Showgirl thread- for posting pictures and discussing breed!

[ultasol]

Here we go... cuckoo showgirl,. You can see the pigmentation problem you see with the cuckoo coloration. This is actually pretty far along, when she started with the cuckoos they all had bubblegum pink skin and combs- she now has some with black combs, beaks, and skin with only a couple small holes in the pigmentation.

She does have some issues I hope to fix as I play around more (as space and time allows) such as toe feather (which seems to be a pretty easy fix) , cushion (a bit harder IMO), and the pigmentation issue, which, according to Calesta is the real stickler as it has taken her generation after generation to get to the point she is at. I think she might bring a cuckoo silkie to the Western Nationals.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

wow!

that is one cool looking bird!

 

[Teresaann24]

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[rilly10]

Beautiful ultrasol!

 

[ultasol]

She's interesting, that's for sure. She's still relatively young. The pictures are terrible, I just plucked her from a growout and plopped her on a tarp out in the shop. She has grown on me.

 

[1Chick Magnet]

thankyou so much for posting the photos. where do you get eggs? does anyone know what you would have to breed with if you wanted to start your own line?

 

[Teresaann24]

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I was going to start a project of my own to try to make mottled and cuckoo silkies. I was told to use Bantam Cochins since they are similar to the silkies. I am not good with genetic but others here are and will help you as much as they can. I found eggs on Ebay for $15 and bought them so on the cuckoo I have decided to take the east route and work on bettering an already started bird.

 

[chickendales]

just got keep breeding them to blacks to get good skin color

 

[ultasol]

I don't think you can get eggs for these. If you want to get showgirl eggs, I can personally recommend Sheryl Butler from WA. She is an ASBC member and has had white and buff showgirls for years.

 

[ultasol]

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Yes,.. but it's a little more complicated than that. It's not like most of the other colors where the skin color can be corrected in a few generations. Cuckoo is linked to pink skin, in some way, genetically. Sonoran could explain it better. In fact, people who raise cuckoo have been called crazy in the past and have been told there is no way, genetically, to get dark skin on a cuckoo bird. Although I am not sure how, Calesta has worked through this. The question, however, will be if dark skinned cuckoos can be produced with any regularity.