05/24/2026
I'd like to put out into the mottled/Mille Fleur Silkie world an idea to call our overly white expression birds "particolor."
This sets them apart from the mottled flower pattern, Mille Fleur, and the confusion around "calico." It could refer to any mottled gene bird with a high percentage of white, regardless of base color. The term comes from dog breeds. Particolor (derived from the French word parti, meaning to divide) refers to a coat pattern where a dog has patches of two or more distinct colors. To qualify as a particolor, a dog must have a predominantly white base coat (usually 50% or more) broken up by spots or patches of another color like black, brown, or red.
This would give some needed clarity around the "hypermottled"/exchequer mo gene expression and allow folks to work towards a distinct variety if they choose, where the defining factor is 50% or more white with clear spots of any other color or colors. Could be just one color, like solid black, or multiple colors like partridge and red, or even patterns like cuckoo.
These birds have such incredible variety and are SO beautiful in their own right, I hate seeing them poo-pood, even though I understand and agree that this expression of the mottled gene is counterproductive in other varieties that rely on that carefully arranged flower pattern restricted to tips of feathers.
Thoughts?
There are much better examples of GORGEOUS birds that would fit this description, but I can't steal photos, lol. These are some babies I've hatched in Mille project pens that I'd call particolor.
