- Thread starter
- #11
What would i get, silkie genetics?
- Thread starter Feather queen
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #12
Feather queen
Songster
- Thread starter
- #13
Feather queen
Songster
I would have called some of those colors by different names than what you called them, so it's definitely helpful to see the photos.
The dark buff one has some black.
The buff through white one has dominant white.
The "splash" one probably has one copy of dominant white, and one copy of not-dominant-white (so can produce chicks that show black and chicks that show white.) I'll keep calling him "splash" because that's what you have been calling him, but that is not what I would usually call a chicken with the genes I think he has. The same goes for the hen colored like him.
For breeding, I would expect:
"Splash" rooster with "splash" hen, probably genetically black with dominant white and no actual blue/splash, 1/4 black chicks, 1/4 white chicks, 1/2 white-with-leakage chicks (like the parents). There is a chance that the "black" chicks may have some pattern of black and silver rather than being all black-- I can't really tell gold-turned-silver from black-turned-white, since either one looks white.
"Splash" rooster with "buff through white" hens, lots of white chicks, possibly with some gold leakage, and some with bits of black like their father. That's assuming the rooster has E (Extended Black), and passes it to all his chicks, with all chicks inheriting Dominant White from their mother and half inheriting it also from their father.
"Splash" rooster with blue pullet, 1/4 of chicks black, 1/4 of chicks blue, 1/4 of chicks white with bits of black (like their father), 1/4 of chicks white with bits of blue (like their father, but with the blue gene affecting the bits of black.) Chance of some other color/pattern of chicks, depending on what other genes they may be carrying.
"Splash" rooster with gray pearl pullet, you may get 1/2 black chicks and 1/2 white chicks with some black (like their father). Or you may get some each of those kinds, and some chicks showing some kind of patterning (maybe similar to their mother.)
"Splash" rooster with partridge pullet, you may gave 1/2 black chicks and 1/2 white chicks with some black (like their father). Or you may get some of each of those kinds, some that look partridge or gray pearl, some that look like that except for having the black replaced with white.
Dark buff rooster with "splash" hen, probably half of chicks white with some bits of black (like the hen). Other half of chicks will probably be dark buff daughters, and sons like their father except that they may have white (genetically silver) instead of the gold/buff color.
Dark buff rooster with "light buff through white" hens, probably all chicks will be colored like their mothers. There's a chance some chicks will be colored like their father.
Dark buff rooster with blue pullet, probably half of chicks blue like their mother, other half solid black (some buff or white leakage likely on both colors of chicks.)
Dark buff rooster with partridge hen, chicks probably looking like one or the other parent or a mix.
Dark buff rooster with gray pearl hen, probably sex-linked chicks: sons like their mother, daughters like their father or partridge color.
Dark buff through white rooster with "splash" hen, probably white chicks, some with black bits like their mother and some without. Chance of some with buff areas.
Dark buff through white rooster with light buff through white hens, chicks probably like one or the other parent (either gender chick could look like either gender parent.)
Dark buff through white rooster with blue pullet, probably white chicks with some black (like the ones you're calling "splash), and some like that but with blue instead of black. Chance of some that show buff areas or silver (white) areas. Chance of some that show black or blue rather than having it turned white.
Dark buff through white rooster with partridge hen, probably chicks that look like the father, or like partridge with the black changed to white. Chance of chicks that show black instead of having it turned white (like your dark buff rooster without white, or like the partridge hen herself.)
Dark buff through white rooster with gray pearl hen, probably sex-linked chicks: daughters like their father, sons almost white (because the mother gives the silver gene that turns gold to white, and the father gives the dominant white gene that turns black to white, leaving a white-with-white chicken.) Those "white" sons may have some buff or yellow leakage, and may also have small bits of black leakage.
Based on the recent photos, I can tell some things about the genetics.
The "blue looks black" pullet:
--probably has the gene E (Extended Black) that makes a chicken black all over. If she has two copies of that gene, all of her chicks will inherit one copy of it, and will also be black all over (possibly with leakge of some other color too.) If the pullet has only one copy of E (Extended Black), then she would be carrying some other gene as well, probably one that allows a chicken to show more than one color on its feathers. In that case, about half her chicks would be black, and the other half would show other colors.
--has the blue gene, that affects all black on the chicken but has little or no effect on other colors. To look blue, she has one copy of the blue gene, paired with one copy of the not-blue gene. Two copies of the blue gene would turn black into splash. Two copies of the not-blue gene would leave all the black areas actually black. She will give the blue gene to half of her chicks, and the not-blue gene to the other half of her chicks. So she could produce blue chicks and black chicks and maybe blue-and-something chicks and black-and-something chicks.
The "buff through white" chickens, of both genders, most likely have the Dominant White gene. That gene turns black into white, but has little or no effect on gold tones (which is why those birds show buff). Each of those chickens will pass the dominant white gene to at least half of their chicks, and maybe to all of their chicks. Crossing one of those roosters to the "blue looks black" pullet will produce quite a few white chicks (genetically black or blue from their mother, turned white because they inherit Dominant White from their father.)
The Dominant White gene is a bit leaky. That means when the chicken has only one copy of that gene, some bits of black can leak through. I think your "splash" silkie rooster & hen have one copy of the Dominant White gene, and have some black leakage. If I'm right, half the chicks from each of them will inherit dominant white, and half will not. (If you cross them to each other, the "halves" interact to produce 1/4 chicks that are pure for dominant white, 1/2 chicks with one copy of dominant white, 1/4 chicks who do not have dominant white and will probably show large amounts of black.) I think those "splash" chickens probably have E (Extended Black), that would make them black all over (which is then mostly turned to white.) That's what I have assumed in my chick-color predictions. They may also be carrying some other gene (recessive to E) that lets them show other colors. That's why I commented that some chicks might be other colors-- hard to tell what it might be, but there's at least a chance that something will show up.
Your "partridge" and "gray pearl" and "dark buff" ones are showing some black, so not blue and not dominant white.
Some of your chickens are showing gold (partridge, buff, buff through white). The gray pearl one is showing silver. I can't tell if the ones you are calling "splash" have silver or gold.
Gold/silver is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ, inheriting one from each parent, and giving one to each son or daughter. Females have ZW, inheriting Z from their father and W from their mother, giving Z to their sons and W to their daughters. For males (two Z chromosomes), silver is dominant over gold. For females (one Z chromosome) dominance does not matter, because they've only got one.
A gold rooster will produce gold daughters.
A gold rooster with gold hen will produce gold sons and gold daughters.
A gold rooster with silver hens will produce sexlinks (gold daughters, silver sons).
A pure silver rooster will produce silver daughters and silver sons, no matter what color their mother is.
A silver rooster who carries the gold gene will produce some gold daughters and some silver daughters. If mated to a gold hen, half of sons will be silver and half will be gold. If mated to a silver hen, all sons will be silver.
Any chicken with large amounts of black (or black diluted to blue, splash, or white) will still be genetically gold or silver, but you can't tell which one by looking. That would apply to the ones you're calling splash, and the blue pullet.
Let me know if I need to explain something further, or if I missed anything important.
Which male to keep is a good question. I don't have a definite answer.
The dark buff one has some black.
The buff through white one has dominant white.
The "splash" one probably has one copy of dominant white, and one copy of not-dominant-white (so can produce chicks that show black and chicks that show white.) I'll keep calling him "splash" because that's what you have been calling him, but that is not what I would usually call a chicken with the genes I think he has. The same goes for the hen colored like him.
For breeding, I would expect:
"Splash" rooster with "splash" hen, probably genetically black with dominant white and no actual blue/splash, 1/4 black chicks, 1/4 white chicks, 1/2 white-with-leakage chicks (like the parents). There is a chance that the "black" chicks may have some pattern of black and silver rather than being all black-- I can't really tell gold-turned-silver from black-turned-white, since either one looks white.
"Splash" rooster with "buff through white" hens, lots of white chicks, possibly with some gold leakage, and some with bits of black like their father. That's assuming the rooster has E (Extended Black), and passes it to all his chicks, with all chicks inheriting Dominant White from their mother and half inheriting it also from their father.
"Splash" rooster with blue pullet, 1/4 of chicks black, 1/4 of chicks blue, 1/4 of chicks white with bits of black (like their father), 1/4 of chicks white with bits of blue (like their father, but with the blue gene affecting the bits of black.) Chance of some other color/pattern of chicks, depending on what other genes they may be carrying.
"Splash" rooster with gray pearl pullet, you may get 1/2 black chicks and 1/2 white chicks with some black (like their father). Or you may get some each of those kinds, and some chicks showing some kind of patterning (maybe similar to their mother.)
"Splash" rooster with partridge pullet, you may gave 1/2 black chicks and 1/2 white chicks with some black (like their father). Or you may get some of each of those kinds, some that look partridge or gray pearl, some that look like that except for having the black replaced with white.
Dark buff rooster with "splash" hen, probably half of chicks white with some bits of black (like the hen). Other half of chicks will probably be dark buff daughters, and sons like their father except that they may have white (genetically silver) instead of the gold/buff color.
Dark buff rooster with "light buff through white" hens, probably all chicks will be colored like their mothers. There's a chance some chicks will be colored like their father.
Dark buff rooster with blue pullet, probably half of chicks blue like their mother, other half solid black (some buff or white leakage likely on both colors of chicks.)
Dark buff rooster with partridge hen, chicks probably looking like one or the other parent or a mix.
Dark buff rooster with gray pearl hen, probably sex-linked chicks: sons like their mother, daughters like their father or partridge color.
Dark buff through white rooster with "splash" hen, probably white chicks, some with black bits like their mother and some without. Chance of some with buff areas.
Dark buff through white rooster with light buff through white hens, chicks probably like one or the other parent (either gender chick could look like either gender parent.)
Dark buff through white rooster with blue pullet, probably white chicks with some black (like the ones you're calling "splash), and some like that but with blue instead of black. Chance of some that show buff areas or silver (white) areas. Chance of some that show black or blue rather than having it turned white.
Dark buff through white rooster with partridge hen, probably chicks that look like the father, or like partridge with the black changed to white. Chance of chicks that show black instead of having it turned white (like your dark buff rooster without white, or like the partridge hen herself.)
Dark buff through white rooster with gray pearl hen, probably sex-linked chicks: daughters like their father, sons almost white (because the mother gives the silver gene that turns gold to white, and the father gives the dominant white gene that turns black to white, leaving a white-with-white chicken.) Those "white" sons may have some buff or yellow leakage, and may also have small bits of black leakage.
Here is some discussion of the genes that are involved, or that I think are probably involved, in the colors of your chickens. I think this is all the ones I mentioned above. There probably are other genes involved too, but I'm less sure about which ones they are.
Based on the recent photos, I can tell some things about the genetics.
The "blue looks black" pullet:
--probably has the gene E (Extended Black) that makes a chicken black all over. If she has two copies of that gene, all of her chicks will inherit one copy of it, and will also be black all over (possibly with leakge of some other color too.) If the pullet has only one copy of E (Extended Black), then she would be carrying some other gene as well, probably one that allows a chicken to show more than one color on its feathers. In that case, about half her chicks would be black, and the other half would show other colors.
--has the blue gene, that affects all black on the chicken but has little or no effect on other colors. To look blue, she has one copy of the blue gene, paired with one copy of the not-blue gene. Two copies of the blue gene would turn black into splash. Two copies of the not-blue gene would leave all the black areas actually black. She will give the blue gene to half of her chicks, and the not-blue gene to the other half of her chicks. So she could produce blue chicks and black chicks and maybe blue-and-something chicks and black-and-something chicks.
The "buff through white" chickens, of both genders, most likely have the Dominant White gene. That gene turns black into white, but has little or no effect on gold tones (which is why those birds show buff). Each of those chickens will pass the dominant white gene to at least half of their chicks, and maybe to all of their chicks. Crossing one of those roosters to the "blue looks black" pullet will produce quite a few white chicks (genetically black or blue from their mother, turned white because they inherit Dominant White from their father.)
The Dominant White gene is a bit leaky. That means when the chicken has only one copy of that gene, some bits of black can leak through. I think your "splash" silkie rooster & hen have one copy of the Dominant White gene, and have some black leakage. If I'm right, half the chicks from each of them will inherit dominant white, and half will not. (If you cross them to each other, the "halves" interact to produce 1/4 chicks that are pure for dominant white, 1/2 chicks with one copy of dominant white, 1/4 chicks who do not have dominant white and will probably show large amounts of black.) I think those "splash" chickens probably have E (Extended Black), that would make them black all over (which is then mostly turned to white.) That's what I have assumed in my chick-color predictions. They may also be carrying some other gene (recessive to E) that lets them show other colors. That's why I commented that some chicks might be other colors-- hard to tell what it might be, but there's at least a chance that something will show up.
Your "partridge" and "gray pearl" and "dark buff" ones are showing some black, so not blue and not dominant white.
Some of your chickens are showing gold (partridge, buff, buff through white). The gray pearl one is showing silver. I can't tell if the ones you are calling "splash" have silver or gold.
Gold/silver is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ, inheriting one from each parent, and giving one to each son or daughter. Females have ZW, inheriting Z from their father and W from their mother, giving Z to their sons and W to their daughters. For males (two Z chromosomes), silver is dominant over gold. For females (one Z chromosome) dominance does not matter, because they've only got one.
A gold rooster will produce gold daughters.
A gold rooster with gold hen will produce gold sons and gold daughters.
A gold rooster with silver hens will produce sexlinks (gold daughters, silver sons).
A pure silver rooster will produce silver daughters and silver sons, no matter what color their mother is.
A silver rooster who carries the gold gene will produce some gold daughters and some silver daughters. If mated to a gold hen, half of sons will be silver and half will be gold. If mated to a silver hen, all sons will be silver.
Any chicken with large amounts of black (or black diluted to blue, splash, or white) will still be genetically gold or silver, but you can't tell which one by looking. That would apply to the ones you're calling splash, and the blue pullet.
Let me know if I need to explain something further, or if I missed anything important.
- Thread starter
- #15
Feather queen
Songster
I have only been told by a basic chook breeder friend of mine the colour my silkies are classified as. I do want to learn the proper names of them though.
What would you call the colours of my silkies.
- Thread starter
- #16
Feather queen
Songster
Thank you so much for all your colour prediction and you genetic explanations, I find it and found it really interesting. I think you explained it really well. I ask if I have any questions.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
The ones you called Splash, I would have called "white with black leakage" or maybe "paint," based on what I've seen other people call them.
For the ones with buff, I see why you called them what you did, but I needed photos to figure out what you meant. I don't have any better name for them than what you used. If there is an official name for those colors, I don't know what it is.
I probably would have said blue, partridge, and gray for the same ones you did.
But since I didn't recognize what some of your descriptions meant (like "buff through white"), I was not confident about interpreting any of the other ones either.
- Thread starter
- #18
Feather queen
Songster
oh, Okay, thank you so much
Clodill4rel
Songster
- Mar 16, 2022
- 425
- 766
- 236
Holy moly so much to learn I loved reading this !
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest posts
-
-
Poll on flock toys — please answer if possible!- Latest: SwampPrincessChick
-
-
-
-
-
Latest threads
-
-
Fertilized egg storage but don’t want chicks
- Started by Spazz1904
- Replies: 1
-
-
-
Rooster not sharing treats with hens, acting aggressive!
- Started by sbergstrom09
- Replies: 0
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
Our first call duck incubation adventure (hatch-a-long)- Started by MrsWinterWheat
- Replies: 161
-
Please help! Hen suddenly falling asleep while standing, droopy tail! [Edit: Probable Worm Blockage]- Started by Tiffany Wikk
- Replies: 149
-
Ducklings are pipping!! - would love some distractions!- Started by PuddlesandWaddles
- Replies: 112
-
-
Before I rebuild, what would yall do differently?- Started by z3lda3
- Replies: 103
-