Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Lrkel]

Can someone give me a quick rundown of how the polydactyly gene works? I have hatched tons of silkies from my pen. I have a pretty boy with 4 toes on one foot and 5 on the other. I was told since he has 5 that he carries the poly gene. I decided to use him for breeding. I think I may have gotten one out of a hundred pop up that was missing a toe on one foot. I added two girls a few weeks ago that both have correct toes. This hatch I got 3 that have 4 toes on both feet. Since the new girls are the only recent change and they have correct toes, I'm confused. Can someone tell me how this works and who I should try removing.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Can someone give me a quick rundown of how the polydactyly gene works? I have hatched tons of silkies from my pen. I have a pretty boy with 4 toes on one foot and 5 on the other. I was told since he has 5 that he carries the poly gene. I decided to use him for breeding. I think I may have gotten one out of a hundred pop up that was missing a toe on one foot. I added two girls a few weeks ago that both have correct toes. This hatch I got 3 that have 4 toes on both feet. Since the new girls are the only recent change and they have correct toes, I'm confused. Can someone tell me how this works and who I should try removing.

http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi...m=frameset;view=image;seq=58;page=root;size=s

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Thought I'd share some cuteness...






Both these chicks are white - the yellow-downed chick is a real fuzz-ball, out of my "Betty". She has given me some really cute chicks. The silver-downed chick is out of my "Rue". Rue carries the double silver gene and I have three more like this one. DDL, Rue is the girl you liked that needed the most conditioning. Her crest is now taped and the kitty litter works great so thank you again!
One other question...does it have to be regular, plain kitty litter? I now recall how much the odor offends me...yuck. And I mean clean litter!

If Rue is a girl, she can only carry one copy of silver. It is a sex-linked gene. Males can carry two copies; females only one.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I'm calling it black crested white, because that is pretty much what she is. Like the BCW polish, there is a some black in the white areas. I do not know if the genetics are the same as in polish (silver columbian plus melanizers), but the phenotype is pretty similar, and I suspect the genetics are at least close.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I don't plan on jumping on the fermented feed bandwagon for exactly that reason. Fungal toxins are deadly, and way to easy to acquire.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Good assessment, although I prefer green to orange, but it is close.

 

[thedragonlady]

Anyone want to vote on their favorite four month-old cockerel? Or least favorite? Feel free to critique away...




































This guy is the most balanced over his center. I would like to see more crest and beard. Good wings too !He comes at you low in front as he should.











This boy would be my second choice. He has a better crest and beard. He is a longer bird , who is not quite as well balanced, nor does he have the depth of chest of the K above.I don't think that his wings will finish out as well as the orange K's will .

 

[PaintedFeathers]

Good assessment, although I prefer green to orange, but it is close.

yeah I hard a hard time choosing one over the other

but I feel orange has a better balance and slightly shorter back

 

[chisNchickens]

Blue does have a better crest than it appears...I had just pulled the tape off. I went into this endeavor thinking blue was my favorite but then orange won me over. Blue is a real flirt...always giving me that sideways "aren't I handsome" look. He's a doll. But orange does have better balance and a shorter back. I am parting with one this weekend, just not sure which yet. Who shalt be cast out??!! lol
Thanks for the assessments all! Critiques are always helpful.

 

[chisNchickens]

And DDL - just brought home a big bag of BOSS. So I threw some on the ground and they just looked at it. Put some in a bowl and Betty ran over to bowl, looked in and screamed and jumped. I swear. lol