The West Coast Silver is an autosomal recessive mutation. This means that to produce a West Coast Silver, both parents must carry the gene, either as a split or visual. The odds of getting a West Coast Silver out of two splits are 25% or one in four. However all the other offspring would then only be possibly split to West Coast Silver.
Newly hatched chicks have eyes which are slightly lighter than normal grey birds which seem to darken to a normal colour by about two weeks of age. Their beak, cere, feet and toenails appear a dilute grey.
Colours do seem to vary quite a lot. The West Coast Silver has been bred to dark melanin and light melanin birds. The result of the darker line is that birds look very similar to a normal grey. On the other hand the results of breeding from the lighter melanin birds has made the West Coast Silver into a stunning bird, looking almost identical to the Pastel Silver.