Silkie/RIR cross

[Pat B]

Does anyone out there have any experience with silkie/rir crosses? `I am new to chickens and had said that I thought silkies were adorable but I also wanted rir because they were such good layers. My daughter solved that by getting some cross bred chicks and she and the granddaughter raised them until our coop was ready. I have 6 hens that are about 14wks. Any info will be appreciated.

 

[NatJ]

No personal experience, but a few predictions:

The crosses will not have silkie feathers, because that is caused by a recessive gene.
They probably will have dark skin, walnut combs, extra toes, crested heads and feathered feet and maybe muffs/beards.

At a guess, they will probably be in-between the parent breeds for size, broodiness, and egg-laying ability.

Color might match the Rhode Island Red, might match the other parent, or might have some elements from each.

A few older threads with photos of silkie-crosses:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-silkie-rir-cross.368388/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-cross-breeds.498568/

 

[Pat B]

No personal experience, but a few predictions:

The crosses will not have silkie feathers, because that is caused by a recessive gene.
They probably will have dark skin, walnut combs, extra toes, crested heads and feathered feet and maybe muffs/beards.

At a guess, they will probably be in-between the parent breeds for size, broodiness, and egg-laying ability.

Color might match the Rhode Island Red, might match the other parent, or might have some elements from each.

A few older threads with photos of silkie-crosses:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-silkie-rir-cross.368388/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-cross-breeds.498568/

All of the crosses have 5 toes and some feathering. Three of the hens are white and three are a a mix of RIR coloring and a very light brown. Originally we had 10 (4 turned out to be roos and those were rehomed), the hens were black skinned and the roos were yellow skinned, all but 1 of the 10 had red combs and all had dark eyes.

 

[NatJ]

Good to know that! I was making guesses, but I know it's easy to guess wrong