Self Blue (Lavender) Silkie Thread

[AHappychick]

one last question. It it possible that a silkie who was hatched from a sg but has no NN (silkie) could throw other SG when bred with another silkie that does not have any NN in its backround? I think my buff/lav split which hatched from a SG but is a silkie is throwing the occasional SG. is that even possible? can a NN gene be hidden then pop back out in some offspring?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I can't help out much in this discussion, other than to say that silver gene whites hatch out as grey chicks that feather out white, and "regular" whites hatch out yellow and feather out white. I'm not sure how you would determine this with an adult bird.

My whites have always hatched out white or pale silver, not yellow. The last few weeks is the only time I've ever heard of white silkies hatching out yellow; and I am hearing people say that a LOT.

 

[brenTx]

.

 

[brenTx]

OK I am rereading that and confused. I breed showgirls to silkies. Never showgirl to showgirl. IF you do bred sg to sg you will start getting 100% showgirls but will also start losing the silkie quality. I ONLY breed showgirls with silkies. You get 50% showgirls and 50% silkies. The silkies will never throw showgirls since being silkies, without the naked neck gene, they will be silkies and nothing more. I like to say if you breed sg to sg you start getting strippers.

and you do, they get more and more bare.

 

[kasey08]

is there a way to just hatch out lavender? like maybe mixing red and blue silkies?or do you have to have a lavender? is it better to have a roo or hen? if someone has already asked please tell me which page it is on, just joined the convo and was trying to read all that was said but guh its long lol

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
No. If a chicken has neck feathers, if does NOT carry the Na gene. That gene ALWAYS shows if present. It shows more if present in two copies, but as with many incompletely dominant genes that is variation in the amount of expression. You will find some single gene birds and some double gene birds that have similar amounts of nakedness on their necks. You will also find some single gene birds missing significantly fewer neck feathers than some double gene birds.

For a bird to display a naked neck, at least one parent must have had (and therefore shown) the gene.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Lavender requires two copies of a single gene: lav. Breeding two non-lavender birds will not give you the gene unless you KNOW from breeding records that they each had a lavender parent. And then only 25% will be lavender. They will also inherit other genes from each parent, so those will get thrown into the mix and may well cause a non-standard colour mix.


I honestly think this thread needs to be cleaned up. There are too many different topics going on. Showgirl or cuckoo breeding questions are not the same as lavender breeding questions. Ditto for silver gene whites and whatever other topics we've strayed to. Not that these are not good topics, but they make it difficult to follow the discussion, and they also make it difficult for someone to find the information they are looking for if they are searching for cuckoo or showgirl or ... information.

 

[brenTx]

You are right. Even with one gene for the NN I hatch both beared and nonbearded always using bearded silkies. So...it is a toss up. I do only have showgirls with the bowties. I hope that helps.

 

[bacres]

Since this is a Lavender thread I thought I'd ask a question relating to Lavenders.

When and Where is this convention where Lavender Silkies will be passed?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

A bit off topic here, and if the moderators choose to delete this post that is fine.

I really do not appreciate the bashing that I have seen going on in this thread, and periodically in other threads about silkies, when different breeders are mentioned. I do not know of ANY breeders of quality silkies (and I do not count hatcheries as breeders) who operate their breeding as a true business; that is what hatcheries do. This includes breeders who do sell a fair number of birds. If you have an issue with a particular breeder, please discuss it directly with that breeder; don't bring it to a public forum to whine about it. I limit when and what I sell because this type of discourse upsets me a great deal. Some purchasers are demanding and difficult to deal with. So are some sellers. No bird is perfect; no price is "correct." There are times I have birds available, and other times that I do not; My signature specifically says that I do not sell chicks or eggs, so why do people continue to ask? I almost always have PQ roos available, but I do not advertise them here as that almost immediately engenders requests for perfect pullets with certain exact features, but absolutely no males. Sorry, I cannot fill that kind of request. I am too scatterbrained to keep a waiting list, not to mention that I have too many other things on my plate. I expect these same types of issues extend to other breeders (I would be surprised if they did not, well maybe not the scatterbrained part

).

I see a LOT of folks getting birds and immediately starting to sell hatching eggs. Sometimes even before they have the birds. This to me does not better the birds, and it certainly does not speak to that person's knowledge of their birds--without raising some of the offspring yourself, how can you know how well that breeding group work together?

Breeding silkies or any other breed of chicken is done for the love of the birds and one's own enjoyment...of the birds,...of exhibition,...of working with the genetics,...etc. If you want to purchase from a business, contact a hatchery.

I do enjoy helping people new to the birds understand them; answering questions about breeding or genetics or similar topics. I love my birds; I love talking about them, or about your birds, or about the possibilities.

Suze