April 2020 Hatch-A-Long! All are welcome!

[Akoharski4]

That is going to vary a lot based on the bloodlines of the Silkies and where you're located and when I say varies a lot I'm talking anywhere from $10/dozen to $100/dozen. There are plenty of people with pet quality Silkies that may even have some show quality possibilities and they might not charge very much but someone that takes their chickens to shows is going to charge for their fancy birds.

Interesting. Who knew? (Not me lol). These are pets for my daughter who is bound to be the fastest child in her class one day because she can catch any chicken, anytime. She’s 5.

For my own sake I hope I at least get one roo and one hen from my 4 that are currently in the bator.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Interesting. Who knew? (Not me lol). These are pets for my daughter who is bound to be the fastest child in her class one day because she can catch any chicken, anytime. She’s 5.

For my own sake I hope I at least get one roo and one hen from my 4 that are currently in the bator.

I will say, around here I have lots of Silkie hatching egg options and even the lady with multiple breeding pens that breeds her Silkies more strictly by SOP standards she doesn't charge as much as what your local lady is asking for.

 

[gmjarvi]

I will say, around here I have lots of Silkie hatching egg options and even the lady with multiple breeding pens that breeds her Silkies more strictly by SOP standards she doesn't charge as much as what your local lady is asking for.

The closest lady with show quality silkies near me charges $5 per egg or $10 per chick. So I could get a dozen for $60.

It's her last year doing all this so I have major FOMO about her silkies. She has the most beautiful splash silkies I have ever seen. I've been hemming and hawing about what to do for my last batch of purchased eggs for this year and I think I'm gonna skip the bielefelders and go with Ameraucana and silkie. If I do both orders I'm gonna be in the doghouse

 

[Akoharski4]

I will say, around here I have lots of Silkie hatching egg options and even the lady with multiple breeding pens that breeds her Silkies more strictly by SOP standards she doesn't charge as much as what your local lady is asking for.

I’m located in Ocean County NJ. The breeder I purchased 18 for $38 from was located in VA. The breeder who wanted $60 for the dozen was also in NJ.

The woman in VA was very nice. I may purchase from her again because she was very pleasant to deal with. Even though the overall hatch hasn’t turned out greatly.

I would be open to breeding them in the future so I would like to have more distant relatives. Not sure how exactly that goes with chickens inbreeding and such.

 

[gmjarvi]

I’m located in Ocean County NJ. The breeder I purchased 18 for $38 from was located in VA. The breeder who wanted $60 for the dozen was also in NJ.

The woman in VA was very nice. I may purchase from her again because she was very pleasant to deal with. Even though the overall hatch hasn’t turned out greatly.

I would be open to breeding them in the future so I would like to have more distant relatives. Not sure how exactly that goes with chickens inbreeding and such.

My understanding is that they are fairly tolerant to inbreeding, unlike mammals.

Here's a good read about inbreeding vs line breeding and chickens: https://www.barnevelders.net/inbreeding-in-chickens.html

I found a good YouTube video about line breeding a while back as well, let me know if you want me to dig it up.

 

[gmjarvi]

I’m located in Ocean County NJ. The breeder I purchased 18 for $38 from was located in VA. The breeder who wanted $60 for the dozen was also in NJ.

The woman in VA was very nice. I may purchase from her again because she was very pleasant to deal with. Even though the overall hatch hasn’t turned out greatly.

I would be open to breeding them in the future so I would like to have more distant relatives. Not sure how exactly that goes with chickens inbreeding and such.

FWIW, I'm planning on starting a lavender Ameraucana project, which I will need black birds for. My plan is to source the black birds from a different flock than the lavender birds so that I can fix feather issues that occur in lavender birds as well as do a bit of genetic rescue if I ever need to. Since I can't be sure who is whose sister brother cousin aunt father whatever when I source the initial chicks, I do feel like it's probably a good idea to source from a couple different flocks that have good stock. Just my two cents. I'm sure more experienced people have more opinions. One being that it's important to recognize that simply taking two separate lines and breeding them together does not create your own line. I'm unsure when a new line is defined, though. Maybe someone can chime in.

 

[wolfwalker]

So I have 56 eggs going into the incubator on Saturday from my own birds.

8 CCL
12 F1 Olive eggers (CCL over Brahma, BR or RIR
36 Alaho's

 

[Akoharski4]

FWIW, I'm planning on starting a lavender Ameraucana project, which I will need black birds for. My plan is to source the black birds from a different flock than the lavender birds so that I can fix feather issues that occur in lavender birds as well as do a bit of genetic rescue if I ever need to. Since I can't be sure who is whose sister brother cousin aunt father whatever when I source the initial chicks, I do feel like it's probably a good idea to source from a couple different flocks that have good stock. Just my two cents. I'm sure more experienced people have more opinions. One being that it's important to recognize that simply taking two separate lines and breeding them together does not create your own line. I'm unsure when a new line is defined, though. Maybe someone can chime in.

Wow. Good for you, that’s awesome! You sound like you know exactly what you’re doing. (I do not ) I’ve never bred them for a hobby before, but I currently work from home and it would give me another opportunity to work from home and raise my children... Who are chicken lovers to the core! I love the information- so by all means! I’ve pretty much learned all i know from you great folks on BYC and my awesome neighbor who’s been a backyard keeper for over 30 years.

 

[Akoharski4]

So I have 56 eggs going into the incubator on Saturday from my own birds.

8 CCL
12 F1 Olive eggers (CCL over Brahma, BR or RIR
36 Alaho's

Wishing you a successful hatch!!! What does the F1 stand for?

 

[gmjarvi]

Wow. Good for you, that’s awesome! You sound like you know exactly what you’re doing. (I do not ) I’ve never bred them for a hobby before, but I currently work from home and it would give me another opportunity to work from home and raise my children... Who are chicken lovers to the core! I love the information- so by all means! I’ve pretty much learned all i know from you great folks on BYC and my awesome neighbor who’s been a backyard keeper for over 30 years.

What I know is a drop in the bucket compared to others! When I initially started keeping chickens I just want enough to feed my family eggs for breakfast without having to go to the store. That has since evolved . I learn best by doing, so I will be starting with what I know and learning the rest as I go! Lavender, BBS, and olive egger genetics are some of the easier ones to get a handle on IMO.

ETA: I'm currently a SAHM and it's been a really hard adjustment for me. I'm the type of person that always needs to be doing SOMEthing. And that's how our homestead was born lol. I hope my kid is a chicken lover like your kids!

Here is that YouTube video I was talking about: