Silkie thread! - Page 2333

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Originally Posted by JayLyn07 

Hello All! Just wanted to say how beautiful all your birds are!! Just got my first silkie girl Tuesday..... Now want more! Awsome little chickens!

Hi. Congrats on your new silkie. You will enjoy them so much :)

Can any of the silkie guru's tell me how a silkie from show stock is born with 6 toes on both feet? If it just a fluke of nature or can the conditions in which it was hatched have anything to do with it? I had incubator problems and only 2 chicks hatched one with crooked feet and a huge bump on head and the other is the one that survived that has 6 toes on both feet but other wise normal. The one that died i will note that the egg was incubated upside down so the air cell was at the bottom and he managed to hatch but it was very difficult and he died a couple days later but was very strong at hatch time. I am hatching a new batch next week and so i want to make sure i don't make the same mistake. I have a new incubator so things should go smoother. 

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Originally Posted by ScaredOfShadows 
 

Thank you very much for the nice compliments. They are turning out to be quiet friendly little birds

Ok so regarding my question earlier about chipmunk markings on porcelain.  I hatched this guy from a reputable breeder.  The egg was marked Por.  It has definite markings on its back just like a partridge would but the colors are mixed with lavender and buff shades.  The lines were more clear when it was a baby but I think you can still see it now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chickchickchiky 

Can any of the silkie guru's tell me how a silkie from show stock is born with 6 toes on both feet? If it just a fluke of nature or can the conditions in which it was hatched have anything to do with it? I had incubator problems and only 2 chicks hatched one with crooked feet and a huge bump on head and the other is the one that survived that has 6 toes on both feet but other wise normal. The one that died i will note that the egg was incubated upside down so the air cell was at the bottom and he managed to hatch but it was very difficult and he died a couple days later but was very strong at hatch time. I am hatching a new batch next week and so i want to make sure i don't make the same mistake. I have a new incubator so things should go smoother. 

Im no silkie expert or incubator expert either but all my silkies hatched with 5 toes on each foot. I used a Hovabator Genesis with egg turner. Only hatched 15 out of 4 dozen tho. Had no humidity or temp trouble throughout the hatch.

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Originally Posted by DDNONIN2016 

Im no silkie expert or incubator expert either but all my silkies hatched with 5 toes on each foot. I used a Hovabator Genesis with egg turner. Only hatched 15 out of 4 dozen tho. Had no humidity or temp trouble throughout the hatch.

See i did i used a LG and the temp spiked i can't tell you how many times humidity was fine and the chicks looked like they made it but then cooked at the end and only the 2 hatched. I have had some bad luck with hatching so i am sure it was my fault somehow but i just bought a new incubator a real one lol I am praying that the new eggs i am getting from the breeder will hatch accordingly and all goes better this time around as i would really love to havemy flock of silkies 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lrkel 

Ok so regarding my question earlier about chipmunk markings on porcelain.  I hatched this guy from a reputable breeder.  The egg was marked Por.  It has definite markings on its back just like a partridge would but the colors are mixed with lavender and buff shades.  The lines were more clear when it was a baby but I think you can still see it now.

 

 

Take a look at this thread, it may help you.  Go about 3/4 of the way down the page to see some Por. chicks 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/384502/porcelain-silkies-updated-with-pictures 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chickchickchiky 

Can any of the silkie guru's tell me how a silkie from show stock is born with 6 toes on both feet? If it just a fluke of nature or can the conditions in which it was hatched have anything to do with it? I had incubator problems and only 2 chicks hatched one with crooked feet and a huge bump on head and the other is the one that survived that has 6 toes on both feet but other wise normal. The one that died i will note that the egg was incubated upside down so the air cell was at the bottom and he managed to hatch but it was very difficult and he died a couple days later but was very strong at hatch time. I am hatching a new batch next week and so i want to make sure i don't make the same mistake. I have a new incubator so things should go smoother. 

Having eggs, from show lines, does not mean that you will end up with show chickens.  Your chances are very good that a lot of them will be but not all.  I base this on 33 years of breeding and showing dogs.  Every litter that I have ever had, generally, had one to four that were 'pet' quality.  99% of the reasons was structure (like six toes on a Silkie-- although a show breeder would need to let you know if that will negatively impact showing that bird).  However, you might also find that the Roo & Hen have a recessive gene that produces undesirable things.  You should let the show breeder know of the toes, as I know, that I kept records to track such things in my line.   In dogs, we spay/neuter and place.  But chickens, you can not do that.

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Originally Posted by Suzierd 

Do you guys put sevins dust in your dust baths even if you don't see lice or mites? I have never seen any and have never treated. Just wondering if I should do it as a preventive.

I do, as a preventative.  Sevin dust was developed, originally, for chickens.

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Originally Posted by littlecritters 


Today, I learned from someone very well respected in the poultry world, that the top 2 causes of death in chickens are mites and coccidiosis.

Very likely.  Both will take down a small chicken pretty fast.  In the Pacific Northwest Cocci is in nearly all soil and the only way to kill it is to use bleach (not good for ground water) or remove the top 6 inches of soil and replace with new soil (and hope that soil is 'clean').  Every time that we get a lot of rain I have to watch my Poms for signs of Coxxi or Giardia.

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Originally Posted by Chicken Tamer 

AHHHHH MY BROODY HEN ATE ONE OF MY SILKIE EGGS SHE WAS SITTIN ON!!!!!!

It is my understanding that that is a sign of a bird needing extra protein and they are eating the egg to get that. 

Sheila :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlecritters 


Here are some of the notes I have been taking:
Black x black = 100% black
Black x blue = 50% black, 50% blue
Black x splash = 100% blue
Blue x blue = 50% blue, 25% black, 25% splash
Blue x splash = 50% blue, 50% splash
Splash x splash = 100% splash that dilutes over time, need black bred back w/splash
Buff x buff = 100% buff
White x white = 100% white
White x any other color = is unpredictable
Dominant white bred to partridge gives you Red Pyle
Isabelle = breed Lavendar to buff, then take chicks and breed back to Lav.
Lavendar = lav x lav
Lav x split lav (black w/lav gene) = 50% lav, 50% split
Black lav split is a black bird carrying a recessive Lavendar gene

I've seen and referenced this chart many times for BBS -since that is my breeding pen goal.  But, I'm curious........how do you get a partridge in the first place? 

Is that one of the colors that needs to be cross-bred with a breed that has partridge as a standard color?  If so, I'm interested to know what breed(s) is/are used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lrkel 

Do porcelains have the chipmunk markings at birth?

I believe those will turn out partridge.