Black silkies

[ultasol]

I live in the desert,.. in WA. Not quite as many days of sun as in AZ. I keep my showbirds inside mostly, but they are not in small cages. They get taken out a few times a week. I haven't seen any deleterious effects on health or vigor of the birds or chicks so far.

I grew up in AZ. Boy the sun can be brutal! I graduated from Chandler High. If I were trying to preserve color there I would either keep them in or I would give the showbirds turnout only at dusk. Call me a skeptic, but I don't completely buy the black magic thing.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Not sure if it was brought up, but has anyone tried that shampoo for black and dark colored birds that is sometimes sold at shows? I never get a good look at it but I always wondered what it was...

 

[HelenaJean]

i have a little black silkie girl named PintSize, she's just gorgeous!
this is a photo taken around Christmas when she was just tiny. She's a bit bigger now, but still a chick really.

i'd love to get a decent black silkie rooster for her, i love how pretty the black ones are!!
nothing would excite me more than little black bubby silkies running around!
great thread!

 

[muddyhorse]

polish princess I have used the black shampoo on my birds, I could not really see a difference. however my birds were not faded they stay in or are under shade. I use the white shampoo and that works well. however if your birds are exposed to too much sun or eat too much corn it can not help whiten the feathers.

I have thought about trying the black as knight or one of the other horse shine enhancers on the birds. currently I feed them Mazuri Gamebird breeder I have been very happy with it.

 

[ultasol]

I haven't had to use the color enhancing shampoos. I did have a rather bad experience with blueing earlier this year... had a couple shows two weeks apart... apparently I used a few drops too many of blueing the second time. Kutch took my white cock bird out in the sun and proclaimed him, "a very pale shade of blue.."

Oops. It kills me because he was pretty white anyway, but he looks so nice when he's freshly bathed and fluffed, and the blueing just adds a little shine. Anyhow, it cost me Champion Featherleg with the white cock that day, and possibly Champion Bantam.

 

[Brody's Broodello]

Quote:
I don't see anything that looks inappropriate for chickens. That said, if you feed 6-18 heaping tablespoons to a horse daily, I would think about a half teaspoon would be more than enough for a chicken. One difference, though is that birds do not continually grow feathers, whereas mammals do continually grow their hair/fur. So I am not sure that it makes sense to feed it other than during a molt and while the feathers continue to grow in.

One thing to remember that adding this to a feed mix, you are changing the content of the Protein,Fat,Fiber Cal & Phos ratios. You need to be careful when dabbling with Cal & Phos ratios. If they are off by just a bit, you run the risk of abnormal growth rates in the bones of the animals. This has been found to increase the risk of horses developing OCD. I would really be worried about the levels in an animal such as poultry unless it was tested & approved for them. JMO

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Thanks for the responses regarding the shampoos. I wasn't looking to use any-just curious. My birds are rarely in the sun-and although I would like to start giving them some freedom-it will be limited. Besides my female's crest, coloring is fine-and right now my black male looks the best. Still hoping to get a good molt in before the summer season though. After this winter we're having up here-WE NEED IT!

 

[Gordonhillfarm]

Oh yes. More snow next 2days 1day break 2 more days of snow I'm supposed to be traveling to PA next week. Hmmn

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
We got showered with ice and are supposed to be getting more tonight and into next week another storm is supposedly coming through.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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I am skeptical, but not unconvinced, either. If I understand, it works by providing some sort of sunscreen benefit. Not sure on why it turns the coats of horses that do not appear to be black, black? And since hair/fur and feathers are NOT the same thing, even if it works on horses, does not guarntee that it would work on chickens. That said, teh oil in the preen gland DOES affect already grown feathers. I would not like to see a product that essentially dyes feathers with preen oil (as does the marigold extract in some purina feeds), but adding sunscreening to the preen oil seems like it could be beneficial.

I guess what I am saying is that it might be worth a test on birds that one is not planning to show (in case it makes a mess of them).

edited to add: Chandler High is pretty close to my neck of the woods. Elder ds went to Seton, had friends at Chandler High, and a LOT of friends who went to Hamilton. He was in Chandler schools through 8th grade. Took them out of district to get into Chandler's school system. Younger ds is at Corona.