Understanding Cuckoo Silkies.

[Bryam]

Hello!
I have a very simply question! I have a cockoo silkie rooster that just got. Both his parents are cockoo silkies. When I breed him to my pure black silkie hen, what colour will the babies be?

Thanks!!

 

[QueenMisha]

All offspring will be heterozygous barred; B/b in the case of males and B/- in females. They will look similar to him but darker.

 

[Bryam]

Wow, so none of the offspring will be black? All cuckoo's?

 

[Bryam]

All offspring will be heterozygous barred; B/b in the case of males and B/- in females. They will look similar to him but darker.

If I would breed him to a paint hen for instance, who Carrys more than one colour, will all of the offspring still be cuckoo?

Thanks!

 

[dheltzel]

Actually, cuckoo (sexlinked barring) is partially dominant, so it is possible that his father is heterozygous for barring, and therefore possible that he is also het. If that were true, then 50% of his offspring to a black hen would be black and 50% het for barring.

Since the phenotype for barring is different depending on the number of barring genes (why females are always dark barred), you should be able to tell if he is homozygous for barring (then he will be much lighter that his mother). If he is homozygous, then everything said above is true and all his offspring will be single barred. Whether you will be able to see the barring is another matter, but they will carry the gene for it.

 

[Bryam]

Actually, cuckoo (sexlinked barring) is partially dominant, so it is possible that his father is heterozygous for barring, and therefore possible that he is also het. If that were true, then 50% of his offspring to a black hen would be black and 50% het for barring.

Since the phenotype for barring is different depending on the number of barring genes (why females are always dark barred), you should be able to tell if he is homozygous for barring (then he will be much lighter that his mother). If he is homozygous, then everything said above is true and all his offspring will be single barred. Whether you will be able to see the barring is another matter, but they will carry the gene for it.

Amazing!
Here is a pictures of him. I think he Carrys one set of the genes, as he is a dark cuckoo. Let me know what you think! You are an amazing whealth of knowledge!!

 

[dheltzel]

Amazing!
Here is a pictures of him. I think he Carrys one set of the genes, as he is a dark cuckoo. Let me know what you think! You are an amazing whealth of knowledge!!

He does look heterozygous to me. I had a roo like that and got both blacks and cuckoo babies. I was planning to put the cuckoo pullets with a black male to get black sexlinked silkies, but got distracted by other projects. I think there would be a good market for black silkie pullet chicks, personally I like black better than cuckoo in silkies, and sexing silkies is always problematic.

 

[Bryam]

He does look heterozygous to me. I had a roo like that and got both blacks and cuckoo babies. I was planning to put the cuckoo pullets with a black male to get black sexlinked silkies, but got distracted by other projects. I think there would be a good market for black silkie pullet chicks, personally I like black better than cuckoo in silkies, and sexing silkies is always problematic.

So are you saying that the black chicks would all be pullets and the cuckoo chicks would all be roosters?

 

[dheltzel]

So are you saying that the black chicks would all be pullets and the cuckoo chicks would all be roosters?

Yes, that is exactly how black sexlinks work. You need a barred (cuckoo) female and a non-barred male. Cool, huh?

 

[Bryam]

Yes, that is exactly how black sexlinks work. You need a barred (cuckoo) female and a non-barred male. Cool, huh?

Wow, so this brakes the hard way of sexing silkies into an easy way to sex silkies. But in my case my rooster is cuckoo and my hen is black, so would i still get sexlinked chicks?

If I Breed him to a white silkie, could I get pure white silkies and cuckoos too? Or they will only throw blacks and cuckoo chicks?

THANKS FOR THE SPEEDY REPLY!