Where did this rooster's color come from? Silkies!

[msiler]

Hey genetic gurus!! It seems like I have genetic mysteries popping up all the time with my flock!
Today's is one that I've thought about for a long time and still have no direct answer.

The rooster in question is a silver partridge with leakage, regular Silkie feathers.

I hatched a lot of eggs from the pen where he came from for fun, and no others have come up like him.

The dads in the pen are a partridge satin and a blue satin with gold leakage (both from Sheri Minkner, so multi-generational, but I assume there is always a small chance one of them carries a recessive Silkie gene...) and a black Silkie (from Bobbi Porto's black pens, pitch black down to the comb... very strong melanizers).
The hens that were in that pen were a Paint, a blue, a mottled split, and I believe two blacks.

As you can tell, none of them are obvious silver carriers.... and this boy is.

My initial theory was Paint hen (since Paint can carry silver) x black roo, and Paint hen didn't pass on her dominant white. But this would essentially be a black x black cross and would not produce a silver with such leakage.

My second theory was.... the blue satin with leakage as the dad?? And potentially the Paint as the mom and again, she didn't pass on her dominant white but did pass on silver??

(the blue w/ leakage roo in question)

Looking for you best guess here! No chance of chickens crossing pens, they are completely separate. I have more pictures if needed!

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

All roosters have two silver genes, two gold genes, or one gold and one silver gene. All hens have either a silver gene or a gold gene (even solid black ones). (The silver I am referencing is different than the silver partridge pattern in silkies.)

Your blue satin with leakage is a gold/silver split. He has both a gold gene and a silver gene. He could have gold/silver split sons or even a pure silver/silver son if the mother has a silver gene.

As for how your rooster got the silver partridge pattern, most silkies are not pure for their color. It’s mostly because leakage is much harder to see on silkied feathers, and most people breed silkies of different colors together. Your blue satin likely carries partridge. It’s likely that more than one of your hens carries partridge, too. Even a solid colored hen can have genes for partridge.

 

[The Moonshiner]

All roosters have two silver genes, two gold genes, or one gold and one silver gene. All hens have either a silver gene or a gold gene (even solid black ones). (The silver I am referencing is different than the silver partridge pattern in silkies.)

Your blue satin with leakage is a gold/silver split. He has both a gold gene and a silver gene. He could have gold/silver split sons or even a pure silver/silver son if the mother has a silver gene.

As for how your rooster got the silver partridge pattern, most silkies are not pure for their color. It’s mostly because leakage is much harder to see on silkied feathers, and most people breed silkies of different colors together. Your blue satin likely carries partridge. It’s likely that more than one of your hens carries partridge, too. Even a solid colored hen can have genes for partridge.

I agree with this.
Sounds like you're mixing a lot of mixed patterned birds.
Hens do really well hiding genes.
I'm not surprised you're getting a lot of surprise birds popping up.

 

[msiler]

Thank you both!

All roosters have two silver genes, two gold genes, or one gold and one silver gene. All hens have either a silver gene or a gold gene (even solid black ones). (The silver I am referencing is different than the silver partridge pattern in silkies.)

Your blue satin with leakage is a gold/silver split. He has both a gold gene and a silver gene. He could have gold/silver split sons or even a pure silver/silver son if the mother has a silver gene.

As for how your rooster got the silver partridge pattern, most silkies are not pure for their color. It’s mostly because leakage is much harder to see on silkied feathers, and most people breed silkies of different colors together. Your blue satin likely carries partridge. It’s likely that more than one of your hens carries partridge, too. Even a solid colored hen can have genes for partridge.

Interesting. I was aware of the gold/silver thing with hens vs roos, however I was under the impression that the silver is dominant over gold, and the blue satin has gold leakage not silver... I could very well be wrong though!
I know one of the black moms in there was a mix from black x white. Visually black, but likely has the genes for partridge because of white mom.

I agree with this.
Sounds like you're mixing a lot of mixed patterned birds.
Hens do really well hiding genes.
I'm not surprised you're getting a lot of surprise birds popping up.

I was yes, and surprsingly they were my best sellers! I disbanded the pens because I really didn't like the leakage I was seeing the babies. I had people requesting me to put the pen back for up to two months after I disbanded it! No one locally at least seemed to like the nice black and blue chicks I was producing instead of the leaky blacks and frizzled Paints with gold leakage haha...

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Thank you both!


Interesting. I was aware of the gold/silver thing with hens vs roos, however I was under the impression that the silver is dominant over gold, and the blue satin has gold leakage not silver... I could very well be wrong though!
I know one of the black moms in there was a mix from black x white. Visually black, but likely has the genes for partridge because of white mom.


I was yes, and surprsingly they were my best sellers! I disbanded the pens because I really didn't like the leakage I was seeing the babies. I had people requesting me to put the pen back for up to two months after I disbanded it! No one locally at least seemed to like the nice black and blue chicks I was producing instead of the leaky blacks and frizzled Paints with gold leakage haha...

Gold/silver splits are usually not a clean silver. They can vary from silver with some yellowish leakage to pale gold.

Keep in mind that it’s very possible your “silver partridge” is a gold/silver split rather than silver/silver. That would mean that his father could be pure gold as long as he had a mother with the silver gene.

 

[msiler]

Ohhhh I see! Very interesting. Thank you for helping me to clear this up!!

 

[_Moon_]

Hey genetic gurus!! It seems like I have genetic mysteries popping up all the time with my flock!
Today's is one that I've thought about for a long time and still have no direct answer.

The rooster in question is a silver partridge with leakage, regular Silkie feathers.
View attachment 2771361

I hatched a lot of eggs from the pen where he came from for fun, and no others have come up like him.

The dads in the pen are a partridge satin and a blue satin with gold leakage (both from Sheri Minkner, so multi-generational, but I assume there is always a small chance one of them carries a recessive Silkie gene...) and a black Silkie (from Bobbi Porto's black pens, pitch black down to the comb... very strong melanizers).
The hens that were in that pen were a Paint, a blue, a mottled split, and I believe two blacks.

As you can tell, none of them are obvious silver carriers.... and this boy is.

My initial theory was Paint hen (since Paint can carry silver) x black roo, and Paint hen didn't pass on her dominant white. But this would essentially be a black x black cross and would not produce a silver with such leakage.

My second theory was.... the blue satin with leakage as the dad?? And potentially the Paint as the mom and again, she didn't pass on her dominant white but did pass on silver??
View attachment 2771380 (the blue w/ leakage roo in question)

Looking for you best guess here! No chance of chickens crossing pens, they are completely separate. I have more pictures if needed!

I got a color just like him. I got him by breeding White X Partridge. I have no idea how it happend, but i named him Chubacca. lol.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I got a color just like him. I got him by breeding White X Partridge. I have no idea how it happend, but i named him Chubacca. lol.

White in silkies can hide any other pattern underneath. Your white silkie is probably silver partridge under their white.

 

[_Moon_]

White in silkies can hide any other pattern underneath. Your white silkie is probably silver partridge under their white.

I wouldn't doubt it. He was my first white silkie cock. After I bred him with my other whites, all the chicks weren't pure white. So I had to get rid of his whole line in my flock.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I wouldn't doubt it. He was my first white silkie cock. After I bred him with my other whites, all the chicks weren't pure white. So I had to get rid of his whole line in my flock.

If that’s the case, either he wasn’t recessive white or the hens weren’t recessive white. Recessive white x recessive white produces all white chicks. However, there’s also dominant white and silver, so it gets a bit confusing.