Unpopular Opinion: Satin Silkies Are Ugly

[Whittni]

You heard me, Satins are just ugly Silkies>>>Satins. What do YOU think?

Satins are just mixed breed silkies

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hmm, I'm having a hard time agreeing fully because to me Silkies are ugly, too I do agree that Satins are just glorified mixed breeds, but there's a ton of those these days out of hatcheries so why not.

To your second point, I'd much rather my chickens have a small crest and actually have faces than have the full poof and barely any vision.

 

[Theorrin]

watch my silkies from TSC not be silkies now lol

 

[Goats N Cluckers]

That's one of the wonderful things about chickens - there's something for everyone. Don't like satins? Don't keep 'em. It's easy enough to rehome or process them. Although, I don't care much for silkie meat, and the color is just unappetizing to me. Personally, I think all of the silkies are adorable. When they get to scratching in the leaves or hustling across the yard they make me laugh.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I guess it depends entirely on your definition. Technically speaking, most of what we know of as pure breeds today resulted from crossing other breeds together to collect the desired traits into a line of birds. Many breeders working with established breeds also outcross to add vigor or other desired traits to a line, breeding the resulting offspring back to the starting breed to add back the appropriate traits of that breed. So where is the line on pure breed and mixed breed? Since chickens have no system of pedigreeing to trace family history like many other animals do, basically we only look at how the bird looks, not what its background is, to determine if it's a specific breed or not. I would guess those calling Satins a pure breed are, as Jacin points out, going off of that they have all the desired traits for a Satin and not that they're necessarily pure as in never outcrossed to anything.

 

[nuthatched]

Silkies are purse dogs in general but I prefer the look of the satins. They're not always mixed breed though.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They're not always mixed breed though.

Since the gene for silkied feathering is recessive, if a bird has silkied feathering, they must be pure for the silkied gene. Thus, breeding a Silkie to a Silkie will always get you more Silkies, never Satins, and so every Satin must have an outcross to a smooth-feathered breed somewhere in its background. Most commonly, Cochin bantams and Polish are used for this, though it seems like I more frequently see the Polish outcrosses referred to as 'Polkies' these days and the Cochin outcrosses as 'Satins'.

 

[nuthatched]

That's one of the wonderful things about chickens - there's something for everyone. Don't like satins? Don't keep 'em. It's easy enough to rehome or process them. Although, I don't care much for silkie meat, and the color is just unappetizing to me. Personally, I think all of the silkies are adorable. When they get to scratching in the leaves or hustling across the yard they make me laugh.

You mean, you don't like nuggets that look like lash?

 

[Whittni]

I also think chickens with partial crests like Swedish Flowers are ugly Full poof crest or none!

 

[Theorrin]

full poof or none at all!