Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Sanna]

Hey everyone. We finished our new coop yesterday. We put sand in the run and are still debating on what to use in the coop. Do any of you have a preference on wood chips vs. sand? Thanks a bunch!

We have wood chips in some of our chicken pens. My silkie pen is about half wood chips. In my opinion, the chickens seem to like the dirt area better because easier for them to scratch around and look for things in the dirt. That's all I know.

Iris is gorgeous!!

Thank you!

Hey, I hatched a silkie chick 8 weeks ago from a blue/black/splash mating, But Im not sure if they are blue or splash? also any guesses on sex?

Looks like a light blue to me also. And possibly a cockerel.

,




This is Ivan, One of the White Roosters.

This is Clyde, The rescue chicken. We got him from a Flea Market because he was in bad shape and his eye had been pecked. It looks alot better now.

This is Ricky Bobby, He is the dominant one of the Flock.

And This is Hannah. Sorry for so many pictures I just wanted to make sure you guys had enough pictures. They are still all very Young, but Healthy and as Natural as I can make them. They free range all day, Get plenty of Fruits and treats, and are on all natural Chick Feed.

Looks like all your whites have a single comb? This is a disqualification. Also, a bright red face, comb or wattles are a disqualification. The black rooster looks like his face is pretty close to red.
Bare middle toes are a defect, it's not a DQ but not desirable either.
The type and feathering is poor but that doesn't mean they won't make great pets! I have one white hen, poor quality, but she's the BEST darn broody hen and a mom we've ever had!

If you look through this thread, you'll see LOTS of pictures of show quality and pet quality birds. Take them and compare them. You can also read the Silkie standard on the ASBC's website http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/standard.asp
If you're interested in showing, I would contact a breeder and purchase some eggs/chicks and go from there.

That Clyde's a lucky guy! Glad you found him at the flea market.

 

[ChickenWhisper0]

We have wood chips in some of our chicken pens. My silkie pen is about half wood chips. In my opinion, the chickens seem to like the dirt area better because easier for them to scratch around and look for things in the dirt. That's all I know.

Thank you!


Looks like a light blue to me also. And possibly a cockerel.





Looks like all your whites have a single comb? This is a disqualification. Also, a bright red face, comb or wattles are a disqualification. The black rooster looks like his face is pretty close to red.
Bare middle toes are a defect, it's not a DQ but not desirable either.
The type and feathering is poor but that doesn't mean they won't make great pets! I have one white hen, poor quality, but she's the BEST darn broody hen and a mom we've ever had!

If you look through this thread, you'll see LOTS of pictures of show quality and pet quality birds. Take them and compare them. You can also read the Silkie standard on the ASBC's website http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/standard.asp
If you're interested in showing, I would contact a breeder and purchase some eggs/chicks and go from there.

That Clyde's a lucky guy! Glad you found him at the flea market.

Looks like all your whites have a single comb? This is a disqualification. Also, a bright red face, comb or wattles are a disqualification. The black rooster looks like his face is pretty close to red.
Bare middle toes are a defect, it's not a DQ but not desirable either.
The type and feathering is poor but that doesn't mean they won't make great pets! I have one white hen, poor quality, but she's the BEST darn broody hen and a mom we've ever had!

If you look through this thread, you'll see LOTS of pictures of show quality and pet quality birds. Take them and compare them. You can also read the Silkie standard on the ASBC's websitehttp://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/standard.asp
If you're interested in showing, I would contact a breeder and purchase some eggs/chicks and go from there.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]That Clyde's a lucky guy! Glad you found him at the flea market[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans-serif].[/FONT]

Thanks for the great replies!

I guess I'll be adding to the flock to try and get one. And Clyde is VERY lucky, He had a messed up eye, smelled, and had ALOT of missing feathers. Now he's almost worse than a dog and lives in our Garage because the other roosters won't accept him! We dont even have to set an Alarm anymore!!

 

[Sanna]

Thanks for the great replies!

I guess I'll be adding to the flock to try and get one. And Clyde is VERY lucky, He had a messed up eye, smelled, and had ALOT of missing feathers. Now he's almost worse than a dog and lives in our Garage because the other roosters won't accept him! We dont even have to set an Alarm anymore!!

Nothing wrong with having a very friendly rooster.

I bring mine in the house.

 

[Adoravachick]

Finally back on BYC! I have been spending a lot of time working with some local breeders and learning a lot. I am finally fine tuning my "eye" and what I want to see in my birds. This is Miss Olive, she is only 4 months. Hoping she will fill in that tail and her Splash markings will deepen. I have been noticing that several of my splash can take several months to develop good markings, is this the case for anyone else?

 

[chisNchickens]

Finally back on BYC! I have been spending a lot of time working with some local breeders and learning a lot. I am finally fine tuning my "eye" and what I want to see in my birds. This is Miss Olive, she is only 4 months. Hoping she will fill in that tail and her Splash markings will deepen. I have been noticing that several of my splash can take several months to develop good markings, is this the case for anyone else?

Now no name stealing;-) I have an Olive that is the same age. Your little one is a cutie, not sure about the color as I like a richer "splashing" but she looks very correct as far as conformation. Nice foot feathering for her age too.

 

[chisNchickens]

Suze, here is the "gray" that appears to be a blue now. Before and after shots, so to speak. I think "she" (I know, looking cockerel-ish) is going to be really pretty despite being a color "mutt".

 

[mylittlechicken]

I try to keep it around 45%. Sometimes it gets a little higher or lower tho. Then I up it to around 65% during lockdown. They've been hatching much better that way. 45% is completely dry for my incubator, I can't get it any lower. I've read most folks dry hatch at around 35-40%, but its SUPER humid here in Va and I live next to a river and pond. My AC is running full blast, and 45 is as low as it'll go. It seems to work for me, thank goodness. My last hatch before I lowered the humidity gave me 2 chicks out of 15 eggs. Every other egg pipped, zipped and quit. One chick turned into a lovely splash pullet. The other was a really pretty dark blue that developed a leg issue, probably due to the sticky eggs.

I hatch with the same Humidity. I have way better success with that now. In the very beginning I had the humidity way to high.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Does anyone have any idea what colors these are? Are they greys? Leaky blacks and blues? I know they're not the best pictures, but they found a new home today. The lady that bought them asked me what color they were and I had no idea what to tell her. The rooster started out pure black, so I'm guessing he's just leaky. The pullets all started out as partridge though. One pullet was actually partridge, another turned dark blue with some brown in the hackles. Everyone else looks like this:

Cockerel- started out black.

I had 5 that looked like this. A couple of them have some brown in their wing feathers.

Then there's this pullet, who's much different than everyone else.

And, on a sadder note, a splash hen I'd sold came back to me yesterday. The people who bought her called me (as I'd asked, if they decided they didn't want her for some reason). They said they've now decided Silkies aren't for them, she just wasn't active/never did anything. Well, I go to pick her up and they tell me "all she ever does is sit in that box" (they've had her almost 6 MONTHS). I explained the breed in depth when they purchased her. I told them all about broodiness. They had her in a kitty litter container flipped over on it side with poop for bedding Her plucked chest has ammonia burn from sitting in excrement. Her crest and beard are completely gone and she's emaciated. I'm just sick over this. She was GORGEOUS when I sold her and now she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Ugh. Here's a picture of what she looked like AFTER a bath and blow dry (I'm pretty embarrassed to even post it)

I understand that once I let an animal go, I no longer have any control over them. But, this is unacceptable. I told these people that if they had any questions or problems that they could call me and I'd do my best to help out. What's worse? They give me back this poor hen in terrible condition and then have the nerve to ask me if I'd mind donating some chicks to them since they're children are starting 4H. Umm, NO! Never going to happen

 

[Adoravachick]

Now no name stealing;-) I have an Olive that is the same age. Your little one is a cutie, not sure about the color as I like a richer "splashing" but she looks very correct as far as conformation. Nice foot feathering for her age too.

It's such a cute name! My daughter (4yrs) picked it out. I thought it was quite good. I also prefer stronger "splash" markings. It will be interesting how she develops and if those markings intensify.

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

Finally back on BYC! I have been spending a lot of time working with some local breeders and learning a lot. I am finally fine tuning my "eye" and what I want to see in my birds. This is Miss Olive, she is only 4 months. Hoping she will fill in that tail and her Splash markings will deepen. I have been noticing that several of my splash can take several months to develop good markings, is this the case for anyone else?

Very pretty!!!!! She looks awesome!

Does anyone have any idea what colors these are? Are they greys? Leaky blacks and blues? I know they're not the best pictures, but they found a new home today. The lady that bought them asked me what color they were and I had no idea what to tell her. The rooster started out pure black, so I'm guessing he's just leaky. The pullets all started out as partridge though. One pullet was actually partridge, another turned dark blue with some brown in the hackles. Everyone else looks like this:

Cockerel- started out black.

I had 5 that looked like this. A couple of them have some brown in their wing feathers.

Then there's this pullet, who's much different than everyone else.

And, on a sadder note, a splash hen I'd sold came back to me yesterday. The people who bought her called me (as I'd asked, if they decided they didn't want her for some reason). They said they've now decided Silkies aren't for them, she just wasn't active/never did anything. Well, I go to pick her up and they tell me "all she ever does is sit in that box" (they've had her almost 6 MONTHS). I explained the breed in depth when they purchased her. I told them all about broodiness. They had her in a kitty litter container flipped over on it side with poop for bedding

Her plucked chest has ammonia burn from sitting in excrement. Her crest and beard are completely gone and she's emaciated. I'm just sick over this. She was GORGEOUS when I sold her and now she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Ugh. Here's a picture of what she looked like AFTER a bath and blow dry (I'm pretty embarrassed to even post it)

I understand that once I let an animal go, I no longer have any control over them. But, this is unacceptable. I told these people that if they had any questions or problems that they could call me and I'd do my best to help out. What's worse? They give me back this poor hen in terrible condition and then have the nerve to ask me if I'd mind donating some chicks to them since they're children are starting 4H. Umm, NO! Never going to happen

I am so sorry about your hen, but she is so lucky to have you back. Poor girl. She was probably full of mites and worms. I am so tired of some individuals not caring for animals. So sad