Paint Silkies..where did they come from?

[Floppy Pheasant]

I bought paint silkie eggs I'm currently incubating... are paints the result of genetics or dominant colors ...are they actually hereditary or the result of inbreeding???
What is the consensus?? Are Showgirls the result of genes?? What is the fine line between genetics and cross breeding?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm having trouble responding because I don't think you have a basic understanding of genetics. Chicken colors and patterns are a result of genetics. So is size, egg laying ability, how fast they grow, comb type, practically everything about them. Genetics involves dominant, recessive, partially dominant, and conditional genes. The colors and patterns you get is based on how all these come together. The results you get from inbreeding, cross breeding, or breeding purebreds is all based on genetics, what genes are present and how they mix together.

Are showgirls the result of genes? Yes, just like every other color/pattern and appearance out there.

I don't have a clue about what you mean about a fine line between genetics and cross breeding. The results you get from cross breeding is based on the genetics of the parents.

 

[Amer]

I agree with Ridgerunner.

 

[Floppy Pheasant]

I have zero understanding of genetics, the reason for my question is that someone said paint silkies are not genetic... I was only trying to understand that comment... I assumed all colors were genetic,hence my question.
What's the difference between genetics and hereditary?
It's confusing.Thanks Ridgerunner..I knew you would know!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Maybe they meant that paint is not a repeatable pattern, that you don't always get paint even if you breed a paint to a paint chicken?

I tried doing a little research and got conflicting info. One suggestion was that paint is black leakage on a dominant white bird. So to get more paint chicks you need to breed paint to solid black birds. Just breeding a white to a black might work if the white is based on Dominant White but will not work if the white is based on Recessive White. Breeding to another paint might work. If it is just leakage, it might or might not work.

Someone else said Paint is a mutation of the Dominant White gene. I guess it would be Dominant, they did not clarify. If that is the case then it would be repeatable in all offspring provided both parents were pure for that gene at each gene pair. Otherwise you are crossing mixes and should get some paints, some with other colors/patterns. "Pure" means both genes at that gene pair are the same gene.

In either case it is based on genetics but there are possible combinations where it might not show up in future generations.