Chicken Breed Focus - Showgirl

[sumi]

If you like a unique looking chicken, Showgirls may be the breed for you. Showgirls are a recent creation, becoming increasingly popular in the last ten years or so. They are generally the result of crossing Transylvanian Naked Necks / Turkens to Silkies. The Turken is used in the first generation to incorporate the incompletely dominant Naked Neck gene into the breeding program, then for multiple generations continue by crossing the Naked Necked chicks back to Silkies to improve type. The goal is usually a bird that is essentially a Silkie but with a naked neck (and perhaps with bowties and/or beards).

Like Silkies, the Showgirl hens are very broody and exceptional mothers, and they are often used to hatch the eggs of other breeds. Showgirl females are usually very calm, sweet and gentle birds, they usually make excellent pets, especially for children. Because of their gentle nature Showgirls may not do well in mixed flocks with breeds that have a more aggressive temperament. Their silkied feathers make them vulnerable to extreme cold, especially in wet weather, the feathered feet also require some care. They generally are not very predator aware, do not do well free ranging, and should be kept in a fenced in area. Like Silkies they are usually five toed, dark skinned, and have a walnut comb. They come in many colours, white probably being the most popular.

Details:

Breed purpose: Ornamental, Broody
Comb Type: Walnut
Broodiness: Frequent, very good mothers.
Climate Tolerance: Silkied feathers make them vulnerable in cold and wet weather.
Weight: Varies, usually bantam to small standard size, 5lbs.
Egg Productivity: Poor
Egg Size: Small
Egg Colour: Tinted / light brown

Gave you a selection of pics to pick from, interesting as they are

Pic by @debs_flock

Pic by @jenifern

Pic by @spowell

Pic by @TNBarnQueen

Pic by @taprock

Pic by @magikchick

Pic by @jlynn

Pic by @CliffB


BYC Breed reviews:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/showgirl

General breed discussions & FAQ thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/416003/showgirl-thread-for-posting-pictures-and-discussing-breed/0_20

Do you own Showgirls? Are you a Showgirl breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

We have a bunch of other awesome breed-focus threads for you to enjoy. You can see all of them here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-project.975504/

 

[GodofPecking]

Showgirls are a recent creation,

I beg to differ, we grew up with them.

 

[jas humbert]

I have a couple including these little girls. They are supposed to conform to the silkie standard (black skin, 5 toes) except for the naked neck. And some have more or less fluff on the neck. They are 6 months old now - I will have to get recent photos- and laying well. They don't seem to mind the cold at all and the other morning when it was 19 degrees, they were out running around my feet and begging for treats.and didn't seem cold at all. They sleep with the rest of the silkies and seem to have essentially silkie personalities perhaps just A little bolder than some but that may be individual. They like people and are cuddly and docile. .I think my dark one, Iomgene, lookslike a baby ostrich.

 

[jennabug]

My showgirl, Fancy. I was so excited when I found out that a local hatcher was going to start selling showgirls.

I really want to get my hands on a white showgirl, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

[jas humbert]

You could indeed cross a Transylvanian Naked Neck with a silkie and keep crossing back to silkies and several people have done this. But it will take several generations to get the real showgirl look. The naked neck is dominant or partly dominant and you get that first generation but you often lose the black silkie skin for the first few generations and it takes at least two generations to get the silkie fluff back. Many of the show quality showgirls are at least 12-15 generations of work in progress. I wasn't patient enough for that so I ordered some showgirl eggs. A showgirl can be crossed with a regular silkie and you will get a percentage of showgirls. My Imogene is nakeder than some some she will be bred back to a full fluffy silkie.

 

[jas humbert]

I don't think it really matters if the silkies are bearded or not. You are going to get a mix of how naked the chicks are. My black showgirl a couple of posts up is from a full beared porcelain silkie rooster and a naked showgirl hen. At least I'm assuming she was the mom becasue she was the only black showgirl in the flock. Here's a picture of her and a hatchmate who had more neck fluff. Some breeders like a bit more bowtie and even a littte bearding. I'm partial to the full naked neck myself but I think I might be the minority. .



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[malika621]

I love my showgirls! I am a breeder of them in the USA (mainly I just have them to love them). Funny how I used to hate them. What changed?! I can't get enough of them now!

 

[DOUGNASH]

this one is my favorite

she is homozygous

She is white with a little buff in her

I named her skid mark lol

 

[DOUGNASH]

I have 5 silkies and 4 showgirls

Skid Mark is the only one who roosts up high at night, the bottom picture shows the entire coops, she sleeps up top on the left

Her crop is filled to the max

 

[jas humbert]

That is the way the breed started and some people are still doing that. But keep in mind it takes several generation to get all the desired silkie qualities plus the naked neck. If you breed turken to silkie, the first generation will have some chicks with naked necks but none of the chicks will have silkie fluffy feathers. That's a recessive that has to come from both parents and it will take those chicks bred back to silkies to get any chicks at all with silkie fluff and it won't be all of them. The first generation will also have few if any chicks with dark skin -lots of red and pink necks and combs. Try to add in solid black skin and leg color, good puffy crests, 5 toes and a few other things you are probably talking a minimum of 5 generations to get anything that looks generally like a showgirl and better than 10 generations to get something close to show quality. This could be a fun project if you have the patience and realistic expectations. They are great birds!