The Sizzle Thread!

[mikiz]

Well I guess I'll have to incubate a ton of eggs and see hey

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

They'll produce 50/50 when you breed away from Silkie feathering. If you're breeding them to a Silkie, you'll get (about 1\2 hard feathers and 1/2 Silkie feathers. Of that, about 1\2 of the hard feathered chicks will be frizzled and 1\2 of the Silkie chicks should be frizzled. So, it should be something like 25% smooth/hard feathers, 25% frizzled/hard feathers, 25% smooth/Silkie feathers, 25% frizzled/Silkie feathers.

That's about what I've noticed when breeding mine, anyway. The numbers are skewed if you only hatch in small batches. But, breeding Silkies to Sizzles, will give you Silkies and Sizzles. Once you start breeding smooth Sizzles to frizzled Sizzles, you'll still see some Silkie feathers until you breed away from the birds that are carrying the recessive shredded feathers. I haven't gotten that far yet, though I do have smooth and frizzled Sizzles, I'm still breeding them to Silkies.

 

[paris_r]

They'll produce 50/50 when you breed away from Silkie feathering. If you're breeding them to a Silkie, you'll get (about 1\2 hard feathers and 1/2 Silkie feathers. Of that, about 1\2 of the hard feathered chicks will be frizzled and 1\2 of the Silkie chicks should be frizzled. So, it should be something like 25% smooth/hard feathers, 25% frizzled/hard feathers, 25% smooth/Silkie feathers, 25% frizzled/Silkie feathers.

That's about what I've noticed when breeding mine, anyway. The numbers are skewed if you only hatch in small batches. But, breeding Silkies to Sizzles, will give you Silkies and Sizzles. Once you start breeding smooth Sizzles to frizzled Sizzles, you'll still see some Silkie feathers until you breed away from the birds that are carrying the recessive shredded feathers. I haven't gotten that far yet, though I do have smooth and frizzled Sizzles, I'm still breeding them to Silkies.

so the goal with sizzles is hard feathers curled? curled soft/silky is not desired?

how hard is it to loose the single comb if your sizzle has 5 toes and dark skin?(i.e. not an F1 and probably not an F2)

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Yes, the goal with Sizzles is a normal feathered bird that looks like a Silkie (frizzle and smooth go together, so you need both feather types). I don't know how desirable frizzled Silkies are. I like them, and I don't have any issues selling them. I keep them in my flock and breed them to my not frizzled Silkies to keep them going.
I guess the difficulty of loosing the single comb depends on the genetics of the bird you outcross to. For example, I outcrossed to a hatchery quality frazzled Cochin. She had white skin instead of the desired yellow (for Cochins). My F1 chicks were all frizzled, they all had black skin, 5 toes and none of them had single combs (I got lucky with my cross). I wouldn't call their combs a proper walnut, some of them were pretty wonky and some of them were better than others. I kept the best pullet of the bunch and continued on with my breeding program. I've made a lot of progress, my birds are much better now, but odd things do still pop up. Mostly I deal with non bearded birds, which I don't prefer, but they're still acceptable. And the occasional odd body shape, not round like a Silkie or Cochin, which I attribute to the Cochin I used being hatchery quality. I still haven't gotten a single comb and the weird stuff is popping up less and less. Right now I'm on my third generation, and I hope to start my 4th this year. So, considering I started from scratch, I've made pretty good progress in a short amount of time (a little more than 4 years) So, I guess the short answer is you can get rid of the single comb quickly, if you select the right birds to breed together (or get lucky, as in my case).

 

[aoxa]

I have always heard breeding 2 frizzled is a big NO NO! They say not to fo that at all. That's what I've always heard. Don't know all the detail behind it tho

If you breed two frizzles together, you get offspring that get two copies of the frizzle gene (frazzles or curlies). Their feathers are brittle and break off and they typically lack the down under those feathers (that insulation layer, if that makes sense). The brittle feathers, between breaking and falling out, eventually get patchy, leaving behind red, raw exposed skin.

The one upside to them, since they possess two copies of the frizzle gene, is that if bred to a smooth bird, they will produce 100% frizzled offspring. But, their appearance and other genetic problems that usually accompany carrying two copies of the frizzle feather mutation aren't worth it (crossed beaks and other physical defects, laying problems, ect). I've taken in a few frazzles, and while they've been great pets, they should've never been bred. None of mine made it through their first winter at my house. I'm assuming because they couldn't keep themselves warm, even with lots of coop mates to snuggle with. A frazzled Cochin hen was the what I used to start my Sizzle project. She provided me with gobs of frizzled chicks and was a great mother to them, but I always had to keep an eye on her during hatch time. Her chicks would always be shrink wrapped (I guess due to not having enough humidity because her feathers couldn't hold it in) and I'd have to help every one of them hatch.

So, yeah.

You could just cull all frazzles. You get the best frizzling by breeding two frizzled together... I'm not doing it.. just been told this is what I should be doing to guarantee frizzles.


My latest obsession lol

 

[K Epp]

How can you tell if a chick is a frazzle? Are there any signs to look for?

 

[1 Critter Camp]

I have a blue grey color rooster silkie (mother is a grey sizzle) but the rooster expresses regular feathering. The color is a unique light grey almost blue color. I'll attach a picture tomorrow.

I was wanting to know if I breed him with a sizzle hen, what my ratio of frizzled feathering will be?

Even though his mother is a grey sizzle and his father was a regular silkie, would he increase my odds of sizzles?

His color is unique enough to keep him though but I am wondering my percentage of curly?

Thank you

 

[ashtree]

I have a blue grey color rooster silkie (mother is a grey sizzle) but the rooster expresses regular feathering.  The color is a unique light grey almost blue color.  I'll attach a picture tomorrow. 

I was wanting to know if I breed him with a sizzle hen, what my ratio of frizzled feathering will be?

Even though his mother is a grey sizzle and his father was a regular silkie, would he increase my odds of sizzles?

His color is unique enough to keep him though but I am wondering my percentage of curly?

Thank you

Ok. I'm going to try to answer all the questions. If your rooster is not frizzled (curly) he does not carry the frizzle gene. It's a dominant gene-so no curls=no gene. You should have a 50/50 chance of frizzles. (25% each feather type) If your boy was a curly you wouldn't want to breed him to another curly anyway. So you've got a good plan! I can't wait to see pictures

 

[1 Critter Camp]

I think I might just sell him then, his comb is a little too red anyway.

 

[Theresa sla]

You could just cull all frazzles. You get the best frizzling by breeding two frizzled together... I'm not doing it.. just been told this is what I should be doing to guarantee frizzles.


My latest obsession lol

if you breed 2 frizzles together you have 25% frazzle or curly over frizzled birds, 25% SMOOTH and 50% frizzled.
you would only be trading your 25% smooth for 25% frazzled offspring that would be special needs because of their easily damaged feathers.
the frizzle gene should only effect the feathers, it should not contribute to other defects and it is not a fatal gene.
heres a few pictures of my hen Kevin she is frazzled silkie, before and after her molt.
i did not breed here and she will never go into a breeding program here. although i have used her as a broody hen
BUT... if she was bred to a non frizzled rooster 100% of her offspring will be frizzled no frazzled and no smooth.
i think that is why people say it will give you better frizzled its just a way to give you MORE frizzled to chose your best from.



frazzled feathers have a tighter curl, and although you can tell on silkie feathering (like Kevin) the non silkie feathers will be narrow like spaghetti and don't provide a lot of warmth. happy to say Kevin survived her first Michigan winter here with close to -20 degree nights and no heat in the coop.
she is good buddies with much fluffier hens thank goodness!!

Pretty little NN sizzle BTW