# True silver homer



## wildcat hunter (Jan 17, 2014)

We homer fanicers call a homer "silver" when they are from reds or have red genes. I understand a true silver is a dilute of blue - is this correct ? If that is the case how do I go about getting this color into my flock. I do have 2 yellow hens, one is very lite color and the other is a dark yellow color. I think that's the only dilute I have unless the "silver" homers are dilute. Can any of this help me get the "true silver " ? Or was I misled with the color scheme.


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## Chuck K (Jan 12, 2013)

*Silver*

Your statement is true a dilute blue is a true silver in genetics terms. You state that you have two yellow hens. There are two types of yellow. Ash yellow (most common) and recessive yellow (recessive red dilute less common). I am going to make the assumption that yours or at least one of them is an ash yellow. 

A son off an ash yellow hen mated to a blue cock bird will be ash red. That son will carry the dilute gene tied to his ash red color. If you breed from him, he can eventually throw what is known as a cross-over. That crossing over refers to breaking the linkage of dilute to ash red and the re-connecting to his chromosome that has the blue from his father. In order to see this happen the bird with the cross-over must be a hen. You can get crossover sons, but you will not see the effect until he is paired to a dilute hen or until he throws a dilute daughter.

The cross-over rate between dilute and basic color is about 30%. You could see it in first round off the son or you could raise dozens of young before you ever get one. The easiest way to get a true silver is to buy a bird in which dilute is already linked to the gene for blue.


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## wildcat hunter (Jan 17, 2014)

OK, got it. At first reading it sounds confusing but after reading your input a few times its not so bad. It is just going to take a while to get it done. My birds are racing homers and of course I'll keep the ones that race well and work on them. I would love to get some dilute blue into them.
Thank you for the information.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I'm an old school racer and several years ago I posted a picture of a dun hen and Merry of Exeter informed me that the bird was a true silver and that what I thought was a silver was a mealy.


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## wildcat hunter (Jan 17, 2014)

I always thought a "mealy" was a red with spots of black or blue all over it.
Some colors are confusing to me. I have some beautiful "silvers" off my red homers but I guess they are mealy. I have some I would call mealy, they are rougher/ cruder looking whereas the ones I would call silver are smooth in color and have very silky feather - beautiful birds. Sky lake lofts had some Sions that look like them.


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## Freddemx (Jan 22, 2019)

Is there any trick to see if a pigeon is a carrier of silver?
Silver hen leave 50% cocks as carrier.
Anyone fund out to see witch?


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