Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[gilchicken]

Hello. . I am pretty new to silkies and chickens in general. I am going to be getting a splash silkie rooster and two gray silkies. ..What would I get if I hatch their eggs? .. what color will the babies be? ..

 

[Tammylr]

I'm not sure what the grey silkie diluting gene is. I think it's lavender so really you don't want to do a lavender and blue dilute breeding I think. If you do you would get:

E Lav
E. EE. Elav
Bl. EBl. Bl lav

So 25% black, 25% blue, 25% lavender, and some kind of crazy over diluted something in last 25%.

Might be worth doing just to see what a bue lavender mix looks like. Maybe.

Anyways, I don't think I was much help but that's my two cents?

 

[Tammylr]

Splash..........sorry, 50% blue, 50% crazy dilute. Saw splash and though blue instead of double blue.

 

[gilchicken]

I'm not sure what the grey silkie diluting gene is. I think it's lavender so really you don't want to do a lavender and blue dilute breeding I think. If you do you would get:

E Lav
E. EE. Elav
Bl. EBl. Bl lav

So 25% black, 25% blue, 25% lavender, and some kind of crazy over diluted something in last 25%.

Might be worth doing just to see what a bue lavender mix looks like. Maybe.

Anyways, I don't think I was much help but that's my two cents?

how do you learn about the genetics? ..

Is there a breeding silkies for dummies? . I don't understand the letters. .

E Lav
E. EE. Elav
Bl. EBl. Bl lav


seriously I looked all over for a chart or something to help me understand but nothing. .. I even bought a silkie book. . But they don't talk about breeding.. it's a guide to learn how to take care of chickens. . Which I already know! ..
Frustrating!

 

[gilchicken]

Splash..........sorry, 50% blue, 50% crazy dilute. Saw splash and though blue instead of double blue.

Thanks Tammylr I will give it a try and see what I get. .

 

[debbiegt]

What is recommended to use to add vitamin e and selenium to a Silkie's diet?

 

[Tammylr]

Here is the genes I have so far:

R/R- red dominant gene
E/E- black dominant gene
eb/eb- partridge/brown recessive
Db/Db- dark brown effects black in Roos the most, lee in hens and red base.
e+/e+ - wild type, duck wing
I/I dominant white
c/c- white recessive gene that with two copies " turns off" the other colors. Most silkies are recessive white.
Bl/bl- blue dominant gene, dilute of black
Bl/Bl- splash, double blue gene that over dilutes black to a dirty white
lav/lav- lavender/self blue recessive, needs two copies to show and dilutes black and red
Co/Co- Colombian dominant, inhibits red
B/B I/i- paint dominant of black and white
eWh/eWh- wheaten, best expressed over red.
M1/M1- melanocytes, can make EB and birchen all black.
Mh/Mh- mahogany, dominant, enhances red.
Di/Di- gold dilute dominant, possibly what makes buff
cb/cb champagne blond recessive, also possibly where buff comes from.
S/s-, S/- silver, sex linked. Silver roo to gold hen. All female chicks silver.
S/s+, S/+ gold, sex linked. Gold roo to silver hen, females gold.

Patterns:
mo/mo- mottling recessive
Sp/Sp- Spangled dominant, moves black to end oh feather
Lg/Lg- lacing dominant
ER/ER- birchen
B/B- barring
Pg/Pg- pattern gene, lacing.
M1/M1- melanocytes, can make EB and birchen all black.

Pg/M1/ Co- single lacing
Pg/M1/Co/Db- lacing with laced tail

 

[Tammylr]

http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

This is one of the web sites I found most helpful too.

 

[Troubadour05]

What is recommended to use to add vitamin e and selenium to a Silkie's diet?

I bought a vitamin and mineral supplement at the grain store, it is just a powder I add to their water.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hello. . I am pretty new to silkies and chickens in general. I am going to be getting a splash silkie rooster and two gray silkies. ..What would I get if I hatch their eggs? .. what color will the babies be? ..

My question would be, why are you wanting to put Splash and Gray together? They are different genes. Splash should be bred to Blue, Splash, or even Black. Gray breeds true ONLY when bred to Gray. Which I recommend. Gray is based on Partridge, and you can have that gene get flipped and end up with a Partridge or two out of your hatches. Like maybe one in 30 or 40... But dont breed Gray to Splash, you'll end up with a genetic nightmare.