Partridge silkies

[JenEric Farms]

What color silkies can i keep in a pen with partridge silkies to get pure colors?

 

[JenEric Farms]

Can i only keep partridge with partridge

 

[Drivegirl54]

Good question! I was wondering this earlier myself. Also, what would you get from a partridge/ red silkie mix?

 

[JenEric Farms]

BUMPING myself up, can anyone also tell me how to modify my topic title

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Ummm, perhaps give people more than a nanosecond to respond?

I have been extremely busy with other things today, not counting internet & email issues, and I will be busy for several more hours. I'll try to give you some answers then.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

You can keep grey and partridge silkies together, but the males will be Ss rather than SS or ss.

Red X partridge will equate to poorer penciling; possibly better colour if the red carries mahogany & the partridge don't.

 

[LilPeeps]

If you want pure colors, both phenotypically and genotypically, only keep partridges in the same pen. It's the same for all varieties, with the exception of blue, black, and splash, which can all be kept in the same breeding pen.

 

[JenEric Farms]

Quote:
Does this improve the coloring in anyway? The grey with partridge... Also, i know someone that keeps black and partridge together...what does that do?

 

[JenEric Farms]

Also, is there some book or some where on the internet that you could suggest for breeding silkies that would possibly give good tips on improving colors, improving type and creating new colors?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Nothing specific for silkies. Genetics of Chicken Colours is a FANTASTIC new book with lots of information. Check it our at chickencolours.com

http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetics/ and http://web.archive.org/web/20051207035940/marsa_sellers.tripod.com/geneticspages/page0.html are good websites for genetics information. The later is good for someone who knows little about genetics. Once you understand the basics, the first site has more information.

You can also play around on the chicken calculator at http://home.hetnet.nl/~h.meijers69/kruising.html (there are also version with more genes, but this is a pretty easy version to start with). Realize though that there are often multiple ways to genetically create a specific variety, and it makes a guess as to the genes based upon the variety you select. When the actual genotype is different, the results will differ. For example, silkies are usually e^b. Many varieties assume a different e-allele, and the e-allele is arguably the single most important gene for determining variety.


Back to partridge and grey

The genotype of partridge is e^b/e^b Pg/Pg s+/s+.
The genotype of grey is e^b/e^b Pg/Pg S/S.

(For females is is s+/- or S/=, respectively.) If you pen these colours together your grey hens will provide silver to their sons; likewise your partridge hens will provide gold to their sons. Partridge males will have partridge daughers regardless of whether the mother is grey or partridge; likewise grey males will have grey daughters.

What gets tricky are the sons of a partridge & grey mating. They will be S/s+ rather than pure S/S or s+/s+. You will usually be able to tell which are pure and which are not, as silver is incompletely dominant--they will have cream to slightly yellow rather than bright white.


Blacks may or may not carry Pg. They may also (especially if paired with blue or from a blue black splash grouping) carry Ml and Co. That combination (Pg/Pg Ml/Ml Co/Co) creates lacing--not partridge penciling.

Reds typically aren't laced, so you're unlikely to have that issue, but what you are likely to have is pg/pg, resulting in chicks that are Pg/pg. You will also probably have Co and or Db to contend with.