Silkie color help???

[Smokehouse13]

I need advice on my roosters neck feathers. I don't know if his neck feather coloring is bad or good? I call this white ticking, but I really don't know if it's correct. Any advice will be appreciated

 

[LilPeeps]

He is an off colored black, basically a black carrying the silver gene. It is a dq and you'll never be able to completely breed it out. If you are trying to breed to the standard, you should probably find a new male and preferably females unrelated to the male in the pic.

 

[Smokehouse13]

Thank you Lilpeeps, I had hatched this chick from a well know silkie breeder. I thought it was a fault,just didn't know how bad.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

On the contrary, while you may not be able to show him, it doesn't preclude him from breeding and producing nice offspring. I currently have an exceptionally well typed black male I am using for breeding, and while he has a silver gene, and does have offcolor hackles, most of his offspring doesn't.

As well, I'm not sure that off color hackles are a complete DQ. It may be a deduction of points, but I dont think they'd be thrown out of a show. If that was the case, buffs would be thrown out all the time for off color tail and wing feathers.

 

[HatTrickSilkies]

I'm with Julie, you'll never breed this out. If it was so easy, wouldn't the well known breeder have eliminated it by now?

Some faults and dq's you can seemingly 'hide' for a while, but out of sight does not mean out of the line.

~ Nikki

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Depending on the breeder whom you talk to, you may get conflicting information, as with the above. Silver in the hackles aren't a complete detriment. You're best bet is to use him, breed a few chicks and see how they develop. If you dont like their type, THEN you can decide to swap him out for a better Roo. Use what you have for the time being. He may surprise you.

My black roo with silver hackles produces extremely nice typed blue chicks.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

It isn't the silver gene that causes colour to show in the hackles, nor is it the gold gene that causes gold in the hackles. All male chickens have two genes at the S locus.

What the birds with colour in their hackles DON'T have is sufficient melanizing genes to completely darken the hackles. Depending on the hen to which the cock is bred, the offspring may or may not receive the necessary melanizer genes to have their hackles remain dark.

For a cock (over a year) colour in the hackles is not a DQ, but they are to be judged lower than birds with clear hackles. Colour in the hackles is a DQ for cockerels (under a year).

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Thank you very much! Exactly what I was trying to explain....

 

[Smokehouse13]

Thanks to all the info. I have a few more questions? Other than his hackle feathers,does he look like a good rooster? Do the hens that where from the same hatch have this gene also? I am trying to improve my silkies. Do I need to add a new line? I currently have blacks(that aren't a off shade like this one,they are a different line.) blues, and splash. If I should be looking for a new line, are there any good breeders in Indiana.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

He looks like he is lacking in type slightly. He doesn't have a lot of foot feathering, and looks like he has a lot of hard feather in the tail. Put him with a hen who has heavy foot feathering and nice "shredding" in the tail. I'd also find the darkest, most black hen you can to improve on his color. His wings look good and tight though, and he looks like he has as short back, so he may have some potential. Where'd he come from?