Partridge vs. silver pencilled Wyandottes

[PeterJohn86]

Hi There.

I have 4 partridge wyandotte pullets, but unfortunately, no rooster. I only have one silver pencilled rooster so I was wondering what color their kids would be if I mixed these two varieties. Any ideas?

 

[nicalandia]

Hi There.

I have 4 partridge wyandotte pullets, but unfortunately, no rooster. I only have one silver pencilled rooster so I was wondering what color their kids would be if I mixed these two varieties. Any ideas?

Silver Pencilled Hens and Golden Pencilled Rooster's That hatch Silver Pencilled but turn Golden as they mature

 

[Egghead_Jr]

With your Silver cock over Partridge 100% of the pullets will be Silver. The cockerels will be split Silver/Partridge. Resulting in photo already posted. If those splits are bred to Partridge later then 50% of the pullets and cockerels will be Partridge. The other half pullets will be Silver and cockerels will be split.

The red of partridge will be golden. Must be back crossed to a dark Partridge to get back to proper coloration. If your original stock is already golden colored then it doesn't matter. If hatchery stock then they are not the deep color required for SOP. My personal preference for Partridge is for tad lighter than the Standard calls for but "golden" is far too light for me and the SOP. It's to your eye what you prefer and if not breeding to the Standard you've nothing to worry about.

The take away here is yes you can make a flock of partridge with what you've got. In two generations 50% hatched will be partridge. It's easier to do with Partridge over Silver. The base color you want for your flock is begotten by the Cock. Partridge over Silver begets 100% Partridge pullets and the same split cockerels. Again they'd have to be backcrossed to darker Partridge to return to Standard color otherwise you have a "golden" partridge flock. This mating is one generation faster. But then if you had a partridge cock you'd just continue with partridge and all this is mute. Well, edification is worth something.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Brought the camera when letting the birds out just now. Here is an example of "golden" colored partridge pullets and few more cockerels that are split. These are Plymouth Rock but same Silver and Partridge cross. These are F2 generation.

My breeder Partridge hen didn't survive Mink attack this spring so the F1 cock was put over Silver hens. Same result of 50% pullets being Silver and 50% Partridge as the cock was split for both. Pullet color is begotten by the cock.

Might be the same pullet in both photos. Some are lighter base color and some bit darker but that's the "golden" base color I was mentioning. It's not the deep mahogany needed for SOP. In first photo you can see red in the k split for both colors and last photo is another. Showing how diverse that split can be, more so in second generation which these are.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I just realized Nicalandia and I are using different terminology. That can be confusing.

Her photo of cock is not golden it is split. It is possible to make a golden partridge cock but that is not a photo of one. It is mature plumage of cockerels split for silver and partridge. Final plumage will vary to some degree.

 

[PeterJohn86]

Wow, some fantastic pieces of information here. Thank you so, so much!

 

[nicalandia]

Her photo of cock is not golden it is split. It is possible to make a golden partridge cock but that is not a photo of one.

Semantics, Actually S/s+ are genetically called Golden(gold + silver = golden), I can see how that may be somewhat confusing as to some colors have golden on their name and are actually gold based. And I am Mr. Nicalandia