Silkie breeding......

[Ada06]

I am picking up silkie breeding this year, specifically paint breeding. I have some paint, white and black hens already ( all have red leakage) and I just ordered two cockerels. One is black with silver as well as red leakage, the other is a sliver based blue. The breeder said the blue will help get rid of red leakage. She also mentioned breeding the offspring to a black roo to get rid of blue. My question is: Is this true or will the blue ruin the paints offspring?

 

[Ada06]

@The Moonshiner
I recall you know a lot about chicken genetics.

 

[The Moonshiner]

It's correct.
If you ever want to get rid of the leakage you'll have to include breeding something without it and then eventually don't breed anything with it.
Cockerels show leakage a lot easier then pullets so you may end up with pullets that carrying it but not showing it until it pops up in their cockerel offspring.
It can be pain but it's doable.
You can use a blue it won't hurt. You'll just be producing about 50% blue offspring. The blacks from the blue will be like any other blacks though.
Honestly if I was breeding paints using a blue wouldn't hurt my feelings and I'd be happy continuing with blue paints in my program.

 

[Ada06]

It's correct.
If you ever want to get rid of the leakage you'll have to include breeding something without it and then eventually don't breed anything with it.
Cockerels show leakage a lot easier then pullets so you may end up with pullets that carrying it but not showing it until it pops up in their cockerel offspring.
It can be pain but it's doable.
You can use a blue it won't hurt. You'll just be producing about 50% blue offspring. The blacks from the blue will be like any other blacks though.
Honestly if I was breeding paints using a blue wouldn't hurt my feelings and I'd be happy continuing with blue paints in my program.

Oh great! I am glad that will work. I was worried I would have a roo that I couldn't do anything with!!

 

[LynnaePB]

Breeding blue into a paint program is frowned upon by a lot of paint silkie breeders from what I've seen. Honestly though it's already mixed into a lot of paint programs on accident (along with a lot of other genetics that pop up and cause color problems).

The problem with blue is it can be really hard to tell it apart from black at times. The shade of blue can vary so much, a highly melanized blue can look black. Once you've accomplished the goal of getting rid of the red leakage in your paint program you can always work on weeding the blue out of your flock through test breeding if you'd like. As long as you are open and upfront with buyers if you sell chicks/culls/hatching eggs etc I don't think you'd run into many problems adding the blue in.

Good luck with your paint program. I breed them too and it's a tricky color to get right especially in the males! I've only been at it for a couple years so still an amateur with plenty to work out in my own program. Most of my foundation stock don't show any red leakage but I'm struggling with it in some of the offspring. I made the mistake of breeding some cockerels that looked clear of it only to find on their first (and in some cases second) adult molt some red showed up. Lesson learned about not breeding any young cockerels unless I want to risk the red leakage! You can't really help but risk it with the girls since they are good at hiding it.

 

[Ada06]

Breeding blue into a paint program is frowned upon by a lot of paint silkie breeders from what I've seen. Honestly though it's already mixed into a lot of paint programs on accident (along with a lot of other genetics that pop up and cause color problems).

The problem with blue is it can be really hard to tell it apart from black at times. The shade of blue can vary so much, a highly melanized blue can look black. Once you've accomplished the goal of getting rid of the red leakage in your paint program you can always work on weeding the blue out of your flock through test breeding if you'd like. As long as you are open and upfront with buyers if you sell chicks/culls/hatching eggs etc I don't think you'd run into many problems adding the blue in.

Good luck with your paint program. I breed them too and it's a tricky color to get right especially in the males! I've only been at it for a couple years so still an amateur with plenty to work out in my own program. Most of my foundation stock don't show any red leakage but I'm struggling with it in some of the offspring. I made the mistake of breeding some cockerels that looked clear of it only to find on their first (and in some cases second) adult molt some red showed up. Lesson learned about not breeding any young cockerels unless I want to risk the red leakage! You can't really help but risk it with the girls since they are good at hiding it.

Thanks! The blue roo that I am getting is very dark, so I am assuming it is going to be difficult to tell the difference! I am willing to take that risk though because I bought a few silkie hens that have AWFUL leakage but great looks! I am hoping that was the best choice.
Good luck with your paint breeding!! I am really excited to start because once silkies reach the SOP they are especially pretty!