how to make a black chicken?

[picalowpiepi]

so say that i have a silkie roo that i want to cross with a yellow skinned breed. How do i go about it? when the skin starts to lighten do i keep crossing silkies hoping to make it darker again? thanks

 

[picalowpiepi]

no one?

 

[3riverschick]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/20590/sonoran-silkies

Hi,
I am not sure of the question but if it has anything to do with Silkies you
should ask BYC Educator "Sonoran Silkies" ( Suze Scott) . She is encyclopedic about them.
Best,
Karen

 

[nicalandia]

so say that i have a silkie roo that i want to cross with a yellow skinned breed. How do i go about it? when the skin starts to lighten do i keep crossing silkies hoping to make it darker again? thanks

You are in Luck, as this cross will produce sex linked chicks, females will have dark skin and dark shanks, dark beaks(dark green) and males will have pinkish yellow skin, shanks and beaks, you can save the females and breed them back to another silkie rooster..

How is this a sex linked cross? That is because Fibromelanotic(FM) needs sex linked id+ to express, id+ is responsible for dark shanks in Ameraucanas and other slate/green shanked breeds, and sex linked dominant dermal inhibitor(Id) is responsible for White/Yellow shank color.
Silkie Rooster has id+/id+ and Fm/FM genes and when crossed to Id/- fm+/fm+ female the cross will yield: Females> id+/- Fm/fm+ and Males> Id/id+ Fm/fm+
While males carry one copy of Fm and one copy of id+ the Id gene is too strong to allow pigmentation on the dermis(skin, shanks).

below is the pic of the same cross(Silkie rooster over yellow shanked hen).

 

[picalowpiepi]

:O thank you!

 

[Kev]

To make it extra clearer- if the yellow skinned bird has green legs it is not a sex linked cross.

If it has yellow legs then yes it is a sex linked cross, specifically because of the "gene that makes the legs yellow(or white, if the bird is white skinned)", not because the black skin itself is a sex linked trait(a very common misconception due to one article online).

 

[Kev]

Marvin, is there a way to tell if a black(feather) bird has Id or not? I paused at adding 'black legs' next to green legs in my response above. I understand typically on E and most ER birds(as in black, not variables like sebrights etc) will have black shanks even if they are Id/Id or Id/-

 

[nicalandia]

To make it extra clearer- if the yellow skinned bird has green legs it is not a sex linked cross.

That is correct, for example Araucanas hens have green shanks and Ameraucanas hens have slate shanks, these hens with slate/green colored shanks but yellow/white skin can not be used as sex linked crossed with silkie roosters.



Quote:

That is correct, that is because Extended black(and to a lesser extend ER birchen) are powerful melanizers and while sex linked Id will prevent the expression of dermal melanin, it has not effect on epidermal melanin expression, that is why is extremely difficult to breed for pure black breeds with yellow shanks, it can be done(see Black Leghorns and show quality Black Rocks)

Black Rock.


Black Leghorn.



Now a Black Sexlinked Hen that is Id/- E/eWh because her sire was a R.I.R and mather was Barred, most of them have dark shanks.

 

[nicalandia]

The only way to find out is to do an outcross(with silkie rooster) or remove the epidermis on the shanks from a deceased specimen, the shank will be white/yellow after the epidermis has been removed if the bird is Id but it will be slate or green if the bird carries id+.

 

[Kev]

The only way to find out is to do an outcross(with silkie rooster) or remove the epidermis on the shanks from a deceased specimen, the shank will be white/yellow after the epidermis has been removed if the bird is Id but it will be slate or green if the bird carries id+.

Interesting tidbit and thanks for the info.