ABOUT TO SET 24 MARANS EGGS! ANYONE ELSE SETTING EGGS? DEC. 14-16, Hatch Jan. 3-5th.

[bwalden]

They are very cute.  Are those BCM?  Are they a breed you can autosex at hatch?  I remember hearing that BR cockerels have a spot on their head like the Legbars.  Fortunately my Rocky-girl didn't have a spot!  And, then other breeds go by color or wings...I'll have to wait at least 4 months before I'll know what my silkies are!

Yes they are BCM chicks. They are unfortunately not sexable at birth. Well at least by markings or color. I can usually tell by 3-4 weeks the roos from the hens.

 

[bwalden]

I'm getting some welsummer eggs from you later this week, really looking forward to it, will I be able to tell the sexes apart at birth? Is that what I'm hearing you say?

Yes Welsummers are sexable at birth by markings. The hens have what looks like black eye liner around the eyes and a black "V" shaped mark behind the eye. The roos have none of these markings. It's very easy to tell.

 

[buckskinluvr]

Here is a picture if almost the whole group. They are very busy!

 

[buckskinluvr]

CALI CHICK- I'm very jealous of the amount of fluff on the top of your chicks heads. I'm hoping mine are just not all the way fluffed up yet!

 

[buckskinluvr]

I only took a couple pictures because I'm still not feeling that great. I want to squeeze them all!

 

[CALI CHICK]

CALI CHICK- I'm very jealous of the amount of fluff on the top of your chicks heads. I'm hoping mine are just not all the way fluffed up yet!

Thank you. I noticed in this hatch they all had vulted skulls and have developed big fluffy crests. One of them reminds us of a previous chick we were calling "Big-Head" or "Jimmy Neutron" because his head feathers were just so big. The first "Big Head" didn't make it because it had some kind of neurological damage or swelling.

That is a risk you take with these silkies and their exposed brains. We tried nursing it with Poly-Vi-Sol and even prednisone, but it was never strong. These 4 little ones are doing really good. I discovered they will eat more if you wet the starter with a bit of warm water and mash it smooth for them. The downside is they poop more too!

I only took a couple pictures because I'm still not feeling that great. I want to squeeze them all!

I hope you feel better soon. Your chicks are adorable with such variety of colors. Are they from your breeding pens or did you buy a mix of shipped eggs? I need to take more pictures too before they start changing so much. I haven't even attempted to name them yet.

 

[buckskinluvr]

I had picked up 8 chicks from a lady near me who had them advertised on craigslist. When I went to pick them up she lived on a culdesac in a seriously upscale neighborhood. She said they had got eggs off of eBay to hatch as a project for the kids and then found out they couldn't keep them. I had to chuckle a little to myself like "what was your first clue?" The houses had to be worth at least 400k in the decision. Anyhow, I asked her to give me the sellers name from eBay so I could get some more eggs since I loved the ones I already had and she had no interest in helping me. Oh well :/ . I started with 8. One was taken by a hawk. One rooster I sent to a local sale because I had 3. Then my favorite rooster out of the group was taken by a stupid Tom cat. That's when I decided to hatch the eggs I had. I normally wouldn't hatch so early but I didn't want to leave his eggs in the fridge any longer! I'm new to silkies and the standards so I'm learning as I go but I still don't know what color my hens are. I should post some pictures.

 

[buckskinluvr]

How do you tell if they have a vaulted skull? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Also what are major faults I should consider culling for? I'll sell the ones as pets that aren't the best. These are a few things I think I should be looking for as faults in the babies:
1. Missing toe nail
2. No fifth toe
3. Not good spacing between the 4 and 5 toe

Anything else major I can tell as a baby?

 

[CALI CHICK]

How do you tell if they have a vaulted skull? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Also what are major faults I should consider culling for? I'll sell the ones as pets that aren't the best. These are a few things I think I should be looking for as faults in the babies:
1. Missing toe nail
2. No fifth toe
3. Not good spacing between the 4 and 5 toe

Anything else major I can tell as a baby?

You can see their vaulted skull especially right after they hatch and their feathers haven't fluffed up yet. It looks like a big bump on the top of their heads. It is actually their brain as the "vault" is an opening in the skull. The brain is only covered by skin and feathers. Some silkie breeders want the big vaults as they feel they will have bigger crests.......Others say they have silkies without big vaults that still have big crests. I don't think I've payed that much attention one way or the other. I just worry if they peck each other that they might cause brain damage!

I'm not real good at knowing all the faults yet. I'm hoping to show eventually but haven't found the time yet. All those listed for sure. I had a couple I sold because of #3...the toes looked like a little claw instead of being seperate.
-I don't know if it's a fault, but good foot feathering will show early. Just think the more feathers -the better. I like to see feathers growing on every toe (although the middle toe usually has the least).
-I've had several "splashes" get red leakage so they were culls
-I've had several develop a "single" comb instead of an almond comb. Although I think that would be a DQ
-cross beak, wry neck, wry tail (I have a 3 month old pullet with this. If I don't keep her at least she can go to a pet-only home. People always want hens.
-I would say the biggest problem I've had is simply hatching GIRLS!

 

[bwalden]

. Pic of one of my new BCM chicks. I ended up with 8 marans and 1 Welsummer.