Silkie chicks

[alasialand]

Hi to everyone. I had hatched some chicks supposed to be pure silkies but they have 4 toes( until now i knew that silkies have 5 toes). is that possible with silkies ?? does anyone knows? 09

 

[foxy]

5 toes is a dominant feature with silkies, however occasionally with pure bred 5 toes breeds the odd one with 4 toes appears but they are the exception and should be rare.

 

[alasialand]

Thanks foxy, i hatched 8 out of 10eggs, 6 have 5 toes and the 2 have 4. all of them have dark skin and they seem to be silkies.

 

[foxy]

Thanks foxy, i hatched 8 out of 10eggs, 6 have 5 toes and the 2 have 4. all of them have dark skin and they seem to be silkies.

The other problem is if the gene pool is small for silkies, (I am making an assumption here!) then this 4 toed feature may be cropping up a little more frequently then would be acceptable normally.