Partridge Cuckoo Silkie

[Fuzzybottom13]

Hello,

I recently hatched a single partridge cuckoo silkie egg that I bought on ebay (started with 8 - only one hatched). I am wondering what color cross creates this? Is it just a partridge x cuckoo or is there more to it? I've been trying to figure it out with the chicken genetics calculator, but I just don't have enough knowledge yet to fully understand it. The chick is 4 days old in the photo and I'm just starting to see some cuckoo pattern in the wing feathers coming in.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I don;t think you are seeing cuckoo pattern; I think you are seeing partridge. Is there a white head spot?

Without having seen the ad, my guess is that you bought eggs that were a cross between these two varieties. Depending on which way the cross was made, and the gender of the chick, cuckoo may not even be present in the chick (This would be if mama was cuckoo and the chick is female). If it did inherit barring, males will have a crele-like pattern. Females will be messy.

 

[Fuzzybottom13]

Sonoran,

Thanks so much for the reply. From all the threads I have read it seems like you have a great wealth of knowledge. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! This is an ad from the same seller, same wording. The photos look like different cuckoo colors? I don't recall a white spot, but I'll check in the morning. What does the white spot indicate?

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=141045237911&cmd=VIDESC

HEATHER

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

They are mixing colours. The white spot is a down characteristic of the barring gene. Males have a larger spot (assuming they have two copies of the gene) Females and males with only one copy of the gene have a smaller spot, sometimes nearly non-existent.

 

[Fuzzybottom13]

Ok, there is no white spot, so is this likely just a partridge chick then? What color is (or how did you create) the chicken in your avatar photo?

Here are a few extra photos. The wing pattern appears more distinct than the partridge I have which are more random. This seems more like barring?

 

[Fuzzybottom13]

After emailing the seller I was told that the parents are "gray cuckoo" and "partridge cuckoo."

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

THe chick is too young to display barring. That takes a few weeks to start showing. Not sure what they mean by grey cuckoo. Could be grey crossed with cuckoo, or it could be plain cuckoo. I'm assuming that the partridge cuckoo is from a partridge crossed with cuckoo, or possibly some generations into that.

 

[jnjmanning]

This chick looks just like my silver penciled partridge.

Chick picture

And now as a 3 month old

 

[Fuzzybottom13]

Great, thanks. What a beautiful silver partridge. Did you hatch it from your own eggs or purchase the eggs somewhere?

 

[jnjmanning]

Great, thanks. What a beautiful silver partridge. Did you hatch it from your own eggs or purchase the eggs somewhere?

Hatched from shipped eggs. Poor seller had never hatched one. All the eggs were marked by the color pen it came out of except 3. And you guessed it, this was one of the 3...lol So we have no idea which breeding pen it came from.