6 Week Old Partridge Silkie?

[Safarimom]

Hi, my husband and I got our first one day old chicks last week. A lavender and a buff orpington, (The lavender always hops up on my hand then gets comfortable before taking a nap in my hand) a white marans, an easter egger and an olive egger. We were told from the hatchery that they all should be female. I have always known that when we were ready to get chickens that I wanted a silkie in my flock. I didn’t know at the time that they would be sold out before they even hatched and that I would not be able to just purchase a female. Since then I have done a ton of research and this group has been a great help.

I found an ad for silkie chicks and drove out to pick one up because I figured it would be easier to introduce it to my other chicks sooner than later. My husband is picking up our last three that were not hatched yet from his wish list this week. A white sultan and two white crested polish chicks.

I had a hard time choosing which silkie I wanted from her babies. She had white, black and partridge colored. I held a 6 week old chick, it was calmer than the others and seemed to enjoy being pet. The owner said it was partridge but was a little lighter than usual around the neck. I put it in a box and did not get a good look at it until I brought it home.

I am a fan of David Cassidy from the Partridge Family so I named it “Cassidy”. It gets along great with my other 5. They are playing, eating and sleeping together. It is very easy to pick up and hold. I am very happy with its personality. I am wondering if anyone knew if the color is a partridge or not? The only reddish brown color is around the ears. The rest is white and grey.

I know 6 weeks is to soon to sex it and I don’t want to ask like so many of the other post that I have seen but I am already so worried about what my options are if its a boy. I almost decided not get one at all but I really do want a silkie in our chicken family.

Anyway, thanks for looking and for any information that you can give me. I really appreciate it.
Melissa

 

[Frazzemrat1]

I think that's a cross. I've never seen pics of a silkie looking quite like that at this age. Usually they've got a huge crest and the muffs and beard... like you usually can't even see their face for all the fluff.

Any silkie experts want to chime in?

 

[HenHouse4Life]

Doesn't look like pure silkie. Does it have 5 toes? It'll be interesting to see how it looks when a little more grown.
Keep a close eye on your polish chicks if you'll be keeping only one flock together. They can get picked on because of their large crest and it can be fatal.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

If it has five toes, it seems to be a pure silkie, just not a great 'quality' silkie according to breed standards. Nothing wrong with it as a pet.

At six weeks the pet quality silkies I've had over the years only had little tufts on their heads. This is also a non bearded silkie so will not have the beard or muffs fluff.

It's colour does appear to be quite mixed, which would be the result of breeding different colours like partridge and blues together. It seems to have almost a hint of cuckoo pattern around the wings too.

As for gender, it is too early to be sure of anything, but right now it is not showing any sign of being a cockerel. With the non bearded silkies, the wattles are often a big clue since silkie combs don't go red like other breeds. Right now the total lack of wattles suggests pullet to me. But you will have to wait at least another month to have more certainty.

 

[Safarimom]

Thanks everyone. Cassidy dose have 5 toes. Very feathered feet and black skin. I got to see the other birds that she lived with as well. The adults looked clean and healthy. There were a lot of different colors. I saw a lot of really nice looking pure white along with some black and buff. When it comes to animals I Usually end up picking out the odd one. I love the all white silkies, but I am trying to get a mix of different colored birds and I already have a white marans and a white sultan.

I will keep an eye on the polish hens. If I see any issues I am sure my husband could make an area just for the smaller birds.

I will post some updated photos of Cassidy in few weeks to see the changes in “her” appereance

Thanks again for your help.