Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Sanna]

What are the top qualities of the silkies? Are they good meat, eggs?

Besides the fact that they are absolutely beautiful, cute and fluffy....and hysterical! Their eggs are just as good as any other breeds. They're just a little smaller than your average egg, but still taste the same.

I wouldn't know about the meat, I won't eat my chickens. Silkies aren't very big, so there's not much to eat anyway. Also, as PaintedFeathers mentioned, Silkies have black flesh and bones. Just doesn't look right on a plate...

Silkies are great broodies and make good moms also. They're just a lot of fun in general.
Everyone should have a Silkie! Or two...or three...or more!

Ok , more than cute

Now you're thinking! lol

Speaking of broodiness, I have 2 silkies on eggs now, crazy birds. One is on turkey eggs, the other is on assorted LF eggs. I have another wyandotte cross hen on more turkey eggs, another silkie and another wyandotte cross are showing signs of going broody, and tonight I had to physically remove my royal palm turkey hen from a nest containing two fake eggs. It's that time of year again.

Yeah, it's that time of year. My partridge pullet has gone broody and won't quit! I was planning on showing her on the 21st of this month.

She better stop her nonsense and eat some food, sooner the better! lol

Just stopping by to say 'hi' -- been so long since I've been on BYC. Spending all my time on the FB groups. lol

Hope all is well.

Sharing a pic of Oscar, son of Phillipe. He's 7 months old -- and boy, oh, boy I can't wait to see him in another 7 months. He's so beautiful already.

Well, hello! Oscar is very handsome.

Two silkies born recently. I dont know genetics back further than parents, but have a splash roo and a white mom and a black mom.
What colors are the two silkies ( one in front and one on left) the one in front is a little lighter than the one on the left.

Blue, black or splash?

They both look blue in this picture.

 

[peepblessed]

Just stopping by to say 'hi' -- been so long since I've been on BYC. Spending all my time on the FB groups. lol

Hope all is well.

Sharing a pic of Oscar, son of Phillipe. He's 7 months old -- and boy, oh, boy I can't wait to see him in another 7 months. He's so beautiful already.

Absolutely fabulous!!!

 

[peepblessed]

Okay so I have been keeping track of the incubator's temperature and humidity levels and writing them down twice a day. At 9am temps are between 99.2 and 99.8 and at 6pm they are around 100.1 and 100.8(occasionally has gone up to 101 but only a time or two between readings), and humidity has been between 35% and 25%, i'm trying to up it a little but it's not easy. I put water in one of the troughs at the bottom and came home to water all over the floor(and it ruined my antique end table

). I put a sponge in there instead, but I can't put a bowl because there isn't enough room with the egg turner. I will have to pick up more sponges.

so on that note, which way do you candle eggs? i'm afraid to turn them on their side like i've seen people do so I just held them upright and pointed the flashlight through the side and spun around it. Is it okay for it to be on it's side to candle? arg so impatient! I want to know if there are any little toulouselings in there!

side note: okay with the sponge the humidity has upped to 38%

Your levels seem good to me but there are many, many different opinions. I incubate between 35% and 40% humidity and hatch at 65%-70%. It's often very hard to get hatching humidity high enough. Once they start hatching, it goes up.

 

[B J Hopkins]

A friend of mine has been keeping her eye out for a Silky roo for me. She found a "Blue" 1yr old male, and purchased it for me. Below are some pictures of him. Is he Really a Blue? He has a creamy mane, his back has streaks of yellow & light brown. His tail is black. His under coat is grey. He's definately NOT 1yr old as he has 1" long spurs! Also his feathers are very corse, not "Silky" at all. Could that be from a poor diet?










Some of these pictures were taken on a sunny day, the kinda yellow were taken on a cloudy day.

 

[PaintedFeathers]

A friend of mine has been keeping her eye out for a Silky roo for me. She found a "Blue" 1yr old male, and purchased it for me. Below are some pictures of him. Is he Really a Blue? He has a creamy mane, his back has streaks of yellow & light brown. His tail is black. His under coat is grey. He's definately NOT 1yr old as he has 1" long spurs! Also his feathers are very corse, not "Silky" at all. Could that be from a poor diet?










Some of these pictures were taken on a sunny day, the kinda yellow were taken on a cloudy day.

He looks like a possibly blue with a lot of silver leakage, his comb is really large too and funky looking and his tail is small. I don't recommend using him for breeding

 

[Sanna]

A friend of mine has been keeping her eye out for a Silky roo for me. She found a "Blue" 1yr old male, and purchased it for me. Below are some pictures of him. Is he Really a Blue? He has a creamy mane, his back has streaks of yellow & light brown. His tail is black. His under coat is grey. He's definately NOT 1yr old as he has 1" long spurs! Also his feathers are very corse, not "Silky" at all. Could that be from a poor diet?










Some of these pictures were taken on a sunny day, the kinda yellow were taken on a cloudy day.

That looks like a grey to me.
Coarseness of feathers would be due to poor breeding, as he is not a great quality bird. Not due to poor diet. I bet he'll make a great pet, though.

 

[emnicole514]

hello everyone on this thread. i am not looking to show, i just want breeding quality, i am new to raising silkies. i just got three silkies however i am having trouble with figuring out what color these pullets are, i know she hasnt gotten her adult feathers fully in yet but could someone help me and tell me what color they are



called?

 

[chickendales]

looking to start over in showgirls here one my old hens

 

[ChickNmamma]

hello everyone on this thread. i am not looking to show, i just want breeding quality, i am new to raising silkies. i just got three silkies however i am having trouble with figuring out what color these pullets are, i know she hasnt gotten her adult feathers fully in yet but could someone help me and tell me what color they are



called?

Unfortunately the colors on your pictures do not work well. Everything is washed out. I don't recognize the color markings on any of them. The last one appears to have a light body and a dark neck? Can you get some accurately colored photos?

 

[Feathersprings]

looking to start over in showgirls here one my old hens

I love her Jesse!!!