Recessive white gene in my bbs silkie pen? Pics of chicks!

[Thomas423]

Quote:
I agree. I don't think that I am trying to get into the whole top of the line breeding thing and all but if I do breed I would like it to be quality. So now I'm trying to decide what to do since I only have two coops/pens that can be used for silkies. I guess one is going to be my "pet" pen. I'm still trying to figure out what I have in the other 9 silkies. I'll be posting a thread soon with pics of my black girls and boys so maybe you all can help me decide which ones to keep. Please watch for it.

Hannah, I'm sorry that this has happened to your breeding program. I hope that you find out where the problem is coming from.

 

[monarc23]

Hanna,

Big hugs!!! Good on you for wanting to find out about these birds!!! Shows the responcibility of your hobby!

just so you know since it looks like my two splashxsplash will stay white doesn't matter to me. I mean i wanted splash but I would be happy with only one splash and from another breeder it looks like I will get that (maybe we'll see)! hehe! Anywhooo, you will get to find out from me how these birds breed. As I still will be breeding them to my black mottled cochin bantams (for future mottled silkies) IF they somehow still carry the blue gene then I should get 100% blue F1 offspring. So I can atleast let you know what I get if i get anything other than blue and blue mottled we'll know they aren't like a majorly dilluted splash

Either way they are adorable

ETA: i'm not breeding for show im breeding for project just for pets (as I have no real interest in showing them but hey maybe someday).

 

[Krys109uk]

Genes in silkies are the the same as genes in other breeds of chickens. They are the same species. The genes act in silkies in the same way as genes act in any other domestic chicken in combination with the same sets of genes for a given phenotype.

I have not bred silkies for many years, they were part of my job; they did not interest me greatly. This does not stop me from having a general knowledge of how genes behave in chickens & it does not exclude silkies. Sometimes a knowledge of genetics can help one to see past breeder's folklore & explore results from a basis of logic. (You wouldn't believe the number of times I've heard, even top breeders, recommend the use of black birds with red leakage in order to improve green sheen in the offspring.

)

You might be right & red combs in 'surprise' recessive whites are almost a genetic certainty. But there would be a reason.

If other people usually experience red combs with their 'surprise' recessive white silkies one might start to think about what other genes could be present in white bred silkies which are being lost when crossing to other colours. That would be logcal.

On the other hand it could be something you, personally have experienced with recessive whites which is not necessarily a genetic probability for others.

I don't personally know exactly which genes cause the dark comb in silkies. I do know that unwanted red combs in silkies are not, by any means, confined to the 'surprise' recessive whites which crop up from coloured matings.

Without other people's observations correlating with yours it would be just as easy to hypothesise that red combs in 'surprise' recessive whites are occurring in the same way they occur in other colours.

 

[Pathfinders]

Quote:
Nope:

Black x Black = 100% Black

Black x Blue = 50% Black, 50% Blue

Blue x Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash

Splash x Black = 100% Blue

Splash x Blue = 50% Splash and 50% Blue

Splash x Splash = 100% Splash

 

[JenEric Farms]

Just posting to keep up with this thread.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

. I forgot to say...I applaud you Hannah for being so young yet so interested in your hobby, maybe your craft.
You aren't afraid to ask the tough questions, being honest in your responses, and being open to the results of your posts. I applaud you for this and think you are a great representation of a poultry enthusaist.

 

[Pathfinders]

Watching this thread with great interest...

 

[Krys109uk]

Oh I see you asked about the "dirty grey chicks which feather up white". Not a problem.

This happens with lots of recessive white chicks not just silkies. Though the first time I ever experienced it, as it happens, was in white silkies, though ours grew up to have perfectly nice dark combs.

When I first saw the weird grey down I was completely flummoxed. How could grey (or blue)chicks hatch out of pure white parents? I asked a friend who was pretty hot on genetics &, as it happened, bred silkies & was in US. She told me that recessive white chicks would tend to have the down colour according the colour they would have been had they not been homozygous for recessive white. Seemed fine & they feathered up white & matured just fine. I have also heard a pretty top notch Australian breeder say the same thing about other recessive white birds.

Now the silver thing. Some years later I heard the smokey grey colour in recessive white birds was actually due to the presence to the gene called sex linked silver. It is pretty well known that birds which have both silver & recessive white (&/or dominant white) are a cleaner brighter white.

Indeed one of the most admired poultry genetics gurus around has photos of the difference between recessive white silkies both with silver & without silver. The difference is pretty striking. So when people tell one the birds are silver whites, they might or might not know the reasoning behind it. Indeed they might even be saying it as a selling point. But that is what seems to be known about recessive white & silver in both silkies & other white breeds.

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Thomas423

I am a hobbiest too. Thank you for understanding my post perfectly!

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
Thanks so much for your support! Do you want a partial refund for the eggs I sent you? I want to be fair with all my customers that I sold these eggs too. I am planning on breeding these or have someone continue this project for me.

Quote:
I agree. I don't think that I am trying to get into the whole top of the line breeding thing and all but if I do breed I would like it to be quality. So now I'm trying to decide what to do since I only have two coops/pens that can be used for silkies. I guess one is going to be my "pet" pen. I'm still trying to figure out what I have in the other 9 silkies. I'll be posting a thread soon with pics of my black girls and boys so maybe you all can help me decide which ones to keep. Please watch for it.

Hannah, I'm sorry that this has happened to your breeding program. I hope that you find out where the problem is coming from.

I actually find this quite interesting.

I'm actually excited how things turn out. It looks like you have a pair so if you keep them seperate and breed from them when they are old enough I would love to see what color chicks they throw.

Post pictures of your blacks and blues. I love seeing silkies.