What does a grey silkie look like?

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
There are not a lot of greys out there--it is probably the least common recognised variety of silkie.

 

[Pyncheon guy]

Thanks Sonoran, Then do you think the discription of mine is probably pretty close to eveyone elses? I think the white triangle bothers me.....but if that's how eveyone elses look....then that's what I'll go with..... I wondered why the few times I've seen greys entered in bigger shows that they were all hens/pullets (or mostly)...... the females must be closer to the Standard..... Crossing blacks into them is prob. a no-no? I don't want to breed too dark of bird to get the correct color of wing....fearing I'll end up with Birchen. I'm going to breed this pair and see what pops up..... I'm willing to help this variety and try and get it as close to the standard as possible.... Thanks again, Rusty

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I will have to check, but I am pretty sure all of mine have a white wing triangle. There has been a lot of talk on the ASBC forum about greys and the standard.

 

[Donna McCormick]

Quote:
Sonoran Silkies is right, it is not like mixing Paint. Black x White will not give you gray. You would most likely get some bad blacks, bad whites, bad Partridge and who knows what else. It would all depend on what is in the background of your breeding birds. Just because a bird, or two breeding birds "look" a certain color, does not mean they will produce the same. It is very important to know what the background color of your birds are before you use them for breeding, being it pure colors, or projects. Many colors, gray for instance, will not breed true if they come from splits. Because splits are not true grays. I get many emails asking why the gray "looking" splits they have bred do not breed true. That is because they are not gray, so how can they breed true, and this is true with all colors. There is nothing wrong with playing with colors, or working on new projects to produce potential new varieties, but it is important for your own breeding purposes not to put those offspring back in to your pure color lines. Hence, the reason for breeding your own birds for many generations and holding on to them, so when you need them in the future, you will know for certain what their color background is, and even then, you can get a few surprises, but not nearly as many!

 

[friedeggs]

There is nothing wrong with playing with colors, or working on new projects to produce potential new varieties, but it is important for your own breeding purposes not to put those offspring back in to your pure color lines. Hence, the reason for breeding your own birds for many generations and holding on to them, so when you need them in the future, you will know for certain what their color background is, and even then, you can get a few surprises, but not nearly as many

APPLAUSE!​

 

[adkins90]

Anyone have a pic of a gray chick they are willing to post?

 

[Donna McCormick]

Quote:
Yes, I will post a couple for you. Grays can hatch with or without stripes, although stripes are more prevalent. You will want to look for gray/silver coloring throughout the body. Any signs of gold at hatch is never a good sign. Chicks that hatch with gold, anywhere in the body are usually the ones that will show leakage as adults. I have found that the non-striped grays will give you the best color as adults and many of these will not have the pencilling. Sorry about the first poor photo, it was taken too close. But I wanted you to see that there is no gold on this chick. That is what you want to see in your grays at hatch.

 

[HenThymes]

Just thought I would share a pic (not a great one. sorry) from yesterday. It was my 8 year old daughters first show as well as her young pullets first show. They showed in JR. and did take BV over an older hen. We are very proud of both of them.

 

[Donna McCormick]

Quote:
A big "well done" to your daughter, on a BV at her first show!
Kids are the best!

 

[Donna McCormick]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE