I have two Silkie roosters, one white and the other is either black or dark blue, not sure which. Last August, two of my EE hens hatched out chicks, a total of eight. There are two cockerels; I think one is wheaten and the other looks like a golden duck-wing. The six pullets are a range of colors -- one is white with black penciling everywhere except her head and neck; one is definitely blue; a couple look silver-based, with penciling and salmon breasts (one of these has a darker head than the others, and is the only chick from one of the EE hens); and the others are mostly orangey with penciling.
Is it possible to guess which of the two Silkies fathered these youngsters based on how the offspring came out? The EE's are the usual mix of colors; the hen who hatched seven of the chicks is quite reddish-orangey, while the other one is dark, looks like maybe partridge.
The reason I'm wondering is if I could determine that one of the Silkies sired this batch, then I'd pen the other one with a couple of the EE hens who aren't the mothers and see if I could get a second line going. Guess I could do that even with the father, but would rather do it with an unrelated male. I'm going to keep the pullets and see how well they lay, although I mostly wanted them for broody hens. The two cockerels, although beautiful little fellows, are going in the freezer, since Grandma says she's willing to eat dark meat (unsure at this point whether crosses are dark all the way through, guess we'll find out!). They appear to be wide-breasted; it will be interesting to see how much meat is on one of them. But I don't want to breed them to their sisters.
Kathleen
ETA: I know pictures might help, but I'll have to work on that this afternoon (if it doesn't rain), as I'm getting ready to go to church right now.
Is it possible to guess which of the two Silkies fathered these youngsters based on how the offspring came out? The EE's are the usual mix of colors; the hen who hatched seven of the chicks is quite reddish-orangey, while the other one is dark, looks like maybe partridge.
The reason I'm wondering is if I could determine that one of the Silkies sired this batch, then I'd pen the other one with a couple of the EE hens who aren't the mothers and see if I could get a second line going. Guess I could do that even with the father, but would rather do it with an unrelated male. I'm going to keep the pullets and see how well they lay, although I mostly wanted them for broody hens. The two cockerels, although beautiful little fellows, are going in the freezer, since Grandma says she's willing to eat dark meat (unsure at this point whether crosses are dark all the way through, guess we'll find out!). They appear to be wide-breasted; it will be interesting to see how much meat is on one of them. But I don't want to breed them to their sisters.
Kathleen
ETA: I know pictures might help, but I'll have to work on that this afternoon (if it doesn't rain), as I'm getting ready to go to church right now.
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