I have a black silkie roo and a partridge silkie hen who's chicks I've just hatched.. They're both hatchery quality and I was wanting to know if there was any way to breed that out of them and somehow get a fluffier chicken?
I can give you a short answer and a long one. The short one is no. Not if the only two breeders you have to start with is the black male and partridge female. To upgrade your chicks, at least one of those must have quality type. If you hatched 100 chicks from that pair the first generation will give you an idea of what you have to work with genectically speaking. Then you would keep the best of that group. You can breed brother to sister for a few generations but all you will do is in grain those traits from your original pair. Good and bad. So if both your starting male and female lack in crest, fullness of chusion, foot feathering, comb, or any other good typey silkie traits, their offspring won't magically gain in those areas. It would further in grain those traits in your strain.
If you love your pair and they are pretty in your eyes, then certainly breed them. Hatchery silkies are still wonderful. I started out with hatchery silkies two decades ago and loved them dearly. After a few years, I sought out a breeder and bought chicks. Three years ago I sought out a breeder again and bought a couple dozen mixed color eggs to hatch. I'm still making up breeding trios every season to improve my flock. I don't show but I breed as close to the Standard Of Perfection that I can.
Learn everything you can about silkies. Buy books. Go to some shows. Talk to lots of breeders at the shows. Find out who breeds quality silkies in your area. Educate yourself. Save up some $. Then buy a trio or hatching eggs. Go for it.
It cost the same to feed poor quality chickens as it does show quality. It all depends on your goals with your birds.
Post pictures of your male and female and their chicks. Take pictures of their feet, wing spread, and tail. The more pictures you take, the easier it will be for you to judge them fairly.
