Satin or smooth silkie genetics

[GreenEggsAndHens]

I’ve searched here and googled, but I can’t find an answer to my question. I’m trying to find out do satin or smooth silkies breed true? I know there are breeders out there dedicated to making it a breed, but I know a lot of crossing is involved in perfecting the chicken. Do these chickens breed true after 2nd or 3rd generations already, or is there a chance you still get silkie “fluff” in some % of the early hatches?

smooth x smooth = ?

 

[NatJ]

Silkie x silkie breeds true, because silkie feathering is a recessive gene.

A smooth bird either has two copies of the not-silkie gene, in which case it breeds true; or it has one copy of each form of the gene.

If you cross two smooth birds that each carry the silkie gene, you will get about 1/4 silkie-feathered chicks.

If you want to test whether a bird is pure for smooth, cross it to a silkie. Any silkie-feathered chicks will prove that it carries the gene for silkie feathering. If it produces 6 or more chicks that are all smooth-feathered, then it is probably pure for the smooth-feathered gene. (More chicks can make you more sure. Any silkie chick, at any time, proves that both parents have the silkie gene, whether they show it or not.)