What's wrong with their feathers?

[Jubaby]

I have two Splash Ameraucanas that are 18 weeks old. Their feathers are so strange, almost like fluffy silkie hair, not feathers. I don't know what you would call this. It's not like a frizzle. Has anyone else seen this on Ameraucanas?

Also I've thought the bigger one was a rooster, because it's had a red comb very early, but at 18 weeks it has never started crowing and likes to sit in the nest boxes alot. It really doesn't have any other characteristics of my Ameraucana rooster, so I'm starting to think maybe it is a hen after all. What do you think?

I feel stupid for asking, but I'm fairly new. My other Ameraucanas are EE's from the hatchery. These two I hatched from shipped eggs and I've never seen feathers like this before.

 

[mikarod]

My dear...I do believe you have the first Silkie-Ameracauna!!!!!!!!! COOLNESS!!!!

 

[DarkUnicorn]

I think they are sooooooo AWESOME.

You should probably start and egg reservation list for them, cause the addicts on this forum will want to snap them up (I would be one of them....

)

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Oh, I so agree with you!

 

[Justino]

ohhh myy gooodddd I WANT SOME NOW! my 2 favorite breeds mixed OMG GIVE ME EM NOW lol

 

[Justino]

whered u get those eggs? are u gonna try to breed em?

 

[Rosecomb-Ryan]

wait I have to pick my jaw up off the floor

They are awesome!

 

[Jubaby]

I just got an email back from the breeder. Apparently she is unaware of this happening before. Here's her response:

Hi, how are you doing? That is really weird, I have never hatched or seen any that looked like that. All of my breeder birds are really nice show quality birds, so who knows. I don't have any Silkies, I have never owned any, so I know they are not crossed with that. I hatched all of my breeders from purchased eggs and raised them. I hatch Ameraucanas chicks all of the time from my eggs, I have hatched a lot of them this year, I have never had anyone else say anything about them. I have 2 separate breeding pens, I kept around 10 chicks from each pen. I kept some Black chicks and Splash chicks, all of mine are feathered normal. Mine are about 5 months old now and just started laying a few weeks ago. I have never seen or heard of any of them having feathers like that. I have no explanation for the chicks, you make get something new started. lol

I guess I've created quite a stir. I have people lining up for eggs and the hen hasn't even started laying yet. I think I'll try to hatch a few myself first and see what comes of it.

Thanks for all the input. I'm trying to register at an ameraucana forum, so I can post a picture there and see what I can find out.

 

[LilPeeps]

Wow! I've never seen silkie-feathered ameraucanas before!

silkied splash x silkied splash = 100% silkied splash

silkied splash x smooth black = 100% smooth blue, carrying silkie gene

silkied splash x smooth blue = 50% blue, 50% splash, with 100% smooth feathered, carrying silkie gene


silkied splash x f1 black = 100% blue, with 50% smooth carrying the silkie gene, 50% silkied

silkied splash x f1 blue = 50% blue, 50% splash, with 50% smooth carrying the silkie gene, 50% silkied


f1 blue x f1 black = 50% black, 50% blue, with 25% smooth and not carrying silkie gene, 50% smooth but carrying the gene, and 25% silkied

f1 blue x f1 blue = 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash, with 25% smooth and not carrying silkie gene, 50% smooth but carrying the gene, and 25% silkied

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

pips&peeps :

Where's our genetics guru??????

They look like they are silkie mixes and it looks like a cockerel and a pullet.

I sold eggs to that person last year, but there is no telling where the rest of her flock came from. No silkies or frizzles here.

I am concerned though that this could be a disease. There is one, I can't for the life of me find it, that causes feather abnormalities.

No disease I have ever heard of (other than silkie-i-tis addiction, lol) causing silkied feathers. There are some genes that cause feathering problems, but this in not like any of them.


Silkie is recessive, so breeding the two together will create splash silkied ameraucanas. Breeding them to a blue ameraucana will give all normal feathered offspring carrying a hidden copy of the silkie gene. (They will be split for silkie.) Half will be splash, half blue. Breeding these offspring to each other or back to the silkied parent will give some silkied offspring. If, by chance the non-silkied parent in the initial cross is split for silkie, half the offspring should be silkied.​