Is this caused by the fee gene?

[FloorCandy]

I have a chick that’s about 3 weeks old. At about a week to a week and a half old I started noticing a dark spot growing in on its shoulder. Overall the bird is silver and peachy colored, it is the offspring of a double fee silver Italian and a Rosetta. The one spot on its back looks like the coloring of a Rosetta crossed with silver Italian when it doesn’t get a copy of fee, like dark gray/brown with cream spots. I’m wondering if it’s something with the fee gene that caused one feather, and parts of nearby feathers to be normal tone and the rest of the bird to be diluted. It looks like a Merle spot on a dog.

I’ve seen birds with odd white feathers popping up here and there, but this is something new for me. As a chick it was pale yellow (fee) with barely visible shadowy lines on its back, and it grew in light gray.

 

[FloorCandy]

Here’s a pic of a half and half feather:

 

[Nabiki]

I have several silvers with patches like that. I believe it's part of the SSC, not fee. SSCs need to be bred to other colours to keep the silver from becoming lethal. I stopped trying to hatch SSC because I was getting too many deformed chicks.

 

[FloorCandy]

I have several silvers with patches like that. I believe it's part of the SSC, not fee. SSCs need to be bred to other colours to keep the silver from becoming lethal. I stopped trying to hatch SSC because I was getting too many deformed chicks.

I crossed the silvers to scarlets, pharaohs, and rosettas, none of these is double SSC. Would one copy of SSC still cause the patches?

 

[Nabiki]

I crossed the silvers to scarlets, pharaohs, and rosettas, none of these is double SSC. Would one copy of SSC still cause the patches?

I think so. I'm no expert on genetics, though. This is just from what I've seen.

 

[FloorCandy]

I had hoped to keep this one, it’s really big and fat so I was hoping it was a hen, but it started crowing yesterday, so he will not be staying. It would have been nice to try to breed him to see if I could get more birds with patches. I already have my extra male Prince who I’m putting into a side project so there’s no more room for extra boys.

 

[muddy75]

One of my first silver males had a dark patch in the shape of a heart!!!!