Silkied Ameraucana Project

[EdenCamp]

Too you might want to take your incy down a degree. Temp dosen't change sex but a bit lower temp facilitates success of pullets hatching.

 

[daxigait]

Just marking this. I a lot of the original stuff from years ago, and always wondered how it came out, but I got busy and forgot to fast forward or check for new stuff. I am glad this took off from the original pair.

 

[txcarl1258]

That's actually a good thing.  Split pullets have a lot less problems reaching laying age.  But hang onto at least 2, preferably 3 of your best full silkied boys.  CYA is critical with how fragile they can still be.  Hard feather pullets can be used with your silkied boys and all offspring will be at least for sure splits. 

Thanks for the advice. The problem is I'm not 100% sure if they are splits or not. I have two split hens with a split rooster and two Silkied hens. Haven't had any issues with them living haven't lost one. I am outcrossing my Silkied boys on Paul smith hens and the silkied girls on a black rooster from a 2XL poultry. Going to cross the splits back to each other from both lines to continue to strengthen them.

 

[EdenCamp]

Not knowing color of your stock - are they all splashes? ... but bringing in good black hard feather stock, both sexes, was a good move. I started with all splits several years ago - so while only 25% of split to split breedings don't carry the silkied gene - you want to either test breed to identify if questionable splits don't carry the gene and remove them from the program or breed them to full silkied so that the offspring will be at least for sure splits. The latter is much easier. So I'm suggesting you continue to breed your questionables to a full silkied.

What you don't want to do is breed questionable splits or even splits to hard feather birds. Just going to end up with a lot more questionable birds that don't carry the gene to sort thru. Way ahead of the game to have known entities.

If it were me, and I had the pens (4+) to dedicate - I'd start putting the 2 silkied girls in with the black cockerel.
In second pen silkied cockerels with black pullet and all but 1 or 2 of the questionable split pullets. Those 2 questionable pullets would go in a third pen with your known split roo. Discard all the questionable cockerels. Origional pen will continue to give you a few full silkieds of both genders. Silkied F and Silkied M will give you offspring containing different line outcross for sure splits but only the Silkied F pen will be fore sure outcrossed unless you can identify the black hens eggs. Replace your origional split roo with the black hen's split cockerel and your hard black roos with a son of his. Keep the split pullets produced in the same pens. The following year you should have full silkied to replace the daddy.. Can introduce a new hard feather roo. Split girls are fine with a silkied roo. Only put the hard feather new roo with full silkied girls.

Are you familiar with the concept of a spiral breeding program? 3 pens plus a bachelor pen to grow out replacement cockerel candidates. The Roos are rotated each year with better sons replacing fathers in rotation but the girls stay in the same pen and are just retired after 2 full years. The difference here is the pullet offspring move over a pen and the roos get replaced from thier own offspring in the same pen except for the hard feather roo in the first pen which is used to bring in fresh blood. Hard roo, silkied pullets and the split pullet offspring go to a full silkied roo and the pullet offspring from the second pen go to the third. The full silkied pullets produced from pen 3 go to the new hard feather or split son of the last hard feather new roo. That's what I'd do anyway. Your mileage may differ.
.

 

[txcarl1258]

I wasn't familia with spiral breeding thanks for the tips! Most of my Silkied stock is blue and black. I have one splash Silkied roo growing out. I will keep him if he doesn't have leakage and I like his confirmation. My hard feathered girls are BBS.

I'm hesitant to test breed my questionable splits as the only Silkied Roos I have are their brothers and my split roo is their father. Some of the blue pullets have nice lacing so I might hang on to them. I only kept the Silkied birds from my first hatch due to limited space.

 

[EdenCamp]

It's fine to breed half bro & sis or chick to a parent - line breeding. If you only have a pair then obviously no doubt that they would be full siblings.... otherwise... Breeding full siblings, while not optimum, can be done. The mortality rate may be higher and certainly would want to go as outcrossed as possible either before and certainly after doing so. Test breeding is to provide litmus test as to what you are working with - decisions can be made from there. Don't have to keep doing the same breeding......

 

[Thespoiledchicken]

Mine are right at 21-weeks and not laying yet. I still don't know what I've got--at least two cockerels, one lav and one black split (but he has tons of red/gold leakage)

This was several weeks ago...(disregard that Cochin on the far left!). I have 3 lavs and 4 black splits

All three Silkieds in the back are roos (2 blacks and a lav) and the lav and black in the front appear female.

I noticed my Silkied line this year has very late maturing males especially in the comb area. Must have been my extra tight comb selection in prior years to combat that crazy comb explosion I was having early on.

 

[DustyLavender]

Hi everyone! I found out about silki feathered ameraucana not to long ago and very fascinated by it and have a question, that any other breed with this mutation?

I'm only asking this because in my recent hatch, one of chick's tip of feather is not straight. I thought my chicks are Brahma and Breda fowl(I bought eggs).

Chick is 4wks old and seems like a slow growth type.

Any thought will be appreciated

 

[txcarl1258]

Hi everyone! I found out about silki feathered ameraucana not to long ago and very fascinated by it and have a question, that any other breed with this mutation?

I'm only asking this because in my recent hatch, one of chick's tip of feather is not straight. I thought my chicks are Brahma and Breda fowl(I bought eggs).

Chick is 4wks old and seems like a slow growth type.

Any thought will be appreciated

That chick isn't Silkied. Wish I had some pics of my Silkied chicks at that age.

 

[EdenCamp]

Here ya go.