Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[PaintedFeathers]

Do y'all think she's lost her eye?

Not sure but I do think she's blind. Did you ever end up getting her to take the tylan?

 

[Jharper]

Not sure but I do think she's blind. Did you ever end up getting her to take the tylan?

Yes! We have worked and worked. She has been finally taking it. The swelling/inflammation has gone down drastically! The next day her okay eye wasn't swollen anymore. We've been treating her and trying to get the stuff out if her eye. Do you think it's temporary blindness or permanent? It's fine if I can't show her anymore. She can just make pretty babies when she gets older. Or should I not breed her if she really has MG. We think we have found somebody near us that will look at poultry.

 

[emvickrey]

I have a chick that got a piece of pine shavings in her eye and by the time I realized anyting was wrong It was really bad. She was with her mother and 3 other siblings when it happened. I now have her in a brooder alone with just paper towel instead of the shavings I normally use. This is what she looked like when I found her

After alot of rinsing and wiping with a warm wash cloth I discovered that this wasn't her eye, at least I was hoping it wasn't. I lowered her lower lid and managed to pop out this

Her eye was actually under this plug looking thing of pus. I've spent the past week going on 2 weeks now doing a daily wash of her eye. The swelling is down to almost normal but she still gets a crusty eye and I have to clean it off by just holding a warm wet washcloth to that side of her face and she has gotten to where she will rub her eye on it and the crusty comes off. I bought this stuff that is called NFZ puffer. It's a powder antibiotic for the eye. I get it on her eyeball and hold her for about 20 minutes. She can see out of that eye because she watches TV with me and was checking out the Guinea Pigs last night. Tonight she just had a little bit of crusty eye and it wasn't glued shut so it's getting better.

Just in case anybody has something like this happen maybe it will help them out

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
I am very glad you found somebody. If it turns out to be MG I would not breed anybody who tests positive for it - it passes to the chick via the egg and the sperm.

I think she just has a puss filled eye. Once you get the puss to stop forming in her eyes and can wash it all out her vision will probably return. I have had a few boys who got picked in the eye - and it was icky and drained for a long time but its fine now. The eye can actually retreat into their head - its really weird but its in there. Get the crud out - try the warm washcloth trick from emvickrey - and I am sure she will be a LOT happier!

 

[thedragonlady]

I don't know the why of it, but several years ago back when Dr Okimoto posted on The Coop regularly, he opined that the best exhibition black silkies were based upon E^R, not E. I've seen the post, but that was before I was there more than rarely, or knew enough to ask "WHY?" But for some reason, he thought that E^R birds would make better exhibition blacks.

Several years ago, a friend gave me a blue silkie X golden phoenix, who had RED, RED, RED. I bred him to my partridge, and keep breeding in the birds with red. This is Flaime--typewise, lacking a lot, but LOOK at that red, and realize it was even deeper/brighter than these untouched photos show:







I see a lot of folks call a dark buff red. It isn't; not even close. You have to look at reds in other breeds, or European red silkies as imported by Jerry Schnedecker to see what red silkies really are/should be.

Your photo cracks me up ! I used an even uglier hen to make my buffs. She was GOLD though, but I think she had only 2 crest feathers !

 

[thedragonlady]

I have a chick that got a piece of pine shavings in her eye and by the time I realized anyting was wrong It was really bad. She was with her mother and 3 other siblings when it happened. I now have her in a brooder alone with just paper towel instead of the shavings I normally use. This is what she looked like when I found her

After alot of rinsing and wiping with a warm wash cloth I discovered that this wasn't her eye, at least I was hoping it wasn't. I lowered her lower lid and managed to pop out this

Her eye was actually under this plug looking thing of pus. I've spent the past week going on 2 weeks now doing a daily wash of her eye. The swelling is down to almost normal but she still gets a crusty eye and I have to clean it off by just holding a warm wet washcloth to that side of her face and she has gotten to where she will rub her eye on it and the crusty comes off. I bought this stuff that is called NFZ puffer. It's a powder antibiotic for the eye. I get it on her eyeball and hold her for about 20 minutes. She can see out of that eye because she watches TV with me and was checking out the Guinea Pigs last night. Tonight she just had a little bit of crusty eye and it wasn't glued shut so it's getting better.

Just in case anybody has something like this happen maybe it will help them out

There are eye drops you can get from your dod vet called GENTOCIN DURAFILM. That is great stuff for this sort of thing.

 

[chisNchickens]

Your Blacks will never throw blue. They require the Blue gene - and Black is the absence of the Blue gene. If you add a Blue or a Splash they will produce Blue. Some people have had very dark blues and thought they were Black - that is when they can surprise you and produce Blue - and if crossed again will produce Splash. If yours are 10 generations and never produced Blue then you can be pretty sure they won't ever produce Blue.

Good to know, thanks for clarifying!

 

[chisNchickens]

Mahogany is a gene, and is fairly rare in silkies. Most red silkies do not have it. Look at exhibition rhode island reds to see mahogany: a red so intense it is almost black.

All of this is just convincing me further that silkies are not chickens at all;-)

All chicken have the same complicated genetics. The only think unique about silkies is the shredded feathers that prevent seeing patterns on their feathers

No, I was just referencing how much different silkies seem in many ways, just in general. Yes, silkie feathering...but what about walnut combs? Are silkies the only chicken with the walnut comb?

 

[chisNchickens]

I don't know the why of it, but several years ago back when Dr Okimoto posted on The Coop regularly, he opined that the best exhibition black silkies were based upon E^R, not E. I've seen the post, but that was before I was there more than rarely, or knew enough to ask "WHY?" But for some reason, he thought that E^R birds would make better exhibition blacks.

Several years ago, a friend gave me a blue silkie X golden phoenix, who had RED, RED, RED. I bred him to my partridge, and keep breeding in the birds with red. This is Flaime--typewise, lacking a lot, but LOOK at that red, and realize it was even deeper/brighter than these untouched photos show:







I see a lot of folks call a dark buff red. It isn't; not even close. You have to look at reds in other breeds, or European red silkies as imported by Jerry Schnedecker to see what red silkies really are/should be.

Gorgeous red coloring!. So most of the "red" silkies we see or hear about in the states are genetically buff?

 

[Jharper]

I am very glad you found somebody.  If it turns out to be MG I would not breed anybody who tests positive for it - it passes to the chick via the egg and the sperm.

I think she just has a puss filled eye.  Once you get the puss to stop forming in her eyes and can wash it all out her vision will probably return.  I have had a few boys who got picked in the eye - and it was icky and drained for a long time but its fine now.  The eye can actually retreat into their head - its really weird but its in there.  Get the crud out - try the warm washcloth trick from emvickrey - and I am sure she will be a LOT happier!

I have been since we thought about it. I reckon it's just draining.