Silkie Color/Genetics

[angelarum]

I find all kinds of posts about color but NONE that tell you what you need to mix to get those colors! What colors do you need to cross to get partridge? I gave some of my silkie eggs to someone to hatch and they all look dark/chocolate brown but some have variations of gold/brown/silver on them and I am wondering if these could be partridge and also wondering what color they may turn into as they grow as I know this can change some.....

My roo is a buff and I have one blue hen and one white hen.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Try using this:

http://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#kipcalculator

http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

 

[keesmom]

I find all kinds of posts about color but NONE that tell you what you need to mix to get those colors! What colors do you need to cross to get partridge? I gave some of my silkie eggs to someone to hatch and they all look dark/chocolate brown but some have variations of gold/brown/silver on them and I am wondering if these could be partridge and also wondering what color they may turn into as they grow as I know this can change some.....

My roo is a buff and I have one blue hen and one white hen.

In order to get standard colored offspring you need to start with standard colored parents. You don't mix colors to get them. Of course silkies are probably the breed people have color crossed the most, so many birds carry hidden genes. Many blacks carry partridge for instance. The only way to be sure of what genes your birds have is to get them from a reputable breeder. A reputable breeder won't cross colors unless they have a project in mind, and they will let you know if that's the case.

As for your birds. white silkies are most often recessive white. Recessive white acts as an off switch, preventing colors and patterns from showing. Yor white hen could be anything genetically - partridge, black, blue, buff, or even a mixed color. Buff is another tough gene. There are many ways to create buff. Crossing buff to blue (and therefore black, since a blue bird is one that is black with a blue gene) usually results in black/buff or blue/buff offspring. Most likely the offspring from your birds will be a mixed (nonstandard) color.

 

[chantels1]

So can you breed a blue roo to a black hen and still have true black chicks? We want to set up a black breeding pen, but have a blue roo we would like to keep. I know we will get a mix of black chicks and blue chicks, but are these still considered true colors, or are they crossed?

 

[The Moonshiner]

Yes they will be true colored.

 

[chantels1]

Yes they will be true colored.

Yay! Thank you!!!

 

[Silkie Jax]

I have 3 Silkie Roo and 1 Silkie Hen. What will we get if she mate with any of them?
Colors are...

Blue Roo
Cuckoo Roo
Chocolate Roo

Chocolate Hen

 

[The Moonshiner]

With blue.....About 50% blue and about 50% black.
All the cockerels will carry a chocolate gene but it won't show.

With cuckoo.... All chicks will be cuckoo. All cockerels will carry chocolate gene. If the rooster only has one cuckoo gene instead of two. Half the chicks will be cuckoo and half will be black.

With chocolate.... All will be chocolate.

 

[Silkie Jax]

With blue.....About 50% blue and about 50% black.
All the cockerels will carry a chocolate gene but it won't show.

With cuckoo.... All chicks will be cuckoo. All cockerels will carry chocolate gene. If the rooster only has one cuckoo gene instead of two. Half the chicks will be cuckoo and half will be black.

With chocolate.... All will be chocolate.

Yay
My Chocolates are Lincoln (roo)
Penny (hen)
I'm gonna have some Lincoln Pennies
I have 7 eggs brooding and hoping for all Chocolate girls.

 

[Silkie Jax]

Is there any truth to the pointed eggs being roos in the Silkie world?