Silkie Color Genetics: Blue, Black, Splash, Paint and Mottled

One of the most fun parts of keeping silkies is guessing what colors will hatch. You don't need a science degree. A few simple rules explain most of what you'll see. Every chick gets one copy of each color gene from each parent, and the mix decides the color.

Note: the percentages below are averages. In a small hatch, your actual numbers can be different, just like flipping a coin.

Blue, black and splash

These three colors are controlled by the same gene, the blue gene:

• Black has no copies of the blue gene.
• Blue has one copy.
• Splash has two copies.

That's why blue never "breeds true": a blue chick only gets one copy, and two blue parents can pass on zero, one or two.

Mottled

Mottling, the white tips on dark feathers, is recessive. A bird has to inherit the mottling gene from both parents to show it.

• Mottled × Mottled: all mottled chicks.
• Mottled × a bird with no mottling genes: no mottled chicks, but every chick carries the gene.
• Two carriers: about 1 in 4 chicks will be mottled.

Mottled silkies usually get whiter with each molt, so a young bird may look darker than it will as an adult.

Paint

Paint silkies are white with black patches. Paint is based on a dominant white gene on top of black. A paint bird typically has one copy of that white gene.

How much black shows on each paint chick varies a lot, which is why no two paints look alike.

Mille fleur

Mille fleur is one of the more complicated silkie colors. It combines a mahogany base, black markings and the white tips of mottling, so several genes have to line up. Pairing two mille fleurs usually gives mille fleur chicks. Crossing to other colors often gives chicks that carry the genes without showing the full pattern.