Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

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I have colors questions!

I got GOBS of eggs from really nice stock and only ended up with 10 birds (ALL different colors.) The oldest ones are 6 months, and the youngest ones are 1 month.

This is the only time I think I would be upset to say this........but so far I think I only have ONE roo! (The youngest ones, of course I can't tell yet.)

I know for sure I have a blue roo.

My 2 oldest hens (99% sure) are buff and black. I know the blue can cover the black no problem. But what would pop out if the blue covered the buff? I also have up and coming partiridge, white, paint, and a splash.......and think they are all looking FEMALE!

I know that the blue can cross easily with the black and splash, and probably the paint as well.....and the parti?

But what about blue x buff and blue x white? My white MAY be a closet roo, but I just can't tell. He/she is older than the blue, from different stock, but MIGHT be getting streamers. There are lots of pin feathers though so I can't quite tell yet. If I end up with a white roo, which would be the best pairing for him? The paints? Or the buff?

Chicken genetics confuse the stink out of me.

Ultimately I want to breed for exhibition so I don't want to dilute the colors too much. One of my blacks is pure, the other is split to either paint or BBS. (Don't remember which egg she came out of.)

I tried to get at least two of each color and failed miserably. LOL! It might just be that I need to find more eggs. But the struggle is real. (And the money is HIGH, LOL!)

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Blue bred to buff usually ends up with the blue diluting the smut (the black smudges in the buffs feathers). At least, that's what happened when I mixed those colors. From the partridge, you can probably expect blue partridge and normal partridges. White x blue= ? That all depends on what the white bird is carrying. You won't know that until you cross them and grow out the surprises. Blue x black will give you blues and blacks.

:)
 
THANK YOU! That's a great help.

When you mean breeding blue to buff dilutes the smut, do you mean it makes it lighter? I know getting rid of the smut is the goal. So a blue x buff breeding = buffs with less (lighter) smut? Would it produce all buffs? (I know dang near nothing is 100% with chickens! LOL!) This is my first time with a buff, I know zero about the genetics on it.

White covers up color, I had forgotten that. But I know that white can pop out......I had a porcelain hen and a true lav boy once and they hatched out a few whites. Mostly they threw partridge and blue parti, which led me to believe my "porc" was really just a white x parti. But she was light and beautiful like a porc.....I even showed her as such!

Blue x paint = solid blues, solid blacks, blue paint, regular paint? I'm just guessing here!

Genetics are fun, but like I said, I just want to make the best crossings I can. I'm hoping I get surprised with either the white or really any of the other ones popping out a boy. My month old babies are a paint and a black split to paint......and I have an older paint and another black (I think split to paint.) As long as one of those is a boy, I can work with the rest......LOL!
 
Yes, the blue would dilute the black of the smut, turning it blue instead of black (though, since blue doesn't breed true, some would still come out with black).
I don't know much about paints, but I'd think it would be much the same as breeding black to paint, just with the added blue factor (again, them not breeding true).

Genetics are fascinating, and just when you think you've pretty much got them down.....surprise! You get something you never thought was even a possibility ;)
 
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How old are they? If they are young, perhaps they will put some more bulk and feathering on them with time. I like the hen better than the roo. At high level shows, I don't think they would do too well. At low level shows, they might do ok. I wouldn't want either of them in my breeding program, and I am not a high end breeder. But they do look better than many I've seen in my area! Just my two cents, I am no where near as knowledgeable as most others on here (have only shown a little!) Edited to add: Actually, they don't look too bad......I"m assuming they are young? It's kinda hard to tell with my slightly educated eyeball what they might be when they get older. Again, the hen is nicer than the roo to me.
 
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I wouldn't call them show quality either, but I don't show, just breed to the standard.
They'd probably do well at your local fair, depending on the quality of the Silkies there (we don't see many at the fair in my area) but they wouldn't do so great at larger shows that have lots of top notch breeders.
 
Thank you two. It's not good news, but its good to know... I wish I had options to find better quality, but I have no incubator and as a hobbyist I really don't want to spend a super lot of money on shipping etc. let alone the cost of the chickens alone.
 

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