Chick down question continued...

[Lee G]

I hatched this chick last spring from the pairing of a silver cock over a black hen. His hatch mates all looked black with extended black down type, but no yellow marbling.



After asking for advise, I learned the hen was either split for e+ or even ER. I was also advised to grow him out, and so I did.

8 months later he looks like this...



So it appears his mother was indeed split for e+…is it also correct to assume he is e+/e+ and perhaps S/S as well? And that his male siblings would likely be E/e+ and S/s+ ? They've grown up mostly black, but with varying degrees of leakage in the hackle and saddle. The females are black as well, and no leakage. All have such a lovely beetle green sheen too.

I must say I'm really liking the looks of silver based blacks! 

[Mike Gilbert]

No guarantees on the genotype of the siblings if the mother was a split for E or Er and e+.    If the males are split for sex linked silver and gold their hackles should be a shade of amber or gold instead of snow white.    The fact that this cockerel looks to have white instead of amber hackles leads me to believe the black mother was S/- and not s/-.   

[Stan Alder]

I really wish I knew what that meant, and how to figure it out..lol.....how does an old dog learn these tricks?

[Mike Gilbert]

Stan, here is a good place to get the basics down pat. It will take a little time, but is well worth it. 

http://sellers.kippenjungle.nl/page0.html

[Stan Alder]

Thanks Mike! I'll work at it...I do want to have more than just the very basics...looks like a good place to start my education...

[John W Blehm]

So it appears his mother was indeed split for e+…is it also correct to assume he is e+/e+ and perhaps S/S as well? And that his male siblings would likely be E/e+ and S/s+ ? They've grown up mostly black, but with varying degrees of leakage in the hackle and saddle. The females are black as well, and no leakage.

Mike said "No guarantees on the genotype of the siblings", but for the cockerel in the photo I believe your assumption that he is e+/e+ is correct.  In saying he "looks to have white instead of amber hackles" means you are probably right about him being S/S, also.

A birchen male and a silver male look almost the same.  Since your cockerel has a white wing triangle (duckwing) it means he is silver, which is based on wildtype (e+), aka duckwing.  If he were birchen (the variety) the wing triangle would be black (crow wing), which is based on birchen (the e-locus gene E^R).

Your females don't show leakage of silver (or gold) because they cover it better than the males.

In this Breeding section there is a topic with Links for Genetics sites that are very helpful, including the Sellers site Mike mentioned.

[Lee G]

Thank you Mike, thank you John. 
    
This cockerel has taught me an invaluable lesson, and was well worth growing out. Had I not pair mated last year, I might never have discovered (or discovered too late and after the fact) some of the hidden genes my birds carry. Such knowledge is power, and I plan to put what I’ve learned to good use. Plan your work and work your plan, as my grandmother was always fond of saying. hehe And rereading through the seller site looks like a great place to start this morning. See ya there Stan!