Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!
- Thread starter HuffleClaw
- Start date
Some old pictures of hens and their feather blindness.
Gammas Bearded Babies
Crossing the Road
You've got some beautiful babies!!!
Hens too!
WOW!! that is an amazing colour! I want calico silkies!!!!This is what a lot of people are aiming for when they try to create calico silkies. This particular one I believe is a splash calico bred by a breeder who no longer is doing this project. I've heard it is a hard color to get right and hard to reproduce. Trying to get that red leakage to behave in a certain way I believe is going to be a real challenge.
View attachment 3184494
My first generation is so far from this color but it's a first step. They are still too young to evaluate very well though. The red often likes to come in later on so we'll see if any pops up on them. I doubt it will be much if it shows up at all but you never know. My little ones I believe are splash but coming from overly melanized parents they are also overly melanized and quite a dark splash. I'm also hoping to work on getting some hyper mottled milles for another calico like look. Seeing as all I have are mille splits right now that is quite a ways off too.
This is the oldest of my first gens for my splash calico project. She/he is still quite young at only a few months old. I think he/she was around 2 months or so in this picture. There is a bit of gold leakage coming in on the hackles but no red yet. Splash can change so much as they mature I'm still hopeful some more color may pop up later on. My red frizzle satin girl should be a help in introducing more red if bred to one of these little ones but it'll take another generation after crossing to her to get back to splash. If I'm really lucky maybe I'll start seeing more promising results around the third generation.
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I have splash paint and red leakage in my flock now with the young ones coming up to maturity this spring so I hope I get some crazy calico mixed offspring! One of the young boys has red leakage on his wings but also some yellowing and very light patches of grey so it will be interesting (if Biscuit allows the others to breed) what colours I'll get next hatching season. .. Biscuit isn't giving me fertile eggs lately so I'm thinking I need to do some butt feather trimming.
Sorry to anyone trying to read all these replies, the thread moved so fast but I wanted to comment on a few things anyway. 
Aww I can definitely understand needing to downsize and making some tough choices. He really is such a beautiful boy and I'm so glad he is going to a good home. I still can't believe how red he turned!
Aww what cuties! I completely understand not having enough room for another boy, he sure is gorgeous though, that color is so neat! The girls are really pretty too!
Aww that is such a cute pair! I'd love to see what you get. I had blacks and paint when I crossed one of my paint boys to a partridge girl. They definitely have some leakage but so far the paints leakage/offcolor is more on the khaki side instead of the red I was hoping for. They are still young though so maybe I'll get lucky and some of that red will shine through later.
Love the pictures! They are definitely adorable!
Hertie is adorable!
Yeah I'd be pretty surprised if Bluey turned out to be a pullet at this point. Such a handsome little guy though!
Adorable, and so pretty too!
Yes I agree a little satin.
I've had some babies who wouldn't leave a toe alone either for awhile. I gave up trying to keep them from it and eventually it healed on its own and stopped bothering them. It's frustrating watching them pick at it and get all upset and I have tried using a band aid boot for a day or so to keep them away but like your cutie they went back to it.
I agree a little silkie.
The yellow/white on the underside shouldn't be related to blue vs black but might give a hint into the e-allele the color was made on. Some of the best e-alleles for making black tend to have white/yellow on the babies undersides. Black australorp chicks are a good example of this, they've got so much yellow/white on their bellies as babies they look like little penguins as chicks.
Could be dark blue but could definitely still be a black as well (they can be really hard to tell apart).
I agree with this one too.
I've had some hatch with a similar really short downed area near the start of the vault. It wasn't completely bald but much shorter than all the rest of the down. I think your baby has the same thing going on and should feather in normally.
She looks to have silkie feathering as well.
Aww just adorable! Congratulations on the new additions! I hope your little partridge turns out how you are hoping for as well.
Aww those pictures are great! I love how much splash can vary as well, and how much it changes as they grow.
Congratulations on the new little ones! I know a lot of paint breeders just pet out the dominant white and don't use them in their programs but I think it is pretty neat being able to pretty much guarantee all paint babies when putting them over a black. I keep my nice type dominant whites for this reason. I've heard some get more poor marked paint with the cross but when I've tried I didn't notice any different in size of spots compared to paint hens.
I wish there was a way to tell about the recessive white hiding, it would make weeding it out of non recessive white pens easier.
As far as Joey and Columbian I'd say he does have some columbian genetics going on or something similar to columbian like DB (dark brown) which is a columbian like restrictor and acts similarly to columbian but cleans up the hackles more of eumalanin (black) and has less of an effect on females than males. Columbian isn't a base though just a gene that can actually affect multiple bases. His actual e-allele base is probably eb (partridge) as grays and columbian grays should be eb based. Wheaten is another e-allele base but the color coming in on his streamers probably isn't related to that so much. The light straw color in Joey's streamers and in Bluey's hackle could be indicative of being silver/gold based though (different from the e-allele base, the gold/silver thing is sex linked and all female chickens are either gold or silver, males are either silver/silver, gold/gold, or silver/gold. When boys are silver/gold the silver is more dominant but the gold may show up just a bit as a sort of very light gold/yellow. I've had silver/gold boys who you'd never have been able to tell weren't silver/silver until a bunch of daughters popped out gold base. Yellowing can occur from diet (like if they have a lot of corn) and sun bleaching as well.
I hope that wasn't terribly confusing.....chicken genetics can be rather complicated. The whole e-allele thing confused me for the longest time but now I grasp it. I've still got a lot more to learn though. Multiple colors can be made on multiple bases. Take buff silkies for instance, there are two different e-alleles they are commonly made on. eb (partridge) and ewh (wheaten). The partridge based ones may be more prone to having smut (some dark feathers in the tail and wings) but the wheaten based ones may be more likely to have lighter skin (one of the reasons buff is such a challenging color in silkies, ewh is a very good buff base in breeds who don't need dark skin). The e-allele has two spots and you can have a bird that is split on the e-allele as well. So for instance you could have a buff silkie that is eb/ewh and be a bit of a mix in how it presents. Some E alleles are much more dominant than others. For instance E (extended black) is much more dominant than eb (partridge) so an E/eb bird might just look black despite having the one eb (partridge) e-allele. Put that bird with a partridge though and you start getting 50% eb/eb babies that are going to look much closer to partridge.
With dad being a paint these paint babies along with the black are what I'd expect with the parents you mentioned before.
Paint is the color I focus most on breeding to standard and I've read a lot about the genetics behind it. Plus having the hands on experience has been very helpful too. Paint is heterozygous dominant white over black so when bred to any other color a paint is going to give the dominant white to half the offspring. These little paint babies being split on the e-allele could give 25% pyle like offspring when bred to a partridge with another 25% being paint, 25% partridge like, and 25% black (assuming no blue genes are involved which would make blue paints etc possible). Given the moms of these babies off color/leakage is likely to come in at some point but may take months to show up.
My sweetest boy ever, Hotaru, is going to a new home on Thursday! With my new work schedule I just don’t have time for more projects so I’m going to stick to just the purebred Silkies. The folks who are getting him are wonderful and I’m sure he will be well cared for. They have promised update photos!
Here is Hotaru last week. He is just barely 4 months old. He has just feathered in beautifully and has retained three whole black paint spots underneath all the red!
I have included his baby photo. You can’t even tell it’s the same bird! His eyes went from black to green to amber.
Aww I can definitely understand needing to downsize and making some tough choices. He really is such a beautiful boy and I'm so glad he is going to a good home. I still can't believe how red he turned!
Aww what cuties! I completely understand not having enough room for another boy, he sure is gorgeous though, that color is so neat! The girls are really pretty too!
Aww that is such a cute pair! I'd love to see what you get.
I had blacks and paint when I crossed one of my paint boys to a partridge girl. They definitely have some leakage but so far the paints leakage/offcolor is more on the khaki side instead of the red I was hoping for. They are still young though so maybe I'll get lucky and some of that red will shine through later.I love all these babies!! I took some updated photos of my hand full last night … Only missing my Elvis whom has a HUGE head/puff lol. They are about 6 weeks now!
Love the pictures! They are definitely adorable!
Aww I'm sorry to hear about Fwoof.
Hertie is adorable!
Yeah I'd be pretty surprised if Bluey turned out to be a pullet at this point. Such a handsome little guy though!
Lil Buffy has been slowish to get out of the teenage stage and is looking mighty cute! Our only girl from the buffs this year and only bearded luckilyShe’s got some darker barring on the wings/tail though
View attachment 3185538View attachment 3185539View attachment 3185541
Adorable, and so pretty too!
Yes I agree a little satin.
I've had some babies who wouldn't leave a toe alone either for awhile. I gave up trying to keep them from it and eventually it healed on its own and stopped bothering them. It's frustrating watching them pick at it and get all upset and I have tried using a band aid boot for a day or so to keep them away but like your cutie they went back to it.
I agree a little silkie.
The yellow/white on the underside shouldn't be related to blue vs black but might give a hint into the e-allele the color was made on. Some of the best e-alleles for making black tend to have white/yellow on the babies undersides. Black australorp chicks are a good example of this, they've got so much yellow/white on their bellies as babies they look like little penguins as chicks. Could be dark blue but could definitely still be a black as well (they can be really hard to tell apart).
I agree with this one too.
I've had some hatch with a similar really short downed area near the start of the vault. It wasn't completely bald but much shorter than all the rest of the down. I think your baby has the same thing going on and should feather in normally.
She looks to have silkie feathering as well.
Aww just adorable! Congratulations on the new additions!
I hope your little partridge turns out how you are hoping for as well. Aww those pictures are great!
I love how much splash can vary as well, and how much it changes as they grow. Babies that hatched last night! Half are in the incubator, the ones that look a little damp still, I took them out very briefly to do a quick clean of the incubator and put them back. The other half are in the brooder and already eating!View attachment 3187572View attachment 3187571
Congratulations on the new little ones! I know a lot of paint breeders just pet out the dominant white and don't use them in their programs but I think it is pretty neat being able to pretty much guarantee all paint babies when putting them over a black. I keep my nice type dominant whites for this reason. I've heard some get more poor marked paint with the cross but when I've tried I didn't notice any different in size of spots compared to paint hens.
I wish there was a way to tell about the recessive white hiding, it would make weeding it out of non recessive white pens easier.
As far as Joey and Columbian I'd say he does have some columbian genetics going on or something similar to columbian like DB (dark brown) which is a columbian like restrictor and acts similarly to columbian but cleans up the hackles more of eumalanin (black) and has less of an effect on females than males. Columbian isn't a base though just a gene that can actually affect multiple bases. His actual e-allele base is probably eb (partridge) as grays and columbian grays should be eb based. Wheaten is another e-allele base but the color coming in on his streamers probably isn't related to that so much. The light straw color in Joey's streamers and in Bluey's hackle could be indicative of being silver/gold based though (different from the e-allele base, the gold/silver thing is sex linked and all female chickens are either gold or silver, males are either silver/silver, gold/gold, or silver/gold. When boys are silver/gold the silver is more dominant but the gold may show up just a bit as a sort of very light gold/yellow. I've had silver/gold boys who you'd never have been able to tell weren't silver/silver until a bunch of daughters popped out gold base.
Yellowing can occur from diet (like if they have a lot of corn) and sun bleaching as well.I hope that wasn't terribly confusing.....chicken genetics can be rather complicated. The whole e-allele thing confused me for the longest time but now I grasp it. I've still got a lot more to learn though. Multiple colors can be made on multiple bases. Take buff silkies for instance, there are two different e-alleles they are commonly made on. eb (partridge) and ewh (wheaten). The partridge based ones may be more prone to having smut (some dark feathers in the tail and wings) but the wheaten based ones may be more likely to have lighter skin (one of the reasons buff is such a challenging color in silkies, ewh is a very good buff base in breeds who don't need dark skin). The e-allele has two spots and you can have a bird that is split on the e-allele as well. So for instance you could have a buff silkie that is eb/ewh and be a bit of a mix in how it presents. Some E alleles are much more dominant than others. For instance E (extended black) is much more dominant than eb (partridge) so an E/eb bird might just look black despite having the one eb (partridge) e-allele. Put that bird with a partridge though and you start getting 50% eb/eb babies that are going to look much closer to partridge.
With dad being a paint these paint babies along with the black are what I'd expect with the parents you mentioned before.
Paint is the color I focus most on breeding to standard and I've read a lot about the genetics behind it. Plus having the hands on experience has been very helpful too. Paint is heterozygous dominant white over black so when bred to any other color a paint is going to give the dominant white to half the offspring. These little paint babies being split on the e-allele could give 25% pyle like offspring when bred to a partridge with another 25% being paint, 25% partridge like, and 25% black (assuming no blue genes are involved which would make blue paints etc possible). Given the moms of these babies off color/leakage is likely to come in at some point but may take months to show up.
I can't wait to see what you get! You have such beautiful birds and with the new additions so many new possibilities!
Gammas Bearded Babies
Crossing the Road
@LynnaePB you always put so much into your posts back to us! Thank you so much for that extra time and effort! I'm not sure I will ever understand much less grasp the genetics stuff...but I sure admire you that do!
Would love to see some of YOUR pretty babies when you get time! Do you still have your house babies as well? I remember when I had the lil baby with the slipped tendon we had talked bout your house baby! Just wondered how they were.
Would love to see some of YOUR pretty babies when you get time! Do you still have your house babies as well? I remember when I had the lil baby with the slipped tendon we had talked bout your house baby! Just wondered how they were.
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With dad being a paint these paint babies along with the black are what I'd expect with the parents you mentioned before.
Paint is the color I focus most on breeding to standard and I've read a lot about the genetics behind it. Plus having the hands on experience has been very helpful too. Paint is heterozygous dominant white over black so when bred to any other color a paint is going to give the dominant white to half the offspring. These little paint babies being split on the e-allele could give 25% pyle like offspring when bred to a partridge with another 25% being paint, 25% partridge like, and 25% black (assuming no blue genes are involved which would make blue paints etc possible). Given the moms of these babies off color/leakage is likely to come in at some point but may take months to show up.
I've never bred paint or read much on how it is composed genetically. Thanks much for this information.
Gammas Bearded Babies
Crossing the Road
Ok yeah I'm a helicopter mom, in every way lol, as u can tell I'm sure!
So Joey...my oldest cockrel bout 9 months old is intimidating lil Bluey which is only 14 weeks old.
Bluey still acts girlee but I guess Joey knows otherwise lol.
Bluey screams, takes off running through the run, then does the egg layin song (for lack of a better way of saying it).
Will Bluey withstand the pecks he's getting?
Joey and Grayson were hatchmates so worst they ever did was chase each other every morning for bout 20 mins.
Joey always the head dude.
Just my first time with different age boys!
And with Bluey always panting don't want him Killin over!
So Joey...my oldest cockrel bout 9 months old is intimidating lil Bluey which is only 14 weeks old.
Bluey still acts girlee but I guess Joey knows otherwise lol.
Bluey screams, takes off running through the run, then does the egg layin song (for lack of a better way of saying it).
Will Bluey withstand the pecks he's getting?
Joey and Grayson were hatchmates so worst they ever did was chase each other every morning for bout 20 mins.
Joey always the head dude.
Just my first time with different age boys!
And with Bluey always panting don't want him Killin over!
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