Just wondering if anyone has experimented with or kept data on polydactlysm in silkies. My pure silkies are not quite old enough to breed (all of mine have hatched from shipped eggs.) I ended up with a beautiful black silkie (I think cockerel - hasn't crowed yet though) with 4 toes on each foot. I have, from another hatch, a black silkie (I think pullet - not sure yet) that has a tiny extra toe on one foot and an extra toenail on the other. Both of these came from farms with show-winning birds, so I am quite sure the parent stock had the correct # of toes.
What stoked my interest in "The Great Toe Question" was a little experiment I did with my first group of chickens. I have a silkie mix cockerel with 5 toes on one foot and 4 on the other. He mated with my 4-toed GLW/RIR hen and they produced a pullet with 5 toes on each foot!
How often does 4 toes produce 5 toes? How often does 5 toes produce other numbers?
Please share your observations.
Edited for spelling
What stoked my interest in "The Great Toe Question" was a little experiment I did with my first group of chickens. I have a silkie mix cockerel with 5 toes on one foot and 4 on the other. He mated with my 4-toed GLW/RIR hen and they produced a pullet with 5 toes on each foot!
How often does 4 toes produce 5 toes? How often does 5 toes produce other numbers?
Please share your observations.
Edited for spelling
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