Silkie mix colors - possible sex link or just coincidence?

[PrincessKiara]

My red mutt roo mated my white Silkie hens. So far, 6 chicks have hatched out, with 1 more on the way. Of the hatched ones, all but 2 are sort of a light golden brown color, whereas the other two are a darker golden brown with one wide and two narrow chocolate stripes on the back, running through the eye, and the wide stripe ending in a neat arrow marking on the top of the head, they look just like Old English game bantam chicks!
All have the five silkie toes and hairy feet, and varying shades of color for the feet and beak. I strongly suspect both of the striped ones are pullets since just the way they act and hold themselves is different... the two oldest are light golden brown and already starting to squabble like roos so I'm fairly sure they're male.
Is there a chance the color is somehow linked to their sex? I've never heard of sex link chickens being mixed with silkie, especially as the father is just a random barnyard mix. Thoughts?

 

[jsr5]

In my very limited experience it seems the Girls are more likely to favor the father and the boys more likely to favor the mother. I think to be a "sexlink" you would need a larger sample and the children would have to breed true to that standard which is unlikely kthough I suppose anything is possible. Perhaps a wiser head will explain things better.

 

[NatJ]

My red mutt roo mated my white Silkie hens. So far, 6 chicks have hatched out, with 1 more on the way. Of the hatched ones, all but 2 are sort of a light golden brown color, whereas the other two are a darker golden brown with one wide and two narrow chocolate stripes on the back, running through the eye, and the wide stripe ending in a neat arrow marking on the top of the head, they look just like Old English game bantam chicks!

You certainly might have sexlinks. All it takes is a red rooster, and the right kind of white hen. Several different genes can make a chicken look white, and only one of them is useful for creating sexlink chicks; I don't know what set of white genes are present in silkies.

Does your rooster have a black tail or a white tail? (I'm thinking about whether any other genes could possibly be causing the different colors in your chicks. Most "red" chickens seem to have either some black or some white on them somewhere, and it affects how their chicks are likely to look.)

 

[PrincessKiara]

You certainly might have sexlinks. All it takes is a red rooster, and the right kind of white hen. Several different genes can make a chicken look white, and only one of them is useful for creating sexlink chicks; I don't know what set of white genes are present in silkies.

Does your rooster have a black tail or a white tail? (I'm thinking about whether any other genes could possibly be causing the different colors in your chicks. Most "red" chickens seem to have either some black or some white on them somewhere, and it affects how their chicks are likely to look.)

His tail is the same color as his body except darker, but shimmers green in the sunlight.

Wow, so they might really be sexlinks...?

 

[NatJ]

His tail is the same color as his body except darker, but shimmers green in the sunlight.

Wow, so they might really be sexlinks...?

Yes, it seems quite likely. (Ultimately depends on the genetics of the hen.)

If they are sexlinks: the light chicks would be the males. They would grow white feathers, possibly with black markings. The dark chicks would be the females, and grow brown feathers. They might have black or white markings on their feathers, but they would have plenty of brown to distinguish them from their brothers.

If these chicks do prove to be sexlinks, then I think you can trust any other chicks from those parents to be sexlinks, too.


The dark tail on the rooster tells me he does NOT have a particular gene that could have made some chicks look lighter without being sexlinks (it's called Dominant White, if you like researching genetics stuff.)

 

[PrincessKiara]

Yes, it seems quite likely. (Ultimately depends on the genetics of the hen.)

If they are sexlinks: the light chicks would be the males. They would grow white feathers, possibly with black markings. The dark chicks would be the females, and grow brown feathers. They might have black or white markings on their feathers, but they would have plenty of brown to distinguish them from their brothers.

If these chicks do prove to be sexlinks, then I think you can trust any other chicks from those parents to be sexlinks, too.


The dark tail on the rooster tells me he does NOT have a particular gene that could have made some chicks look lighter without being sexlinks (it's called Dominant White, if you like researching genetics stuff.)

Omg thank you so much!!! Yes, the yellow chicks are feathering in white and the dark ones brown. And the two oldest are yellow and acting like roos squabbling already and holding themselves very straight!

 

[NatJ]

I think to be a "sexlink" you would need a larger sample and the children would have to breed true to that standard which is unlikely kthough I suppose anything is possible.

Sexlinks are created by crossing a specific kind of rooster with a specific kind of hen, to get chicks that can be sexed at hatch. They do not breed true. Examples: ISA Brown, Black Sexlink.

Autosexing breeds do breed true, and can also be sexed by color from the time they hatch. (Slightly different genetics involved.) Example: Cream Legbar.

The genes to create sexlinks are pretty common, so it can easily happen without deliberate planning.

 

[NatJ]

Omg thank you so much!!! Yes, the yellow chicks are feathering in white and the dark ones brown. And the two oldest are yellow and acting like roos squabbling already and holding themselves very straight!

Yes, it sounds like you've got yourself some sexlinks there!

 

[PrincessKiara]

Yes, it sounds like you've got yourself some sexlinks there!

Thank you!!! Now I know who to keep. Sheesh, 5 roos and only 2 hens...

 

[NatJ]

Do the white ones have any kind of markings on them, or are they solid white? (Still trying to guess at the exact genetics of those white silkies.)