5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[SoManyHats]

I kind of lumped them in with the blondies, but they could be RSLxSFH crosses. They kind of look like young RSL....wonder if they could be girls...

Oh, yup. I looked again and some of my yellows have grayish legs. So if I just count the ones with yellow legs, all those chipmunks included, it totals 8. Can a sex linked trait be passed on from a cross with a sex linked hen? This is all sooo confusing. But the important thing is I have a whole bunch of cute fluffybutts!

This was an amazingly successful hatch for me - 85% of fertile eggs set!

To all those that had bad hatches this time - just keep at it. My last hatch I got 2 out of 12, and they weren't even shipped eggs. But the effort is worth it - either for chicks or the learning experience. Or both.

 

[SilkieSensation]

The myth of cats stealing your breath has root in a factual behavior. As a kid I have woken to my cat sitting on my chest nose to nose with me breathing deeply and purring. I have had it happen with a different cat once after becoming an adult. This is interesting because I have apnea. As a kid I often would wake up in the middle of the night with the feeling that something was profoundly wrong only to suddenly gasp and realize that I had ceased breathing. The last attack I had that strong was in my early 20's but I am sure that I don't breath regularly. After reading how cats often come and purr near an injury of their person's and that it has been proven that the purring promotes healing, I have wondered if the cat's nose to nose behavior was because of my erratic breathing pattern and they were attempting to help. Given that it is a theory that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is caused by extreme apnea then cat's trying to help babies breath but unsuccessful would be blamed for causing the baby's death by "stealing it's breath".

People would also see cats licking milk from a baby's face & think the same thing. As I said, the poor kitty gets the blame for something it does not do simply because people don''t understand what is happening & jump to conclusions without all the facts.

 

[SunnySkies]

@SoManyHats


Not all silkies have 5 toes. Quality silkies have 5 toes, very vital for showing.


In order to tell apart a silkie from your mixes:
silkies have large eyes, and are the only bird known to have black skin, black bones, and black flesh....yeah nasty. silkies normally have 5 toes, all black feet, feathered all the way down.
Hope this helps!
~Bantambury

X2.

This is why I kind of think my bantam Cochin roo isn't doing his job....those look like PB Silkies from the photo, but hard to tell. My Silkes do carry vaulting in their lines, so that is where that comes from. I'm not thrilled with the amount of color leakage and comb configuration in my Silkies, but they are nice. I have seen worse at the county fairs. The Cochins are SQ, so I was hoping she got their eggs. Boo.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Bantambury - if you have access to the breed standard, read it over, commit it to memory, and compare your birds to it. You might want to joint the American Silkie Bantam Club - the yearbook will blow your mind, but the thing it's really useful for is helping you get a picture in your mind of what the ideal Silkie looks like. Compare your birds to that picture, and then decide what you want to breed. I, like most of us, learned the hard way, on dogs. Before you decide which of your birds to pair, if you have the opportunity to attend a show where there will be a good Silkie entry, or find a current breeder to mentor you, you will propel yourself toward your goals much faster than you can imagine. There are some very successful Silkie breeders across the country, and with your brains and ambition, you could go far, fast, if that's what you want to do. Most poultry breeders are incredibly generous about sharing the knowledge they've gathered - you're seeing some great examples here. I have every confidence you can do whatever you set your mind to. Once you learn more about the breeds you want to pursue, and the various breeding methods used to improve breeds and create strains and lines, the sky's the limit for you.

Excellent advice.

Go to several shows before thinking about showing.
Also understand the biohazard repercussions of showing and have facilities to quarantine.

 

[SoManyHats]

No. X2 No. Only quality silkies do. @SoManyHats Not all silkies have 5 toes. Quality silkies have 5 toes, very vital for showing. My silkie hen has 6 toes. NOT good. Some Silkie mixes can have five toes....don't let that fool you though. My Silkie X Japanese Bantam has 5 toes. None of my silkies had less or more than 5, so that is good. In order to tell apart a silkie from your mixes: silkies have large eyes, and are the only bird known to have black skin, black bones, and black flesh....yeah nasty. silkies normally have 5 toes, all black feet, feathered all the way down. as you can see in my silkie mix, in between her toes are relly yellow, and also has a yellow comb and a yellow face.when she hatched she had white skin on her belly, and black on her back.....sooooo I named her milkshake. LOL Here are proper silkie chick feet. (although one of her toes are slightly curled) Hope this helps! ~Bantambury

That does! I'll have to look more closely at them tomorrow. I know that the showgirl is all black skin, beak, and big eyes. Is a showgirl a Silkie just with a specific feathering "pattern?"

 

[SunnySkies]

Oh, yup. I looked again and some of my yellows have grayish legs. So if I just count the ones with yellow legs, all those chipmunks included, it totals 8. Can a sex linked trait be passed on from a cross with a sex linked hen? This is all sooo confusing. But the important thing is I have a whole bunch of cute fluffybutts!

This was an amazingly successful hatch for me - 85% of fertile eggs set!

To all those that had bad hatches this time - just keep at it. My last hatch I got 2 out of 12, and they weren't even shipped eggs. But the effort is worth it - either for chicks or the learning experience. Or both.

Yep...do not count the gray/olive legged ones....those are your EE/blue egg layers. SFH only have yellow legs. RSL have yellow legs.

I don't know about the color being an indicator....so I'd band those ones and see. Now we need to figure out which one is your PB SFH...

 

[All Henned Up]

I had 14 out of 18 I set hatch, 3 were infertile or just quitters but never made it to the hatcher. 1 that didn't hatch was not developed all the way, must have not seen it when I moved them to the hatcher. now of the 14, one is blind, I never had a blind one before. it is not eating but will drink if you guide him to the waterier, but will miss the water when it tries to drink on it's own. I will have to cull this one before it dies from starvation. It's so sad to watch it suffer.

 

[chicken pickin]

Quote: Silkie are not the only chicken to have black skin, bones and meat. The Ayam Cemani is a Fully black chicken head to toe inside and out. I love these birds and would love to own one.

The Indonesian chicken breed known as Ayam Cemani takes ‘dark’ into an entirely different realm. Their feathers are black. Their skin is black. Cut open an Ayam Cemani and you’ll find black muscle anchored to black bones. Even their organs are black

 

[SunnySkies]

My best guess, SoManyHats, for PB SFH is 25, 26, 17 or 19. Could be wrong, but we shall see

 

[insanity]

I had 14 out of 18 I set hatch, 3 were infertile or just quitters but never made it to the hatcher. 1 that didn't hatch was not developed all the way, must have not seen it when I moved them to the hatcher. now of the 14, one is blind, I never had a blind one before. it is not eating but will drink if you guide him to the waterier, but will miss the water when it tries to drink on it's own. I will have to cull this one before it dies from starvation. It's so sad to watch it suffer.

We kept a blind and "special" hen for years. She was an RIR with blue/white eyes and her feet always pointed out.We placed the feed and water along the wall near the door and NEVER moved them. The others mostly ignored her but she layed everyday and seemed to hear quite well..