How should i split up my silkies for breeding??

Hannahnic14

Crowing
Apr 29, 2021
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Middle Tennessee
So I'm going to start splitting up my silkies to breed next spring and I think I know how I'm going to split them up (by pen) but wanted some input! I'll list all my colors below then list how I think I'm going to separate them. Thanks! I'm really just wanting some pretty colors!

Roosters
Frizzle satin cream and black
Chocolate silkie
White silkie
Blue silkie
Partridge silkie

Hens/pullets
White Silkie showgirl
White Satin showgirl
Splash silkie
Black silkie
Frizzle Dun silkie
Black frizzle satin
Chocolate silkie
Partridge silkie
Buff silkie
Dun satin
Chocolate satin


Pen #1
Blue rooster
Splash hen
Black hen
Black satin frizzle
White silkie showgirl
(Possibly a White silkie hen that throws paint chicks)

Pen #2
Frizzle Dun silkie
Chocolate rooster
Chocolate hen
Dun satin hen
Chocolate satin
White satin

That's as far as I got. Any input welcome!
 
i think blue x black will give mostly black

If you breed a blue chicken with a black chicken, you should expect about half the chicks to be blue and the other half to be black.

If you breed a blue chicken with a splash chicken, you should expect about half the chicks to be blue and the other half to be splash.
 
Pen #1
Blue rooster
Splash hen
Black hen
Black satin frizzle
White silkie showgirl
(Possibly a White silkie hen that throws paint chicks)

Pen #2
Frizzle Dun silkie
Chocolate rooster
Chocolate hen
Dun satin hen
Chocolate satin
White satin

That's as far as I got. Any input welcome!
I would expect quite a few blue chicks from Pen #1, with some black and some splash. With the blue rooster, your white hen can produce blue paints in addition to paints that have black spots. You will probably have lots of silkie-type feathers, some satins, and some frizzles. Depending on the genes of your satin frizzle hen, you might also get some silkie frizzles.

From Pen #2, you have a bunch of color genes I'm not as familiar with, but I think you will get a lot of cute chicks! And of course you will have all the different feather types, too.

It sounds like you are going to have quite a rainbow of chicks there!
 
Ive got a few " blue" ( genotypically blue, but as with all blues....naturally a few appear blue, others black) and a few buff /red silkies. I was wondering .....what would i end up with if i left them all together? Im fairly certain if i remember correctly....if i sepereted out the "blues" .... they would yeild an f1 of blue, black, and white...is that correct?

Is there a possibity of having f1 sex links....with an intentional combo of say : maybe a red roo, with a "blue" hen?
 
if i sepereted out the "blues" .... they would yeild an f1 of blue, black, and white...is that correct?
Almost right. You should get black, blue, and splash. The "splash" ones tend to be a light gray with splashes of black on them. They do not look white.

Is there a possibity of having f1 sex links....with an intentional combo of say : maybe a red roo, with a "blue" hen?
No, you should not expect any sexlinks from that cross.

A red rooster with a silver hen or a barred hen can give sexlinks, but with a blue hen you'll just get a bunch of blue chicks (both genders) and black chicks (both genders). Those black and blue chicks may have bits of red appear as they grow up, so if you want nice blacks and nice blues it will be better to not cross them with reds.
 
Almost right. You should get black, blue, and splash. The "splash" ones tend to be a light gray with splashes of black on them. They do not look white.


No, you should not expect any sexlinks from that cross.

A red rooster with a silver hen or a barred hen can give sexlinks, but with a blue hen you'll just get a bunch of blue chicks (both genders) and black chicks (both genders). Those black and blue chicks may have bits of red appear as they grow up, so if you want nice blacks and nice blues it will be better to not cross them with reds.
Thanks for your reply. Sorry for all the misspellings in my post (eeek).
I've never had red silkies before--- so it kinda throws another potential curve ball/ variable into the mix. Thanks so much for your input.
It's been a long time since I had silkies. I do remember being constantly surprised by the unexpected assortment I ended up with long ago. I recall them hatching white chicks (but then again...the scenario was different....because I actually had at least one pure white hen back then :).
What surprised me back then (especially at the first hatch), was that I had only Black parent stock and white parent stock. No matter how I separated them, (much to my surprise ) I always ended up with an assortment of chicks that included blues. Anyway- it was a fun introductory lesson as far as blues go. I thought I had "special" chickens, lol, ....until I found a silkie breeding chart that showed my blue results from black were standard issue.
With the blues likely throwing the same type of assortment (minus white).....it's intriguing to think of what adding red to the mix might do.
Perhaps an occasional tri-color splash somewhere down the line?
 

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