What the chicks of a Silkie and a Speckled Sussex look like and lay, worked out from both breeds' standards.
A Silkie hen crossed with a Speckled Sussex rooster gives you what keepers call a first-generation (F1) cross. The pullets should lay cream/tinted eggs: there is no blue gene in this cross. Every chick gets a single 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 Silkie hen and a Speckled Sussex 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.
Too uncertain to call: 0–100% blue-based (Green if it is, otherwise Cream/tinted). Add lineage to narrow it.
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 | Silkie hen | Speckled Sussex rooster | Chicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comb type | Silkie | Single | Single |
| Barring | Not barred | Not barred | Not barred |
| Fibromelanosis | Present | Absent | Present 50% · Absent 50%absent depends on a hidden carrier, so it could be 0%; a hatch or a known genotype can confirm (uncertain) |
| Feather pattern | Solid | Mottled | varies: polygenic, parents differ |
| Leg color | Slate | White | varies: polygenic, parents differ |
| Trait | Silkie | Speckled Sussex | Chicks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frame height | small | medium | medium |
| Egg production | light layer | good layer | fair layer |
| Broodiness | very broody | sometimes broody | often broody |
| Docility | hand-tame | hand-tame | hand-tame |
| Bone density | light | medium | medium |
| Foraging skill | poor forager | good forager | decent forager |
| Cold hardiness | tender | cold-hardy | 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.