Silver coloration

[Temple DaSilva]

I'm attaching a photo of a bantam silver pullet I have that was about 13 weeks old when I took this pic.  Is this an example of shafting?  If so, will it improve with age/molt or stay pretty consistent?  Also, should she have less cream across the breast and more salmon or is this acceptable?  I have the SOP but I didn't recall reading about cream color within the salmon.

Thanks for the opportunity to learn as I go.

-temple in CT

[Don]

My opinion as best I can see from this picture; This is juvenile feathering which will still change quite a bit but it does give you a good indication of color placement.  The cream/salmon color is in the right place, and this might darken some as the bird matures. (ABA silver standard: light salmon) Seems unusual there is white bib on the top front of the neck, unless this is camera glare?  Does the cream color continue to the muffs?  It does seem odd that the bird has a few dark feathers on top of the head and solid white on the neck.  Again this might change over time IMO. (ABA standard calls for Head, Male: silvery white, Female: silvery grey)

 Yes, the shafting is visible as the white shaft in the dark feathers.  This will likely remain as the bird grows out.  But it is evident in almost all bantams that I have seen.  It will be a slow process to reduce this flaw, gradually over time.  I get the impression that the Silver LF have made more progress in this regard.  Maybe some of those breeders can add their experience with this issue?

[Temple DaSilva]

Thanks so much, Don.  I read the standard and couldn't find anything mentioning anything other than salmon for breast color.  All of my silver pullets display this cream coloration - and, no, it's not the camera lighting.  Here is a photo of another with the cream "bib" as you mentioned.  But they are young so I'll watch to see if this fills some with salmon.

And thanks for confirming my concerns about shafting.  I wanted first to be sure I understood what the term meant.  I don't see this in my silver cockerels.  Is it typically found in both sexes of the bantam silvers?

[Jean]

The shafting is unique to the female.  It is difficult to remove from the line.  Even when doing an outcross to black in my LF line, I ended up with black pullets with shafting.

I don't see that white/cream in the breast going away in that bird.  The patch is fairly big.  I would put that bird in the layer pen/cull if it were mine.

[Temple DaSilva]

Thanks, Jean.  Again, I had a feeling the cream bib wasn't desirable but without having the experience of seeing other silver pullets of this age, I wasn't sure.  I'll go through the girls to see if there are any with less that might be salvageable but I'm pretty sure it's throughout this batch.

So how do you work away from shafting if it's not apparent in the males?  Assuming the silver males I have are very closely related to these pullets (all came in the same batch of chicks), would they also be contributing to the shafting issue?  I suppose I'm looking for a bit of guidance on how hard to cull if I want to get off to the best start possible... keeping in mind that everyone has to start somewhere!

-temple

[Don]

There are a lot of traits that are not visible in both sexes; shafting, leakage and egg color are examples.  It always helps to know the lineage of the opposite sex.   So if you find a female that has less shafting, use her, her daughters if they have less shafting and one of her sons. That way you know the lineage of the male even though he will not show the trait.   It is a Very Slow process, but one that we all might be able to progress over time.  Check out the Silver Duckwing OE or Silver Leghorns at the next show to see how refined the color can become.