Silkie Big Question: Is this leakage or is this called penciling? Is it a DQ or points off or worse

[weegarden]

I have been trying to get a black silkie roo for several years now. I finally purchased a black silkie with markings similar to this, but they are silver. I was told that the silver markings on a black silkie are fine. I had another rooster in before him, but it is possible that this is one of his chicks with either a blue or a blue splash hen.

Is this gold/red penciling or is it actually called leakage? And, is this a disqualification for showing, points off, or is it is worse?

Any help in this area would be great. I'm wondering if I should start from scratch with a new black rooster. But, they are really hard to find around here. My best of show blue girl is getting older, and I need to breed her. I'm getting worried that I wasted a lot of precious breeding time with this roo.

The one pictured is the younger roo that most likely resulted from this breeding.

 

[weegarden]

Ok, after many hours of searching, I finally learned that this gold coloring is called leakage, that It is a DQ in young roosters, and that I should not use them for breeding.

Is the silver leakage just as bad?

I'm frustrated, because I really wasted a lot of time breeding with this roo, and spent the whole, freezing cold winter raising these chicks to find gold leakage.

Now unfortunately, I need to find out which chicken caused the leakage.

I have a splash hen in with the black rooster that has silver leakage.
I also had this same hen in with a white silkie, that clearly throws blue chicks.

I have a blue hen in with the black rooster that has silver leakage.
And, I also had this same blue hen in with the white silkie that clearly throws blue chicks.
So the chicks are the result of two of these 4 birds.
I'm not sure if the chicks that I raised were from the black rooster or the white rooster.
If I'm not mistaken, I think the white rooster actually threw better blue chicks, with no leakage.

 

[enola]

Leakage is hard to breed out. One of the problems is a hen can carry a gene for leakage, but it won't show on her. However a rooster that has a gene for leakage will show it.

So if you can get a rooster that does not have leakage and breed him to your hens, the male chicks from hens that carry a gene for leakage will inherit leakage from her. You will need to remove any hens from your breeding program that are producing cockerels with leakage. Do not keep any of her female chicks either.

 

[weegarden]

Thank you Enola.

The rooster, has silver leakage. Can silver leakage produce red/gold leakage, or is it most likely one or both of the hens producing the gold leakage?

So every rooster and hen produced by a rooster with leakage, will carry the leakage gene, even if the chicks are clear and remain clear for several years. (I do now realize that leakage can come out even when the chicken ages, if they appear clear before.)

I'm hoping it is possible that the rooster is the one carrying the leakage gene, because he has the silver leakage, and I have had what appear to be clear blues from the hens before, and grew them out for almost a year, with no gold or silver leakage coloring. That was with my white rooster. I got rid of them, thinking that they had the white gene, but actually should have kept them, because they had good type, and could have been the blue stock I was after. (There is so much to learn, and there are so many time-consuming mistakes to make.

The lady who sold the rooster with silver leakage, told me that silver was not a fault like the gold leakage, and that he would produce beautiful blue chicks. I'm frustrated if this is incorrect info, and it seems like it is.

I sure appreciate your help, so that I don't waste any more time.

 

[enola]

First of all, I have never bred Silkies, but I am pretty sure leakage is the same in all breeds. Concerning gold being leakage, that is true; but, silver is leakage, too. Here is where I tell you that there are serious "breeders" who know what they are doing. And there are people breeding chickens, that "think" they know what they are doing. I will be nice and say that there are a lot more of the second kind of people breeding chickens. The problem is ........ Everybody that buys chickens from these people learn the hard/expensive way.

If you want to breed SQ chickens, buy the BEST rooster you can afford. You will save so much time and money, your investment will pay off in the end.

Like I said, after you have found a rooster you like, with NO leakage, breed him to your hens you are using. ANY hen that produces cockerels with leakage needs to be removed from your breeding program, ALONG with any of her daughters. They will carry the leakage gene, also. Good luck!

 

[enola]

After a couple of breeding seasons, sell your good quality rooster to
Someone else looking for a good rooster. Add a few bucks to what you get for him and buy a BETTER rooster! It is a great hobby!

 

[weegarden]

Thanks Enola and HowFunky. I do have to admit that I learned a ton in a quick amount of time. My whole purpose for going with the splash, blue and black was so that I wouldn't have to be quite as selective. It does make perfect sense though. Thanks for your help. I think the local fairs are a little less fussy, because the lady I bought him from did place quite high with him at the fair, and he did have the penciling then too. Regardless, if I am putting all of this time into it, I want to do it right. I have been working on my white silkies for 8 years now. I started with my blues, blacks, and splash 2-3 years ago.

 

[Zoologist]

Personally I find it pretty..