Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[thedragonlady]

In these photos she kind of reminde me of the points on a siamese cat.

Funny, but that's what I thought when I saw her ! I'd throw the BOSS to her, and see if she doesn't get some shine on her feathers. I think she will be very typey when her cushion comes in. I'd like more of a deep chesnut cast to her feathers though.Bred right, she should produce very nice chicks.

 

[austyn_stephenson]

I love learning new things about silkies! This thread has taught me a lot and I am happy to say that my game/silkie mid hen hatched 9 babies today! Not all of the eggs were hers the other eggs were from my grey partridge and grey silkie hens and they were with a grey rooster and a red partridge rooster! So far I had seen a white, black, blue and 4 grey partridges and 2 very strange colored ones! Will post pics soon!!

 

[chisNchickens]

Small is good! PLEASE put her crest up !. That will improve it no end. She has great fuzzy slippers too, and nice wings, as well as being balanced.Look where her feet are in the bottom photo. She's balanced front, and rear, and low in front. I can tell that you are an Art major by your birds. They have balance and proportion. Pretty girls. Now it's up to you to condition them.

Thank you. I'm afraid I don't know what you mean about the crest...I wasn't aware you could train them. Please tell me what I need to do. Is this the paper tape I believe you referred to previously? Two of the three hatched and raised chicks so they still need a lot of time.

 

[peepblessed]

In these photos she kind of reminde me of the points on a siamese cat.

Yes, she does! Such a beauty!

 

[Sanna]

He reminds me of a roo I had. He could be more compact and typey but technically everything is in the right place and he looks good. I would call him a better breeder quality roo right now. If he continues to fill out as he looks like he will, he should be really nice I think. I think I see a nice, wide stance with lots of space between the legs (second pic) and I like that. Does that make sense?

Yes, makes perfect sense. Thank you! I'll have to get some fresh pictures of him some day. He's about 11 months old now. Maybe I'll bathe a couple of my birds for pictures when I have time.

He really needs foot and leg feathering.Try putting him up on Kitty Litter.That reared upright stance comes out on e very short backed bird again.In the bottom photos his feet are in front of his balance point.I'd like to see more crest, and a darker comb.Love his color.

I found a picture of his feet after a good bath. They're not quite as sad as they seem in the first pictures.

I agree that the legs could definitely use more feathering.




I'm breeding this guy to these two girls:


My black pullet, 11months old here.


And this 2-3 year old blue hen (very bad colors in this picture). This picture was taken shortly after I picked her up. Her feet were in terrible condition and crest looks pretty flat here also. Now she looks much more full.


Here her crest looks better. She was the "foster mom" for 3 chicks we had in spring.

What do you guys think? This is the first time I'm breeding. Picked out my own birds based on all the good advice and help I've received from everyone here at BYC! I have 4 eggs collected so far.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Very nice girls!

 

[thedragonlady]

Thank you. I'm afraid I don't know what you mean about the crest...I wasn't aware you could train them. Please tell me what I need to do. Is this the paper tape I believe you referred to previously? Two of the three hatched and raised chicks so they still need a lot of time.

I grab the crest between the base of my thumb and forefinger from the rear, making sure I have the whole crest with the feathers straight.I stick the tape starting in front at my thumb , and go around the whole crest to end up overlapping a 1/2" in front. This will help train a floppy bonnet crest UP, as it takes the strain off the skin.. The poor kids can see then too !. My girls lived in tape. They got pink bows in front to arrive at shows. I'd take them down just before judging, and blow them UP, and the beards under the eyes DOWN. You want the tape snug, but not pulling on the feathers. You've gone too far when the girls look surprised.

 

[heirloomorps]

I grab the crest between the base of my thumb and forefinger from the rear, making sure I have the whole crest with the feathers straight.I stick the tape starting in front at my thumb , and go around the whole crest to end up overlapping a 1/2" in front. This will help train a floppy bonnet crest UP, as it takes the strain off the skin.. The poor kids can see then too !. My girls lived in tape. They got pink bows in front to arrive at shows. I'd take them down just before judging, and blow them UP, and the beards under the eyes DOWN. You want the tape snug, but not pulling on the feathers. You've gone too far when the girls look surprised.

I need to do this with one of my girls. Do you just buy the tape from CVS or Walgreens?

 

[thedragonlady]

Yes, makes perfect sense. Thank you! I'll have to get some fresh pictures of him some day. He's about 11 months old now. Maybe I'll bathe a couple of my birds for pictures when I have time.

I found a picture of his feet after a good bath. They're not quite as sad as they seem in the first pictures.

I agree that the legs could definitely use more feathering.




I'm breeding this guy to these two girls:


My black pullet, 11months old here.


And this 2-3 year old blue hen (very bad colors in this picture). This picture was taken shortly after I picked her up. Her feet were in terrible condition and crest looks pretty flat here also. Now she looks much more full.


Here her crest looks better. She was the "foster mom" for 3 chicks we had in spring.

What do you guys think? This is the first time I'm breeding. Picked out my own birds based on all the good advice and help I've received from everyone here at BYC! I have 4 eggs collected so far.

Those are 2 very nice girls. I hate to ask, but WHY are you using him on such nice birds? For the color ? Those girls deserve better.You need to put the girl's (in the last photo in with the chicks ) crest up in tape too if you want to show her.I'd love to see the chicks you get.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Ok, once again I have more confusion than explanations... so I need some genetics help.

Here is the situation. I have a pair of Partridges. They came from a very good Breeder selected as a BQ pair through somebody in California who bought them and later decided to breed different colors instead. I bought the rooster and the hen from her. They were in quarantine for 35 days because I didn't have their coop finished. None of my roosters ever had access to the hen or rooster, both were kept in a dog crate and let out in a small cage to enjoy the grass - away from my other birds. The original owner also gave me a dozen eggs from the trio (she kept the other female) for me to set. I set those eggs under a broody - only one hatched and it was white. All the others never started (infertile?). We thought the white one was a mis-marked egg from her white pen. Now I am not so sure.

After I finished their run and put them in it (added a hen but her eggs are brown - very different and easily separable). I collected 10 eggs from the Partridge hen once she started laying almost at the end of quarantine and afterwards and set them. They were all infertile and none hatched. I then ate her eggs until I noticed they were showing signs of being fertile (a week?). I then started collecting for a second incubation. I kept the light eggs (partridge hen) and ate the dark eggs (black silkie cross hen, black skin, 5 toes, regular feathers, single comb). Near the end of my collection the other hen went broody. She was sitting on the eggs I collected - so I put the 9 I had in the incubator to start them. I then added a 10th and an 11th in the two following days. I let the broody collect the eggs the Partridge was laying, and shortly thereafter the brown eggs stopped and I only had the light eggs being laid. About a week after she went broody another hen went broody so I stopped letting her collect them and removed the new unmarked eggs and gave them to the second broody (musical eggs - I know). I marked those eggs with the date and the name of the Partridge hen as the other girl was not laying any longer - only the Partridge Girl by now. A few days later I added another girl into the Partridge pen - a Blue Silkie. She laid maybe two or three eggs - and then went broody with her daughter. Her eggs are also identifiable - longer, pointed and white. Those three and 5 from the Partridge hen went to the other broody. Two days after the Blue hen joined the Partridge hen decided it looked like fun to - so all eggs stopped and I had three broodies..in one 12x12 milk crate!

Fast forward to incubator hatching date. The ones in the incubator hatched - I got two Partridge chicks and three BLACK chicks from those eggs. The others died in the shell - but there were more black and more Partridge chicks when I egg-topsied them. One Black was vaulted skull, one had something wrong with its legs (put down), the two Partridge chicks had light/white/green skin. I posted on here because I was confused and was told that you could have Black chicks based on Partridge coloring. Ok....

The eggs under the broody hatched. 3 Chipmunk, one Black two WHITE and a really odd grey/whiteish one! Not only are those white but they all have 4 toes! At first I considered that the other girl may have contributed some eggs - changed her egg color or something - but she went broody while I was collecting and stopped - so two, three - maybe. Except she is black - the rooster is Partridge..

Fast forward another two weeks - and I had to take the 8 eggs away from the third broody as she got off and abandoned the nest (Frizzle - not a good mommy). Two of them hatched this morning. I know these are from the Partridge rooster and the Partridge Hen as they are eggs marked with the date and the Partridge hen's name - I have one Partridge and one silvery looking black. Now for the kicker - both of them have 4 toes!

The Silvery black does have 5 toes on one foot - and 4 on the other. These were not put in an incubator - I can't blame temperature fluctuations for suppressing the 5 toed gene. Once again - the partridge is lighter skinned (green). These eggs are marked with dates from before I put the Blue hen in with the rooster, so they are not her eggs. I have already hatched eggs from the Blue hen and my other Silkie rooster - all those chicks have 5 toes and dark skin.

As far as the other chicks: The original incubator Partridge chicks' skin has darkened up to normal. However - BOTH of the Partridge chick's feathers are coming in normal feathers - not silkied! There were no other roosters in the pen - no other donations from before I got them (remember 10 infertile eggs?)... these chicks are from that pair. The valuted chick is doing fine but the other black is developing a cross beak.

This is driving me crazy - it doesn't make sense!

Thinking about it - I thought of something. If these birds - male and female - are full blooded brother and sister from a line of line breeding - would this cause these type of problems? I know inbreeding among animals will cause defects - so I was wondering if it could cause 4 toes - crooked beaks - black or white or ?? from a Partridge pair.... The previous owner only hatched about 7 chicks from the pair - and she had another female she hatched from also. I wonder if the two I have should not be bred together - because something sure isn't right!

Any insight into what may be gong on here would really help. They are both very nice looking birds, nothing showing on their phenotype to suggest these hidden problems. They are both silkied, black skinned, 5 toed, and the rooster is vaulted and the hen is not. Both traditional Partridge coloring.

Help?