Silkie thread!

[Ravynscroft]

Gahhh! Thank you for the correction...it's late and I'm getting my dog genetics mixed up with chicken genetics.

All good...

 

[Duck Drover]

Both of the parents most likely carry the recessive blue gene. Blue doesn't breed true, so it can either show up from two black parents, or if you breed blue parents, you will have a mixed bag of chicks that are either black or blue.

I can't post pictures using Chrome so here is a summary of the BBS genetics.

Black x black = black

Black x blue = black (split), blue

Black x splash = blue

Blue x blue = blue, black, splash

Blue x splash = blue, splash

Splash x splash = splash

Black has to have black feathering all the way to the skin or it is blue if the base of the feathers are not black. Some blacks can be split to blue because blue is a dilute of black so the genotype is blue and phenotype is black. These splits will carry the dilute genetics so two splits can produce dilutes. Blue does breed true but it will dilute over time so breeders breed back to black to keep blues from fading too much. Blacks bred to other colors can be split to those colors as well so breeding black splits can give you non-black birds.

 

[Tashaf]

I'm looking for silkies located in north central Texas

 

[Fancychooklady]

Both of the parents most likely carry the recessive blue gene. Blue doesn't breed true, so it can either show up from two black parents, or if you breed blue parents, you will have a mixed bag of chicks that are either black or blue.

Blue to blue leaves you with 3 x possibilities.

 

[Twitterpate]

Quote: Thank you for the chart, it definitely helps in my learning curve on chicken color genetics. So even though blue is a dilute of black, it is a dominant color in chickens? So is "Splash" a merle gene for chickens?

 

[Twitterpate]

Quote: Thanks for the simplified version. As I asked the person who posted the chart as well, so dilute (blue) is a dominant gene in chickens? And the "Splash" would be the merle gene? Or is there a different but related gene in chickens that produces the Splash (much like you get Harlequin in Great Danes)? And I'll have to go back and double-check a Black Silkie rooster that I accidentally bought (didn't hear the auctioneer right) and check his base feathers...I'm pretty sure he's a good solid black but going to be sure. My profile pic is of the rooster I bought to be my main man, and he appears to be a Blue Splash Silkie to me. If he's not that color, please correct me...I'm learning on this interesting adventure of diving into chickens.

 

[Duck Drover]

Thanks for the simplified version. As I asked the person who posted the chart as well, so dilute (blue) is a dominant gene in chickens? And the "Splash" would be the merle gene? Or is there a different but related gene in chickens that produces the Splash (much like you get Harlequin in Great Danes)? And I'll have to go back and double-check a Black Silkie rooster that I accidentally bought (didn't hear the auctioneer right) and check his base feathers...I'm pretty sure he's a good solid black but going to be sure. My profile pic is of the rooster I bought to be my main man, and he appears to be a Blue Splash Silkie to me. If he's not that color, please correct me...I'm learning on this interesting adventure of diving into chickens.

I believe that blues have one copy of the dilute gene and splash have two copies. I thought blue was recessive since it will hide under black in splits. I admit that getting into splits gets confusing, though, due to sex linked splits so I am not positive hens can be split or just roosters. I think in dilute colors like lavender and chocolate only the roosters are splits but blue is a dilute color that works differently to dilute black than lavender and chocolate. I just run my BBS together and get BBS offspring so I go by the chart to determine potential percentages but then ultimately I get what I get. I don't mix colors because that gets complicated and I like to keep my BBS pure.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Blue doesn't hide under black, it's just that blue can be so dark it looks black so it's easy to get those two colors mixed up. Some blues are so dark, the only way to know they're blue is to breed them and see what color the offspring end up being.

 

[Tashaf]

Does anyone have silkies forsale in north central texas

 

[greenbeetle]

I have a question, I have a broody silkie hen due to hatch chicks by the end of next week. Once the chicks are hatched, I know to provide chick starter for the mom and babies. My question is, do you feed medicated feed, and if so will it hurt the mom. Thanks