Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[LittleRedCoop53]

I'll try to get better ones when Rain Stops .

My guess is you have two little girls there...they are so cute

 

[silkieaddictIN]

Hello,

I am looking into buying show quality silkie eggs. Prefer white or lavender or blue. Does anyone have any recommendations? I would prefer if
you or someone has bought from the person, as this will be the first time ordering eggs. I am looking for anytime from now to the end of 2015, yes, I don't mind the wait, but would like to find
a reputable breeder.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to.

Thanks!​

 

[debbiegt]

[COLOR=EE82EE]Hello,[/COLOR]​

[COLOR=EE82EE]I am looking into buying show quality silkie eggs. Prefer white or lavender or blue. Does anyone have any recommendations? I would prefer if[/COLOR]​

[COLOR=EE82EE]you or someone has bought from the person, as this will be the first time ordering eggs. I am looking for anytime from now to the end of 2015, yes, I don't mind the wait, but would like to find[/COLOR]​

[COLOR=EE82EE]a reputable breeder.[/COLOR]​

[COLOR=EE82EE]Feel free to PM me if you'd like to.[/COLOR]​

[COLOR=EE82EE]Thanks![/COLOR]​

Interested also

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I'd recommend you both start with your states thread in the Where Am I? Where Are You? section of the forum. This time if year lots of folks aren't getting many eggs, with the shorter daylight hours and all. And, when you have eggs shipped to you, you're really at the mercy of the post office.
But, I'm actually getting a pretty decent amount of eggs right now, so you never know. You might find a local BYC member that is also getting lucky in the egg department. We have lots of great Silkie breeders here on BYC. There's also a Silkie thread (if you haven't already found it) and lots of members post there. This one doesn't see as much action as the other, so it may be a better place to ask.
I'd volunteer to help you both out, but I've never shipped eggs. I'm doing a swap with another member of the forum, depending on how it goes, I might do more shipping, but I'd like to get a feel for it first before I start sending out eggs

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

SunnySky- the red combs can be worked out, but you will have to cull for it. It will pop up in that birds offspring, but many are willing to buy the culls. Of course, its best to avoid it altogether, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got (or can get). No bird is perfect, and personally, I'd rather keep a rooster that has great type and an off colored comb than one that's got bad type and a dark comb. Would I buy a $50-75 rooster that has a red comb? The answer to that is no. Would I sell one for that much? No again. If I were spending that much on a rooster, I'd expect him to be almost perfect in every department. Your rooster will contribute half of the genes to the offspring he produces, so he's a very important aspect of a breeding flock, but the bottom line is there are lots of REALLY nice cockerels/roosters being sold for a lot less than that. You just have to do some searching and be patient.

Sometimes the size of the crest is purely preference of the breeder. Some prefer smaller, more globular shaped crests while others like huge bonnet shaped crests. I keep some of both in my breeding flock, though I prefer a more round crest. Breeding them together, I get mostly bonnets. When I first started breeding Silkies, some of my birds were lacking in the crest department, but they still produced chicks that had great crests. Sometimes the only way to know what you'll get is to do a test breeding. A good rule of thumb is that if your girls are lacking somewhere, your boys should not be lacking in the same areas so they balance each other out (or the other way around). However, something I've learned is that two amazing birds don't always produce chicks that measure up. And, some birds that are seriously lacking can give amazing chicks if paired up with the right partner.


Just start with the best you can find and work on them from there.

 

[chisNchickens]

Could someone tell me if this silkie roo has an acceptable comb colour? His skin is black, and he has the 5 toes etc. It's only his comb and wattles that have went this maroon colour as hes maturing. I just need to know if this is a good or bad thing before I get rid of him, I have others that are still all black but I think he has a better shape.

Thanks

If you want to show and/or breed to the standard, this bird is not show quality by any means...appears to be unbearded but regardless those wattles are huge.

 

[chisNchickens]

Hello! I'm relatively new to breeding silkies and am hoping you all can clarify a couple things for me.

First, as I peruse Silkie sites here on BYC and on Facebook I'm noticing many people advertising silkie cockerels or roosters that have bright red combs. I'm talking red that rivals that of my Orpingtons. Others are not quite that red but they are lighter than mulberry, that's for sure. Some people are selling these guys for like $50 to $75 each! Or they advertise them as breeding or show-quality. Is it really that easy to breed out a red comb? It seems to me you wouldn't want anything with a red comb in your gene pool to begin with but maybe I'm wrong. Could it pop up in later generations if you did chose to breed it out?

My other question lies in the size of crest. I see all different degrees of fullness to crests. Is that a simple trait to correct with breeding? Meaning, if you have a cockerel with a smaller crest but pullets with large crests or the other way around is there potential to hatch offspring with large crests? Or would those with smaller crests be a cull?

I'm sure these are simple questions to the experienced breeders but I'm wanting to learn as much as possible about this stuff.

So many "breeders" claim show quality despite the fact that they have never shown nor looked at a standard. No, steer clear of the red comb. As far as crests, you can get nice crests from the breeding you mentioned. Some like huge crests (like myself) and others like a "medium" sized crest as stated in the SOP. Most important is BALANCE and condition.

 

[chisNchickens]

Hello,

I am looking into buying show quality silkie eggs. Prefer white or lavender or blue. Does anyone have any recommendations? I would prefer if
you or someone has bought from the person, as this will be the first time ordering eggs. I am looking for anytime from now to the end of 2015, yes, I don't mind the wait, but would like to find
a reputable breeder.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to.

Thanks!​

Most hard core silkie exhibitors do not sell hatching eggs. You would do better to purchase started birds from them. If you must have eggs (and I understand that!), I'd suggest Geri Godina or Tonya Morris. You can find them on FB and they almost always have eggs for sale.

 

[SunnySky]

So many "breeders" claim show quality despite the fact that they have never shown nor looked at a standard. No, steer clear of the red comb. As far as crests, you can get nice crests from the breeding you mentioned. Some like huge crests (like myself) and others like a "medium" sized crest as stated in the SOP. Most important is BALANCE and condition.

Thank you for your insight!! I personally like the huge crests as well. I just hate the red combs. I don't know why lol. I think I feel like people are being dishonest when they advertise a breeding quality cockerel with a bright red comb for like $75!

I have a lot to learn about balance and condition, that's for sure. While I'm not breeding my silkies I still like to know if they're close to where they should be in terms of type.

I have 2 pullets, a blue and a white, right now who aren't laying yet (at 9 months old!!). I like their type although I don't know if it meets (or gets close enough to touch) the Silkie SOP:



Any my Silver Partridge cockerel: (all this talk about me hating red combs and his is too red I'm guessing lol)

 

[chisNchickens]

I like the type on your blue the best and her color is good also - though I don't breed blue silkies I do have blue birds of different breeds. The gray's comb is fine! Especially for a gray. All look to have good wings and I don't see any red leakage on your gray so that is a plus. If you want to show you have a long way to go as far as conditioning. Clean and dry is a must to keep them in condition. If you don't care to show but want typey birds l will say your white and gray have necks that are too long (though it may be the photos/stance). Gray looks as though he is lacking in cushion and tail, and beard. But again, a lot of that could be condition. If silkies are allowed to be out and about in the weather there is no hope for keeping them in condition. Below is a picture of my typiest girl (as a pullet). She was on champion row at her first show against some nice competition. Hope this helps some...I don't claim to be an expert by any means;-)