A tinsel blue?

[greeneggsandham]

I need some opinions and answers here.  I haven't been breeding as long as some of you.  It has taken some years to get my blues males without leaking and my two year old blue cock was my first.  I would say the cape on my blue cock is a flat dark blue or black, no beetle green and he's a bit on the dark side.  The female a little less dark blue.  Here are some pictures of the male offspring from this mating, about 17 to 18 wks old.  It may be hard to see in the pictures, but the guy shines like tinsel on a christmas tree!  I haven't seen this before.  It is quite striking, imo.  I have viewed him in sunlight, shade, and even under a flashlight.  I  don't see any beetle green, just a shiny, glossy black?  Blue? 
Has this been seen before?  What could cause it? 
My concern is, is it a fault?  I have another young blue male from a different hen also showing a bit, but not anywhere near as much as this guy.   I think I will go try to pull some individual feathers from him to get a closer look.

[Jean]

I think that is silver leakage.

[greeneggsandham]

Well that is interesting.  It's unlike anything I've seen in leaky blues before.  There doesn't appear to be any color involved in this.

[greeneggsandham]

I've went and picked some feathers from the one in question, a black and a splash.  First pictures are from the blue, one hackle, one saddle feather.  Then shots of the two feathers at a different angle. 
Also added a black saddle feather to the mix and took two pictures at different light angles.
Last picture includes a splash saddle feather to show the white.

So, this seems to have something to do with the way the feathers catch the light.  I just don't see any color in the feathers that points to leaking. There is color involved in leaking right?  I've read that the purple sheen and green sheen on feathers has to do with feather structure and how they catch the light.  I am wondering if this is similar.  And I'm still wondering if this is considered a fault?

[Lee G]

I think that is silver leakage.

I think it's silver leakage too...maybe enhanced and/or diluted by the sun? Because I've seen the same kind of effect on a splash cock, only his feathers were outlined in rusty gold. I'm going to try and find a pic...

[Lee G]

Ok, found the pics. I didn't crop them for fear of blow up, but hopefully you can still make out the rusty gold leakage around the feathers edges. Not saying this is what you have, but it looks somewhat similar.

[greeneggsandham]

So a bird that leaks silver doesn't neccessarily show white?  Just if the feathers glint that's leaking? 
I've seen the rust or gold that you are talking about before, so I am familiar with that.  I see it in your pictures too.  I also see a glint in some of the feathers on his head.  In fact, I've seen that glint often in pictures of blues that people post at times. 
Well, I'm still stumped.  Looked at my male blue cock and he has the same glint or shine on areas of his saddle and I've shown him on a few occasions.  Won BV once and just won Champion AOSB at the county fair.  I don't want to get rid of a very promising cockeral if this isn't leaking.  I may just have to see what some think after viewing in person.
   

[DeWayne Edgin]

Maybe someone used a black cock over Silver to increase size in Silvers and got one of the crosses mixed up and sold it you by accident. It might be a throw back to.

[greeneggsandham]

No, hatched it here and hatched parents here.  My cock's parentage goes back several years here.  Female was from a black x splash.

I guess my question is not clear.  Would silver leakage show up as white on a bird?

[Jean]

yes

[John]

Would silver leakage show up as white on a bird?

Yes.
This may be one of those areas where a word has more than one meaning for us. 
Silver is a variety (color/pattern) that is mostly black and silver (aka white).
Silver is also a gene (S) that shows as a silver/white color and is the opposite of gold (s+). Gold may appear as some reddish color.  When talking about leakage of silver or gold they are referring to the genes, not the variety. 
 

[DeWayne Edgin]

Are you saying the black and blues carry the Silver gene then John?

[John]

Are you saying the black and blues carry the Silver gene then John?

Yes...sometimes.  Either silver (S), gold (s+) or both (S/s+) for some males since it is sex linked.  It is discussed in different topics, but here is a good one to start with.
http://ameraucana.org/forum/index.php?topic=1733.0

The confusion with "silver" being the name for both a variety and gene is not the only title that can lead to confusion with chickens.  I've mentioned before about "wheaten" and "birchen".  Both are also names for varieties, but also both are names for e-locus genes.

[DeWayne Edgin]

I never knew that. Thanks.

[John]

It is not just the black and blue chickens that carry either silver or gold, but all chickens to my knowledge.  Just like all the other genes they have a locus (location on a chromosome - in this case the S-locus) for the "S" gene.  Sometimes it is silver (white), sometimes gold and sometimes a male may carry/have both.
This is what makes the difference between a silver Sebright and a golden Sebright.  It is the difference between the birchen (silver) and brown red (gold) varieties.
Black and blue chickens based on the Extended black gene (E), at the E-locus, cover leakage of silver and/or gold better than those based on Birchen (E^R, the gene here...not the birchen variety). 
The parent stock in the flock this thread is about are probably mostly E/E birds with some that are E/E^R (like most in my opinion).  It is more likely to "leak" or show on males, so don't use those guys as breeders.  When a female inherits birchen from both sides (E^R/E^R) she will likely show silver or gold too.  I ended up with a beautiful brown red hen that way years ago.