Do White Silkies breed true?

[turtle1173]

Hi all,

I have read on here before about the complexity of white. Sometimes these posts are a little hard to follow, as genetics are not my forte (among many things

). I hope you all don't mind my question.

I recently put 21 silkie eggs in the bator that came from a good breeder who only has white silkies. Will all the silkies that hatch be white? Or will there be other possibilities?

If I were to take a guess at an answer to my own question, I would say the answer is ... Maybe - that it depends on the genetic make-up of the parents.

Thank you for your help.

Shane

 

[briarpatchfarms]

if all the flock they have is white then most likely there going to be white because even though the grandparents of the bird have a different color gene the white will be dominate. if there is any miss coloration then the colored gene would have to be dominate over the white wich is not frequent. so you may have 1 or 2 if your lucky. but let me know how it turns out...


Tyler

 

[Kev]

Short answer= Yes 100% white silkies.

Longer answer:

The majority of white silkies have recessive white, as dominant white does interfere with the skin pigmentation which is not desirable(however there are a few breeders who work with dominant white for various reasons- they still are very few). So by default, a white silkie is a recessive white.

Recessive white x recessive white always= 100% white.

Don't be surprised a few or even many of the chicks hatch out with grey or even almost black down. Those may even be desirable, as they can be a hint the chick has silver.. which is supposed to help keep the white cleaner and crispier on adult birds.

IF any chicks hatch and feather out any other color besides white, then there was somebody else breeding the whites..

Lastly, both forms of white does not always totally cover up whatever color a bird has, especially brown/red colored feathers resulting in a white bird "leaking" some color, especially on the breast. (this is also where silver comes in very handy- silver prevents the bird from making brown/red pigments so even if a white was "leaky" it is going to be white anyways..)

 

[turtle1173]

Thanks for the quick responses and explanation. That is very helpful.

Shane

 

[Smoky73]

I have had chicks turn out with grey down and yellow down with light brown markings, but, once the chicks feather out, they are white. I have never had a yellowing problem, so do not worry too much about the down color.