how to you get a new color in a breed?

[ninny]

im was wondering i have seen people working on barred silkies and i like to know how that works.


would you always cross a white silkie with a bird of your color choice. then breed the best of that hatch back to a silke. or no? would that lock the color in so you could just work on type or would you need to keep breeding the color back in?

how many gens before you could have a nice typey bird of the new color?

please use laymens terms when possable.

 

[Guitartists]

Well, I don;t know much, but I have heard a lot of cuckoo Silkie breeders mention that they are still working to get the red out of the combs.... so, it must take a while. I'm interested too to know how this works.

 

[LuannKeller]

White would probably be the worst color to start a barred project with - you'd want black or a wild type to show the colors. Also the genes that make white are more numerous and things like dominant white wouldn't help you.

Because the silkie has black, toes, walnut comb, black comb it would be a long process but you've got the right idea. Introduce the barred gene and then work that silkie cross line by breeding the crosses to fulls.

Since barring is sexlinked (the one we're likely to be talking about) you could shorten the path a bit by chosing the right gender for the first match.

I raise Serama and have the barring gene in a few decent Serama, but I have not introduced it into my silkied Serama - that would be easy enough to do...thanks for the new project (like I needed it!)

 

[ninny]

so dont use white then.
how do you decide what color of silkie to breed to. say if you were gonna do millie fleur use black or no?

and how to you decide what sex to breed to what?

when would the color be locked in so you could work on type?

im really intrested in doing this but i need to know how.

are there any good websites or books out there ?

would it be easier to use a feather footed breed to introduce the color?

and would the first cross have the silkie feathers if not how many gens would it take?

how do you pick which birds to breed back to the silkie line or cull?

does it matter how typey the bird your crossing to the silkie is?

i am assuming i should use the best silkies i can get right? or what until i start working on type?

since ive never done this what would be a somewhat easy cross salmon fav maybe as they have feathered feet and 5 toes too or no?

should i use bantam or standard crosses?

sorry so many questions i just want to do this right

 

[Guitartists]

There's this book... I would imagine it applies to all chickens.... I am hoping to get it soon...

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Wyand/BRKWyand.html (it's there at the top)

 

[LuannKeller]

I got the e-book mentioned and it was interesting. It is not comprehensive but he gives many examples of how he bred different birds - I don't recall much in the way of pictures, but he plans to do another book with more info.

There is a book with LOTS of pictures coming out soon.

Chicken genes apply across breeds but there are lots of genes to consider and the best birds to start with would be ones where you knew their genes.

Feathered feet are dominant so if you take a clean legged bird to a feathered legged you will get feathers on the legs in the first generation but they will not be great quality. Feathered legs are a DQ (disqualifying flaw) so you don't want feathers on the wrong legs - but it look cute even then.

If you are wanting a single trait - like bars - you want to find that trait within your breed if it is there at all. If it is not there you would want to get it from a chicken with many traits in common - as many as possible. With silkies you're in a hard spot because they are not like most other chickens. I think bars are in silkies so you would just need to get one with it for your flock.

If you visit THE COOP you can get a lot of answers from genetics people.

Chickens come in black and red feathers - everything else is a modification. There are 5 basic patterns on chickens (where the black and red are on the bird) and everything else is pattern genes and color modifiers. The most dominant pattern is extended black, then birchen, then wheaton, then wild type, then brown/partridge.

 

[herechickchick]

If you are going to do this I would get a Cuckoo silkie rooster (the best quality and type you can find) and cross him over the best black silkie hens you can find. If I understand correctly then 1/2 of the chicks will be cuckoo (barred) and the other 1/2 will be black. When you are breeding keep the cuckoo pullets and breed them back to the cuckoo father. I would keep a few black hen in the mix, they have the potential to throw nice cuckoo chicks. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Good Luck

 

[ninny]

Quote:
I emailed the guy yesterday. Im hopeing he will get back to me.

What if you whated to do a color no one else was doing like millie fleur. how would i do that.

and would mine best bet me to get a flock of black silkies for cross breeding?

 

[Guitartists]

Someone posted this in another thread...... a very informative site. I'm going to print it all off so I can sit down comfortably and read it all. LMAO It's Greek to me, but hopefully I can figure it out! LOL

http://home.ezweb.com.au/~kazballea/genetics/default.html