Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[Chicken poppy]

All of mine, silkies included, did turbo zoomies. I love it!! Its nice to see how happy and safe they feel! I have a polkie chick that is the zoomie queen at the moment, I call her the kerfuffle maker, drives the others crazy

So cute! !

 

[AngBantamLuv]

So cute! !

Can't wait to post pics..thd polkie is turning out to be very pretty!!! I'd venture to call her a satin... I'll have to have you guys vote.

 

[HipMystic]

PuffPuff is more *cough* refined, but my Polish love doing zoomies! The only problem is, they can’t see where they’re going. I was petting PuffPuff yesterday and all of a sudden had a fluffy chicken torpedo hit me in the side of the head

 

[LynnaePB]

So this isn’t specifically a Silkie topic, but I have a question about the frizzle gene and y’all in this thread probably understand it pretty well! If a chicken carries the frizzle gene, is it always expressed? Or can a smooth feathered chicken be carrying the frizzle gene and pass it on to their progeny? I ask because I have a frizzle Cochin and I can’t figure her out! I thought I understood the gene…but thinking now maybe I don’t! So Ms Frizzle is a blue frizzle Cochin. She came from a bunch of eggs laid by a blue smooth feathered Cochin that got out of her pen while the breeder was on vacation and apparently spent time with several other men! The breeder has Cochins, Langshans, Marans, and Isbars (@LadiesAndJane sorry I know you’ve heard all this already!). One of the male Cochins she has is a black frizzle Cochin. So my original theory was that I wouldn’t get a frizzle Cochin unless the mom had mated with the black frizzle rooster. But now I’m not sure that’s true. I thought it was a dominant gene—is it more nuanced than that? I got my first egg from her today and it seems way too dark to be a Cochin egg. It looks like a light chocolate Marans egg with a hint of purple. It’s really pretty! But not what I’d expect from a Cochin-Cochin pairing. She also has some hackles but not all, that are copper colored which made me wonder too—but thought it might just be leakage! Anyway! I don’t really care other than that I want to understand how the frizzle gene actually works! :-D Thanks!!

**edit to add - If one of the parents had to be a frizzle (exhibiting frizzle) then the egg must not be hers—right? Chicken genetics are just so hard for me for some reason!

The frizzle gene is dominant so in most cases you do have to have one frizzle parent to get frizzle offspring. However I have heard there are genes that can suppress the frizzle gene. In a case such as that you could end up with something like what may have happened with your girl (I'm guessing in that case probably the mom had the frizzle gene but it was suppressed so didn't express). I've also seen that the frizzling can be lesser or greater as well and some birds with the lesser frizzling go unnoticed as frizzled. I've seen multiple posts where I can see a bird is definitely frizzled though slightly so where the owner thought they weren't frizzled at all.

I think chicken genetics are hard for a lot of people. I've seen so many people who have a breeding background in mammals (like rabbits, cats, dogs, horses etc) say the chicken genetics are so much more complicated.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

PuffPuff is more *cough* refined, but my Polish love doing zoomies! The only problem is, they can’t see where they’re going. I was petting PuffPuff yesterday and all of a sudden had a fluffy chicken torpedo hit me in the side of the head

I'm loving Esmeralda. I tried bringing her in a bit ago and testing out a chicken diaper. Oh my, thought she would break one of her giant wings!! I need to give her a hair cut on Saturday too. She is just so sweet.. i think I'll stick to polish, silkies, and D'uccles.. no more feisty chicken drama!

 

[HipMystic]

I'm loving Esmeralda. I tried bringing her in a bit ago and testing out a chicken diaper. Oh my, thought she would break one of her giant wings!! I need to give her a hair cut on Saturday too. She is just so sweet.. i think I'll stick to polish, silkies, and D'uccles.. no more feisty chicken drama!

They’re definitely goofballs! I have my “big girl” flock and then these three, whom I refer to as “the floofs”

 

[kurby22]

The frizzle gene is dominant so in most cases you do have to have one frizzle parent to get frizzle offspring. However I have heard there are genes that can suppress the frizzle gene. In a case such as that you could end up with something like what may have happened with your girl (I'm guessing in that case probably the mom had the frizzle gene but it was suppressed so didn't express). I've also seen that the frizzling can be lesser or greater as well and some birds with the lesser frizzling go unnoticed as frizzled. I've seen multiple posts where I can see a bird is definitely frizzled though slightly so where the owner thought they weren't frizzled at all.

I think chicken genetics are hard for a lot of people. I've seen so many people who have a breeding background in mammals (like rabbits, cats, dogs, horses etc) say the chicken genetics are so much more complicated.

Thank you for not saying I’m just a bit slow I’m going to keep watching her to see if I can catch her specifically laying! She really looks like she’s all Cochin! Thank you for the added information!! This helps me a lot.

 

[LynnaePB]

Thank you for not saying I’m just a bit slow I’m going to keep watching her to see if I can catch her specifically laying! She really looks like she’s all Cochin! Thank you for the added information!! This helps me a lot.

I'm so glad it was helpful!

She's beautiful!

 

[Chicken poppy]

Thank you for not saying I’m just a bit slow I’m going to keep watching her to see if I can catch her specifically laying! She really looks like she’s all Cochin! Thank you for the added information!! This helps me a lot.

Oh my gosh. What a cutie pie. Tell her she’s beautiful for me!

 

[kurby22]

Oh my gosh. What a cutie pie. Tell her she’s beautiful for me!

I will thank you!!