Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Fancy Feathers]

There has been an interest, and a need, of a thread for serious discussion and questions dedicated to showing Silkies and breeding quality birds and the genetics involved therein.
All varieties and projects are welcome, and pictures are encouraged, but please lets limit this thread to serious dicussion of breeding towards the standard of perfection

 

[chisNchickens]

I'd hate to see this thread die...I think critiques would be good. Feel free to critique away. This is a five month-old pullet.

 

[mystdogs]

Thank you for this new thread. I'm just starting on my silkie flock to show and breed from. How long do you wait before deciding to cull a bird from breeding? What makes the deciding factor between what makes show quality vs breeder quality? Why is there a difference and what makes the decision?
I have 4 silkies that are now 3 months old. paint, black, splash, and partridge. I'm planning to order eggs of BBS and paint, as I'm limited on my space for breeding and would prefer to stick with one or two breeding pens.
Here is Peepers, my partridge hen. I think she is the typiest of all my silkies

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I'd hate to see this thread die...I think critiques would be good. Feel free to critique away. This is a five month-old pullet.

She is absolutely terrible. I will do you a favour and take her off your hands so that you don't have to look at that typey, fully bearded, ball of fluff. I'm sure I can find room in my flock to take pity on her.

Seriously

(But she may need some feather trimming around her eyes.)

 

[peepblessed]

Is there anything that I can look for, teltale signs, that may indicate who may be the culprit?

Your Avatar just kills me.

She is sooooo stunning!

Thank you! I love her. My dark blue girl was born chipmonk so I knew she was carrying partridge. She turned totally blue in about 9 weeks. After her first adult moult, she developed some dark brown tones in here hackle area. Here she is at 4 months.


Baby


One on the left.

 

[peepblessed]

I wish they had a simple "Like" button for us here on BYC like they do on facebook.

rotflmao!

Where's that LIKE button

Yes, a beachball sized silkie would be awesome. Imagine how cuddly it would be! There was someone on here a year or two ago with huge silkies (10+ lbs), and considering selling eggs. Should have bought some....even though I almost never purchase eggs. She did post a photo of herself holding a huge armful of one silkie.

There is a like button right next to the multi button but no one ever uses it!

 

[Fred's Hens]

Really good paper by APA Judge here.


[COLOR=rgb(7.840000%, 9.410000%, 13.700000%)]FIFTEEN THINGS YOU MUST DO TO BECOME A GOOD CHICKEN BREEDER
As posted on the Marans of USA facebook page. By: Rip Stalvey [/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgb(7.840000%, 9.410000%, 13.700000%)]Wow, I have a half day off...I'm almost giddy with excitement. So I thought I would do something I haven't been able to do for a while; write a post.
I was thinking some about what I would tell someone who asked me what they should do to become a good chicken breeder. So here's my list.
1. Study the APA Standard of Perfection. Not just about your chosen breed either. The first thirty or so pages contain great information. Plus learning about other breeds will be invaluable to you.
2. Be honest with yourself. Don't suffer from coop blindness and fool yourself into thinking your birds are better than they are. Not being able to see the faults in your own birds is another issue.
3. Find a mentor. Good mentors are hard to find but worth their weight in gold. Look for someone that's been breeding birds at least fifteen years. Then follow their advice!
4. Keep your line pure. Crossing two different lines is the fastest way to fail that I know of. If you feel you need new blood get an unrelated bird from the same line you're working with. Always introduce new blood by using a female rather than a male...your results will be better over the long term.
5. Know where you want to go with your breeding. What needs to be fixed about your birds? What is your primary focus; type, color pattern, or egg color. Don't try to fix too many things at one time.
6. Build from a solid foundation. Get the very best birds you can lay your hands on. That way you be light years ahead of many. Re-read numbers 1 and 4.
7. Remember the rule of tens. For every ten chicks you raise usually only one will be good enough to keep. For every 100 chicks raised count on ten being good enough to keep. Never keep a bird that won't move your program forward.
8. Cull your birds rigorously. The tendency is for most people is to keep too many birds. Don't do it as it will only set you back! Re-read number seven.[/COLOR]

9. Limit your numbers. Only hatch as many chicks as you can adequately care for. Chicks reared in crowed conditions never reach their full potential. If you have space for 50, hatch 40.
10. Keep really good “forever” records. Document every thing...matings, results, egg color, growth rate, vigor, etc. This will document your progress and guide your future. Hang on to these records for dear life.
11. If you're in it for the money you won't succeed. Sadly there are too many folks that are out to make a quick buck. Typically their birds are pretty inferior representatives of the breed.
12. Breed from Cocks and Hens. When you do this you're dealing with a known quantity. It's a case of what you see is what you've got. Cockerels and pullets will change a lot as they full mature.
13. Support the APA and the breed club. Become an active member in both. These are the organizations working
to improve the hobby and the breeds.
14. Accept responsibility for your birds. It's not right to blame your line's creator for the faults in your flock. Once you acquire your start and begin breeding them they are your line not theirs.
15. Share your knowledge. Never be afraid to share what you've learned with others. Many old time breeder I knew were quick to help a new comer. We don't see much of that anymore and that's a shame because too much knowledge has been lost.

 

[chisNchickens]

Thank you for this new thread. I'm just starting on my silkie flock to show and breed from. How long do you wait before deciding to cull a bird from breeding? What makes the deciding factor between what makes show quality vs breeder quality? Why is there a difference and what makes the decision?
I have 4 silkies that are now 3 months old. paint, black, splash, and partridge. I'm planning to order eggs of BBS and paint, as I'm limited on my space for breeding and would prefer to stick with one or two breeding pens.
Here is Peepers, my partridge hen. I think she is the typiest of all my silkies

Okay, to me she is not balanced - yet. Her crest needs to be larger to balance out that lovely "S" shape. Lovely coloring. How are her wings?

 

[blessedchick]

She is absolutely terrible. I will do you a favour and take her off your hands so that you don't have to look at that typey, fully bearded, ball of fluff. I'm sure I can find room in my flock to take pity on her.

Seriously

(But she may need some feather trimming around her eyes.)

LOL! So here I am trying to learn how to judge silkies objectively (to improve my own flock)...I'm studying this pullet's pix and trying to fault her...lovin' everything I see...and I read the first line of your post, Sonoran. My heart went to my stomach! Before I read on I was ready to sell my flock and call it a day!

PHEW!! I'm glad that I might be learning something after all!

 

[chisNchickens]

Here is another. I no longer own this bird but the photo is mine;-)