What color chicks will I get with a black rooster over splash hens?

[PinkFrostina]

What variety is your Silkie rooster? Not knowing that, it's hard to say what the outcome would be.

He’s a grey splash rooster. At least, his splotches are grey and dark grey.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It sounds like he's Splash, then! So with the Black Silkie hens, you should expect all offspring to be Blue.

With the White Silkies, it's more complicated. White in Silkies is most often caused by the recessive white gene, which covers up all other plumage color and pattern genes. That means that a White Silkie could be hiding any number of genes beneath its white exterior that could change how its offspring look. I've heard, for example, that it's pretty common for White Silkies to be hiding partridge. So, most likely what you'll get from the White Silkie hens crossed to a Splash rooster is Blue chicks as well, but very likely with color leakage in their plumage. What that means is they could have reddish, yellowish, or whitish feathering on them that a pure Blue Silkie shouldn't have, usually in the hackle and saddle area.

On the other hand, some White Silkies are white due to the dominant white gene instead. If that happens to be the case for your White Silkies, then the offspring from that cross would either be mostly white as well, or half of them white and half of them another color, likely Blue. Dominant white tends to be 'leaky' when inherited from only one parent and not cover up the base color beneath it fully, so the white chicks in this case might have flecks of color show through as well, a pattern known as Paint in the breed.

 

[PinkFrostina]

It sounds like he's Splash, then! So with the Black Silkie hens, you should expect all offspring to be Blue.

With the White Silkies, it's more complicated. White in Silkies is most often caused by the recessive white gene, which covers up all other plumage color and pattern genes. That means that a White Silkie could be hiding any number of genes beneath its white exterior that could change how its offspring look. I've heard, for example, that it's pretty common for White Silkies to be hiding partridge. So, most likely what you'll get from the White Silkie hens crossed to a Splash rooster is Blue chicks as well, but very likely with color leakage in their plumage. What that means is they could have reddish, yellowish, or whitish feathering on them that a pure Blue Silkie shouldn't have, usually in the hackle and saddle area.

On the other hand, some White Silkies are white due to the dominant white gene instead. If that happens to be the case for your White Silkies, then the offspring from that cross would either be mostly white as well, or half of them white and half of them another color, likely Blue. Dominant white tends to be 'leaky' when inherited from only one parent and not cover up the base color beneath it fully, so the white chicks in this case might have flecks of color show through as well, a pattern known as Paint in the breed.

Ok. Thank you so much! I appreciate this.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

No problem at all. Good luck with your Silkie breeding endeavors!

 

[PinkFrostina]

No problem at all. Good luck wiht your Silkie breeding endeavors!

Thank you!

 

[BeccaRecca13]

I’m debating between a black cochin rooster and a blue cochin rooster (blue has leakage)… to breed over my blue, black, buff, white, partridge hens.

What are your thoughts?
Is it possible to breed out the leakage problem?

 

[MysteryChicken]

A handy chart, that I use as reference.

 

[BeccaRecca13]

View attachment 3718763A handy chart, that I use as reference.

What about my leakage problem? Is that possible to breed out?

 

[MysteryChicken]

What about my leakage problem? Is that possible to breed out?

It's possible, but will be difficult.

 

[BeccaRecca13]

It's possible, but will be difficult.

Do you know how blue mottled works? If I have a blue mottled large fowl over a blue hen? Would it have the same outcome as the chart? Blue to blue is 25, 50, 25