Silkie thread!

[Sonoran Silkies]

Question about blue v. splash .... if they are "grey" with dark spots, is this just like a "dirty" blue (bad quality? - one copy of the Bl gene) as opposed to white with dark bits which I assume is true splash and carrying two copies of the Bl gene?

What, exactly, is a "Blue Silkie" supposed to look like?

The background colour for splash should be "slaty blue and white that has a faint bluish tinge," not white. As with blues (one copy), there can be a lot variation in the shade/tint of the colour.

Blues should not look splotchy; the colour should be very even. On girls the head and hackles are dark blue/black; on boys add in dark on saddle. The standard calls for lacing; IMO, on silkies this makes the birds too dark and uneven in colouring. Feathersite and http://www.oocities.org/iladd29/webdoc3.html show some examples of different varieties.

This is one of George M's champion splash pullets from a few years ago.


And here is a blue of mine from last year.



*edited to add that the words in the quotation marks above are from the 2011 Bantam Standard description for splash.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: They can have it; it just doesn't show well. IMO they look much better without lacing. For a regular feathered bird, I love the look of good lacing. Not on a silkie.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Just to be clear -- do we assume true "splash" (2 copies of the Bl gene) only if they appear white with speckles???? (Which is what I would assume with Marans or Ameraucanas. Those silkied feathers are an even BIGGER puzzle!

)
NO. The background colour of splash is NOT supposed to be white!

 

[Hawkeye95]

The background colour for splash should be "slaty blue and white that has a faint bluish tinge," not white. As with blues (one copy), there can be a lot variation in the shade/tint of the colour.

Blues should not look splotchy; the colour should be very even. On girls the head and hackles are dark blue/black; on boys add in dark on saddle. The standard calls for lacing; IMO, on silkies this makes the birds too dark and uneven in colouring. Feathersite and http://www.oocities.org/iladd29/webdoc3.html show some examples of different varieties.

This is one of George M's champion splash pullets from a few years ago.


And here is a blue of mine from last year.

Great examples. And my birds are fine. whew! hehe!

NO. The background colour of splash is NOT supposed to be white!

I thought so, thanks!

 

[Debbi]

See, I told you she'd come in here and whip me straight!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Here are some of my Blues for comparison against my Splash silkies that I just posted: They are easy to spot-- very obviously NOT Splash.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: LOL! Where's a smiley with someone lashing a whip about? These are both good examples of splash, but the silkie is too brassy--probably too much sun. Splash can vary a LOT in number of and size of splashings. Likewise, the depth of the background colour can vary quite a bit.

The chick is adorable.

 

[NovaAman]

I think this thread talks more about color genetics than any other thread. I learn a lot when I just sit here and lurk.

 

[Cynthia12]

Wish I could still find those larger bags; best I can find is a 3-pack of 1 lb cans. And most places don;t even have those.

Out here in Utah, DE works great on my chickens. If I see mites, which isn't very often because I will use the DE in the spring and fall, and in their nest boxes, then I just do a quick dust with it. We don't see fleas or ticks down in the valley. In our mountains, we see ticks.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: THey are all splash. The only time a different colour should be used is if it is based on something other than blue (I have heard dun splash to refer to a bird with two copies of dun; it can also look splotchy, but does not always) or is there is more going on than simply blue (splash laced red, lemon splash, etc.).