What the chicks of a Easter Egger and a Silkie look like and lay, worked out from both breeds' standards.
A Easter Egger hen crossed with a Silkie rooster gives you what keepers call a first-generation (F1) cross. About 50–100% of the pullets should lay green eggs (some may be blue or olive); the others lay cream/tinted. Most chicks (50%) get a pea comb. About 50% of the chicks carry the dark skin and bones (fibromelanosis) of the Silkie. Expect a medium bird, a fair layer, hand-tame, the average of the two parents.
Preset to a Easter Egger hen and a Silkie rooster. Change either side to see how the blue gene and the brown coat move the shell colour.
He never lays, so his blue gene is read from his mother's eggs.
Probably Blue (possibly Green): 50–100% blue-based; otherwise White.
Brown shade shifts with a hen's age, diet and stress, so identical genes still lay a little differently. Speckling and bloom are cosmetic and not modelled.
| Trait | Easter Egger hen | Silkie rooster | Chicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comb type | Pea | Silkie | Pea 50% · Single 50% |
| Barring | Not barred | Not barred | Not barred |
| Fibromelanosis | Absent | Present | Present 50% · Absent 50%absent depends on a hidden carrier, so it could be 0%; a hatch or a known genotype can confirm (uncertain) |
| Leg color | Slate | Slate | Slate likely (both parents share it) |
| Trait | Easter Egger | Silkie | Chicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frame height | medium | small | medium |
| Egg production | good layer | light layer | fair layer |
| Broodiness | rarely broody | very broody | often broody |
| Docility | calm | hand-tame | hand-tame |
| Bone density | medium | light | medium |
| Foraging skill | good forager | poor forager | decent forager |
| Cold hardiness | cold-hardy | tender | fairly hardy |
Chicks land near the average of the two parents for these traits. Reaching one parent's extreme takes another generation of selection.
This is the breed-standard version. Add your flock, set a breeding goal, and the pairing engine ranks every hen and rooster you own against it. Free for up to 15 birds.
Checked September 2026. Hybrids and breeds no reference covers are marked approximate. Egg colour on these pages follows one rule: Brown is any shade a buyer would call brown; Cream/tinted is off-white.