Silkie breeding question

[nmr]

The easiest way is to know the parents. Usually dominant whites now will only result from birds who came from a Paint x Paint crossing, and even then it's only a 25% chance of this.
But yes, if you don't know the parents the only sure way to know is based on what color chicks you hatch out like @LynnaePB said above.
My bet is that you will hatch out mostly black chicks with some leakage, and a couple partridge. All chicks will carry a recessive white gene but that won't effect anything on the chicks color.

I hatched an accidental black x recessive white pairing. The boys were black with gold or silver leakage and the girls were solid black.

Now I need to find some examples of what color leakage looks like

Thanks!

 

[msiler]

Now I need to find some examples of what color leakage looks like

Thanks!

I had to dig a little bit, but I found some! The boys are a little young in this and their leakage got more pronounced as they got older. I don’t have them anymore but I bet they are beautiful!
View attachment 2516117View attachment 2516118View attachment 2516119

 

[NatJ]

Now I need to find some examples of what color leakage looks like

Thanks!

Look for photos of red sexlink roosters (also called ISA Brown, Red Star, Golden Comet, etc).
They are mostly white, with red leakage that's mostly in their shoulders.

And Black Sexlink hens, which are mostly black with gold or red leakage in their breasts and necks.

 

[nmr]

I had to dig a little bit, but I found some! The boys are a little young in this and their leakage got more pronounced as they got older. I don’t have them anymore but I bet they are beautiful!
View attachment 2516117View attachment 2516118View attachment 2516119

Can't see the pics for some reason

 

[msiler]

 

[msiler]

Can't see the pics for some reason

I saw that! Weird. Can you see the new post’s photos? They should be above this one.

 

[LynnaePB]

How do you know if your silkie is carrying recessive or dominant? Or is that something you can't really find out until eggs start hatching?

Looks like @msiler already covered it really well, I completely agree.

 

[ferdie]

It is difficult to predict what you might get. I'm definitely not an expert but can share some insight based on my understanding (just take it with a grain of salt as I am still learning too).

White silkies are usually recessive white but can also be dominant white.

If your rooster is recessive white which is probably more likely than dominant white it's really hard to say what you might get. The recessive white can hide all sorts of colors. I've heard partridge is one of the more common ones though. If your boy is partridge under the white you'll likely hatch black chicks with possible leakage. Of course if he is something else under the white you might have different results like possible blue chicks etc. Unless your black hen happens to be carrying a recessive white gene this pairing should not result in any white chicks. With this pairing you also shouldn't be able to get any splash chicks (this is assuming your black hen is definitely black and not dark blue which can sometimes look black).

If your rooster is dominant white than paired with the black hen you'll likely get paint and black chicks with possible leakage. Sometimes the chicks inheriting the dominant white will not get the typical paint spots and will appear white even though they are heterozygous for dominant white (lacking two copies of it). With dominant white it is probably more likely your rooster is black based under the white but there is a possibility of splash or blue as well which could give you the chance of blue based paint chicks and blue chicks too.

If your black hen happens to be carrying some recessive genes for partridge/penciling and your rooster does as well there is a chance of getting some partridge like chicks too. If the rooster is dominant white and this is the case their would also be a chance of getting some sort of red pyle like chicks too.

All in all guessing what you'll get is really tough. On the upside you'll likely gain more insight into the parents genetics depending on what kind colors the chicks turn out to be.

hey guys!

sorry to barge in… I’m having similar doubts so I thought it’d make more sense to complement here rather than open up another thread!

I have a white roo + a few white hens, 2 different shades of partridge (or so I think), a golden (?) and a splash (?). attaching photos to help identify them.

I’m frying my brain with color charts and trying to understand what possible combinations may come from these pairings. And also not sure whether their white is recessive or dominant.

Would really appreciate if you guys could shed some light!!