I am a retired HS teacher with a BS in Biology and G Sci (the teaching degree) and a MS in Biology for research. Research has always been my first love and actually have a couple of published papers. I don't feel that I am in good enough shape...but maybe I should look into who is doing research out here and see if they need an asst. or collaborator! LOL!!! ANYWAY...I love my chickens. Years ago I raised parakeets and pretty much knew the color inheritance for them. OK o more PK's. I am wondering about Silkies and Faverolles. I have severl Silkies od different colors and a Faverolles roo as well as a few other purebreeds. The Faverolles hen loves my Dark Cornish roo and my Silkies prefer both of those over my gorgeous splash Silkie roo!!! Well, I read a lot on here about Silkied other breeds and have been thinking that might be something I would be interested in. However, I need to know more about the genetics of these two breeds. Genetics for 1. Silkie feathers vs Non-Silkie 2. Top knots vs none So...I have blue, buff, white, blue-partridge??, black, painted hens and a Faverolles roo. Since the Faverolles hen nor the splashed Silkie roo I have any interest in each other, that leaves me with the Silkie hens and the Faverolloes roo. Which color of Silkie would be best to start with, or does it matter? F2 geration, what should I breed these out of this generation to??? I want to work for Faverolles color and Silkie feathers and appearance. I assume if I was working for just Silkie feathers I would breed back to another Silkie but I want to carry the colors too. Any one out there want to tutor me a bit??? Would certainly be most appreciated!!! I know someone gave me some of the genes for the Faverolles pattern and if all genes involved were inherited only as dom, rec ,incomplete, or sex-linked, I think I could do it myself. I have had 1 college class in genetics and loved it. Of course that was quite a few years ago and now a lot more is known. We had an interim prof and I worked out the problems for him that he couldn't figure out. Of course, I would work on the problem for hrs and no one else enjoyed them as much as I did. I guess they had "lives" and at that time mine was more stay at home!
ES- If you want jump right in I'd suggest you hop on over to http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=3&page=1 And read through some of the posts there. Many/most of the posters are from outside the US and are highly educated in the matters of poultry genetics. They often reference professional papers research and the like, but generally are also breeders in their own right. The is a tremendous wealth at this site and you'll spend hours just going through the great genetics posts. A few also post here. BTW I'm also a retired biologist and have a few genetics projects going myself. - main with the laced varieties of Cochin bantams. Dave
