Silkie thread!

[FaithWalkFarms]

Hey, all -- I purchased a few silkies from a breeder last month -- a frizzle and two smooth. One of the smooth ones has me confused!

They are about 6-7 weeks old. Any idea why this silkie's feathers look like normal chicken feathers instead of fluffy like "regular" silkies? It is the only of my trio to have the correct number of toes so I was planning on my son showing it BUT as it has feathered out, I have started to question its "showability".

Any thoughts?

 

[Lamaremybabies]

Hey, all -- I purchased a few silkies from a breeder last month -- a frizzle and two smooth. One of the smooth ones has me confused!

They are about 6-7 weeks old. Any idea why this silkie's feathers look like normal chicken feathers instead of fluffy like "regular" silkies? It is the only of my trio to have the correct number of toes so I was planning on my son showing it BUT as it has feathered out, I have started to question its "showability".

Any thoughts?

Looks like some sort of silkie mix. I don't know sorry.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I agree I would ask about ur breeder to see if u can get another

 

[Coreenelane]

Could a different breed of rooster fertilized the silki hen ? I have all my chickens in the same area and I've seen a sultun on a golden buff.

 

[FaithWalkFarms]

Could a different breed of rooster fertilized the silki hen ? I have all my chickens in the same area and I've seen a sultun on a golden buff.

According to the breeder -- and which appears to be true based on what I saw of her pens and breeding set up (she gave me full tour when I went to purchase) -- her breeds are all separate and never together. She raises polish and silkies. She said -- in a response a few moments ago when I messaged her on FB -- that it may just be a "Smooth Silkie" that pops up from time to time.

Sigh ... from what I've read in a quick search here on BYC over the past few minutes, that means SOMEWHERE there was a breed "Ooops."

I *wish* I had been more sane when I purchased from her -- I got so caught up in "Oh, my gosh, they are CUTE, fluffy little babies" that I just didn't pay enough attention. She said she bred SQ but of the 2 polishes I purchased, one is an auto DQ for having too many toes (her response when I later asked is that she has a rooster who "sometimes throws extra toes"); and of the silkies, two are feathered correctly but only have 4 toes and now this one -- with 5 toes -- is feathering incorrectly. GAH -- totally my fault for not scrutinizing carefully. Just irritated -- my son wanted to show. Gah!

I guess she doesn't cull to ensure breed standard and I just happen to have landed all the DQ's from that.

 

[Coreenelane]

When extra toes or not enough toes and the feather question comes about that tells me her Silki genes somewhere along the line got contaminated. No way could this happen otherwise. Has she been a silki breeder for long?

 

[silkiecuddles]

Could a different breed of rooster fertilized the silki hen ? I have all my chickens in the same area and I've seen a sultun on a golden buff.

Yes. Which, of course, would result in mixes/mutts.

 

[FaithWalkFarms]

When extra toes or not enough toes and the feather question comes about that tells me her Silki genes somewhere along the line got contaminated. No way could this happen otherwise. Has she been a silki breeder for long?

About two years. This is totally my fault for not being more careful in selection (of both breeder and birds). If nothing else, my kids have some cute pets .... just sad they aren't showable too.

Lesson learned.

 

[WVduckchick]

I want to hatch some sizzles, so I have 2 white silkie females, and they are covered by a frizzle bantam cochin male. I also have a bantam cuckoo cochin female with them. They are a 4-some, rarely mingle with my others (golden sebrights and silver ducking OEGB's)

I didn't think my cuckoo female was laying (or I hadn't confirmed it) until my eggs had been incubating for about 10 days. Now they have hatched. I am not sure which ones came from which hens.

Any guesses? Only 2 have 5 toes (#6 & #7), so those obviously came from a silkie girl. #1-#5 look more cochin-ish, but the father is definitely cochin, so maybe they took more of his looks? Or maybe I was mistaken and more of the eggs came from the cochin hen.

Do you see any silkie look in any of these babies?

Daddy - Armand




#1


#2


#3


#4


#5 - pretty sure this one came from the cochin hen. Its much smaller.


#6


#7

 

[tinaw587]

It's there anyone out there still adopting out silkies? Every place is out for several months online :-( NEPA region..