after the chicks.

1This is the first chick, I believe it's a pullet. She's one of the ones with the wierd coloration. She's got a few random gold feathers, but mostly grey and black. Sorry the comb picture is blurry, she was getting anxious with me after I plucked a few pasted butt feathers off of her. The third picture is of her feet, which is what ALL the pictured chicks feet look like, ten toes on most one chick has nine. The chick with nine looks like it HAD ten toes, but one was ripped off some how. Theres a scar on the right foot where it should be.

2This is the second chick. I believe it's a pullet as well. No sign of a comb, real bashful.

3This is the one I'm positive is a cockeral. He's got some signs of saddle feathers coming in, leads the group, and is the bravest of the bunch. Also, look at the color of 'his' comb. I don't know if I'm mistaken or not, but this guy and the other possible cockeral have different shaped top hats to my untrained eye. No body shot of him he decided I was done with him and hopped down after this picture.

4 These are two identical chicks. They look younger, but were the two chicks that had pasty poop on their poor bums so thick I'm not sure they were thriving.

5 Pullet? She's the prettiest of the group, and one of the larger possible pullets. Not nearly as large as the two cockerals though. She's also the friendliest, and runs up to us when we head out with feed.

6 Another one of the pullets. This girl is one of the ones that shows signs of lacing. I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a cockeral, I'm in love with her already.

7 Cockeral. I think I see the start of pink in it's comb, and it's almost as out going as the 'known' cockeral. Also, the top hat is different on 'him' as well.

8 Group shot of the top hat gang. There's nine total but a couple of repeats, so I didn't put them up.

These are the possible father roos on all the chicks. The buff hid his head as I took the picture, but you can see the comb type of the white boy clearly. His is what I think theirs will look like. I believe they're all out of the white silkie, aka Silkie, and not Brutus the buff because of their combs.

Here's leaf and chew, I don't think they're parents to any of this set of chicks. But I think they are to the younger ones, not pictured. Leaf is the black Cochin and Chew is the unidentified bantam hen dashing away there. I was told she sebright and something. Chew has horrible lacing, but it's evident when you get a good still picture of her.

This is Gypsy, the other 'sebright' hen. She also has poor quality lacing, and is a blue colored bird not grey. She was penned with the white silkie. I have no pictures of the hen that as with the buff silkie, because she died days before I got them. Her 'lacing' looks more like polka spots to me, with a few on her chest that are pretty and lacey.

These are another of the feather legged bantams, that could be possible parents of those chicks. I didn't count toes, but I know they both have beards and muffs. I don't think these are culprits, though, because they were in a rabbit pen on the back of the property. The rooster has orange hackle/saddle feathers and a grey/blue feather pattern every where else.

And the final pen of Bantams/possible parents to the chicks is this pen of a laced cochin? hen and a laced jap? roo. These two may not be possible parents, because they were penned away from the others, but that doesn't mean they weren't all in one big pen to begin with I guess. Ignore the random boards there, Skylar was 'helping' me this morning.

The other pen of rooster/hen pairing is a GSL roo and a white cornish hen, both are rather large and I am pretty positive they are NOT the parents of any of these chicks. They had their own coop. But just in case...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The white silkie has a walnut comb. If any of the chicks have a roseomb, their father is likely the buff silkie, and they inherited the rose comb from mama sebright. (I am making the assumption that the white is hom. for both rose and pea comb genes)