Arizona Chickens

[Mahonri]

I always like to see coops in the shade....

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

That picture is priceless!

Hi, I posted awhile back asking for advice about a coop. Well--It's done now and I have chicks! I got 5 silkie babies from a local breeder. They are ridiculously cute and very sneaky--They are showed me several ways my run isn't chick proof when I let them out to play this afternoon.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Not so simple. There are a lot of genes that come into play in determining the appearance. Partridge is not wild-type in the US (some other countries call wild-type partridge); wildtype is black breasted red, which is not a silkie variety. Partridge is based upon e^b, which is usually the most recessive base. That said, the majority of silkies are e^b based. To be partridge they also need the pattern gene. Breeding white to anything else is unpredictable; each white can be entirely different genetically; white is an OFF switch that prevents colour and patterns that are genetically present. In breeding buffs it can be difficult to keep the colour clear; breeding with a partridge adds back the smut you want removed, and lightens the partridge colouring, whcih should be vibrant, not buffish. Your best bet is to breed same colours together.

Ha HA Mikey! Really the 6 cats in the house are interested in the little peeper! LOL I ended up putting one of his siblins that was outside with Cotton in with Shamrock [ I am still keeping with the flower and plant names] so he has a chick to grow up with. He also doesn't peep his head off anymore.
Sometimes I think we keep chicks to hot. The chicks out side with mother are doing perfectly fine. Cotton is a good mother.

Hey anyone with silkies. Teach me a bit about color. I understand that Partridge is a wild color and it dominates the color of the chick? My Tumble weed is a Partridge. So bred to any other color hen he will sire mostly Pratridge? Cotton is white and she had two Partridge and two dark color chicks [not sure yet if black]. What will happen if Tumbleweed is bred to a buff?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

To some extent, but we are far enough south that I don;t think this plays nearly as large a factor as if you lived in the northern tier states.

My mom was just talking to me about this today! My grandmother used to raise chickens, and she would put in light early in the morning and late in the evening, in the winter, to encourage consistent egg production. She said that the winter months were darker longer/less eggs and the summer months were darker less/more eggs. Guess egg production is tied to daylight hours?

 

[AZBootsie]

We bought three 6 week (or so) old chicks from the feed store a few weeks ago. We won't be doing that again - the chicks lived in a nice big pen at the store, but with no human interaction. These birds are wild as all get out. The bantams that we hatched, on the other hand, or really friendly. These three chicks needed something bigger than the brooder, so I finally got a grow pen built.



This is before we got the trim painted; it's all painted the same blue now and we're going to throw an accent color on it. Once the chicks have grown enough that we can integrate them with the main coop, we'll move the silkie and a couple of other chickens in there. It's mostly scrap, recycled wood, or fence pickets.

This is the cutest thing ever!!

 

[Mikey D]

We bought three 6 week (or so) old chicks from the feed store a few weeks ago. We won't be doing that again - the chicks lived in a nice big pen at the store, but with no human interaction. These birds are wild as all get out. The bantams that we hatched, on the other hand, or really friendly. These three chicks needed something bigger than the brooder, so I finally got a grow pen built.



This is before we got the trim painted; it's all painted the same blue now and we're going to throw an accent color on it. Once the chicks have grown enough that we can integrate them with the main coop, we'll move the silkie and a couple of other chickens in there. It's mostly scrap, recycled wood, or fence pickets.

Great job on the grow out pen! Is that a door I see on the opposite front side?

I always love the reuse of materials.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

We bought three 6 week (or so) old chicks from the feed store a few weeks ago. We won't be doing that again - the chicks lived in a nice big pen at the store, but with no human interaction. These birds are wild as all get out. The bantams that we hatched, on the other hand, or really friendly. These three chicks needed something bigger than the brooder, so I finally got a grow pen built.



This is before we got the trim painted; it's all painted the same blue now and we're going to throw an accent color on it. Once the chicks have grown enough that we can integrate them with the main coop, we'll move the silkie and a couple of other chickens in there. It's mostly scrap, recycled wood, or fence pickets.

I love the color, the recycling of materials and the use of the 2" X 4" galvanized wire (in addition to the chicken wire). Well done!

 

[SherrieT]

AZPenguin: Just saw you're in Tucson. Howdy neighbor!!! Love the coop and the recycling!!


Only 3 days into this hatch and I'm already planning on what to put in the incubator next!

Do you know of anyone in the Tucson/Phoenix area that has non-hatchery line Buff Orp eggs for sale? I'd like to avoid shipping and am up for a road trip in a couple of weeks to pick some up.

 

[Fuzzybird]

Not so simple. There are a lot of genes that come into play in determining the appearance. Partridge is not wild-type in the US (some other countries call wild-type partridge); wildtype is black breasted red, which is not a silkie variety. Partridge is based upon e^b, which is usually the most recessive base. That said, the majority of silkies are e^b based. To be partridge they also need the pattern gene. Breeding white to anything else is unpredictable; each white can be entirely different genetically; white is an OFF switch that prevents colour and patterns that are genetically present. In breeding buffs it can be difficult to keep the colour clear; breeding with a partridge adds back the smut you want removed, and lightens the partridge colouring, whcih should be vibrant, not buffish. Your best bet is to breed same colours together.

Thx SS I can always count on you to answer and make me understand. I am going to keep my little buff roo. Cotton had two dark chicks that isn't really black and they have fluffy whitesh butts. I wonder what their are going to be? Oh one thing you didn't answer is that does the roo chicks in silkies develope their waddle sooner. The adult hens don't have much waddle so I am asuming the chick with a waddle at 10 weeks old is a roo?

 

[itsredcandy]

I was gone from reading the posts here while my mother in law was visiting. My chicks have grown so much. They are about 3 weeks old, supposed hatch date was 1/4/12. I am starting to think that those who have told me what I thought were New Hampshires are actually sexlinks(sp?) and roo's. They are both really mellow though. Both have barely any tail feathers and very light colored wings with no visible feather markings, while the other 6 have 1 inch or longer tail feathers. I have one black one with a big white/yellow dot on the top of her head (Enchilada) that is very curious, less cautious and more friendly that the rest of the 7. This is the one that tends to stand in the middle of the group and fall asleep. Maybe the head hen? My one Ameraucana or EE (named Parmesan), was told she is an Ameraucana, is strikingly beautiful compared to the other 7. Seven of the eight are looking really ugly. They are loosing their cute chick features as the feathers are coming in that look like sticks with sprigs of puffy feathers coming out. Parmesan seems to be getting her adult feathers but they are coming in very pretty. I am going to have to take more pictures of them.

Thanks to Mikey D I will have two new 236 leghorns this weekend )

~Selina