Chicks growing strange feathers

[inquisitivebird]

Just thought I put post an update. The 7 new chicks from the same parents as the strange feather chicks have feathered out enough for me to see their feathers. They all seem to be normal so far. But statistically speaking, it is more likely to have all normal chicks than all 6 being silkied like the l other batch. So, I just have to wait for the next batch. I have 7 eggs incubating right now.

One thing I will do though is ask the two people I sold eggs to from these parents, how their chicks are looking. I sold a dozen eggs not long before I realized the feathers were looking strange on my first batch.

Will keep you posted.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Sounds like the first batch was a crazy lucky one to all be silkied! Thanks for keeping us updated! Can't wait to see what the other people report back with

 

[inquisitivebird]

Sounds like the first batch was a crazy lucky one to all be silkied! Thanks for keeping us updated! Can't wait to see what the other people report back with

Here's an update on the silkied chicks. 4.5 weeks old.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I love them so much!! That first picture makes me want to sweep them all up and give them a good snuggle!

 

[inquisitivebird]

Just posting an update. These guys are 7 weeks old tomorrow. They are definitely silkied all over. They are very fluffy and round. Out of the 6, one died from accidentally falling in the duck pond, the 5 left look to be 4 roosters and 1 hen. I need to wait another couple weeks to know if the eggs I sold ended up hatching out silkies. I will be hatching more all summer ( we are in the southern hemisphere) after my incubator is done with some duck eggs and I'll see how many silkied hens I can get and then seeing what I decide to do...

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I love them so much So sorry that you lost one, though! I had pretty rotten luck with cockerels this year as well, 10 males and 5 females in my big hatch. It wouldn't have been so bad, but I was hoping to build a nice breeding group out of some of these chicks and the best I can do now is a trio pending how everyone finishes growing out. Hatching season's over for me as it'll be too cold too soon where I live to try and rear chicks, so I'll be living vicariously through you.

 

[Tretinker]

These are fascinating! Can you keep the cockerels?

It'll be interesting to know how those eggs hatch.

They really are little cuties.

 

[inquisitivebird]

So, I have some exciting news, but firstly, I tried getting a hold of the buyers of 1 dozen of my eggs. One person did not respond to my contact about it, and the other said her eggs all died before hatching because of a faulty broody hen.

As for a the original chicks, they are 10 weeks old. 4 roosters and 1 hen:

Below are a few more photos showing the wing feathers of one of the brown ones and a cute fluffy bum angle:

The batch of 7 chicks that didn't have silkied feathers at 7 weeks old and I sold 5 pullets and the other 2 will be raised for meat. My incubator has been full of goose and duck eggs this month, but I did manage to hatch 3 more babies from a cheap unreliable incubator I don't like using. 1 of these babies appears to be silkied! I'm so excited about it because that proves it's a genetic trait and the fluke of getting 6 out of 6 silkies in that 1st batch is confirmed as remarkably unusual. So far out of 16 chicks, 7 have been silkied, still more than expected.

Also, I have the parents free ranging in a separated part of our farm with Matilda who is their mother. I thought Matilda surely wasn't going to lay eggs this year as she is almost 6 years old. But, low and behold, she started laying eggs 2 weeks ago. So, I'm going to hatch her eggs and see what I get. She is half Orpington and if I can get some silkied chicks from her, I will be one step closer to making a silkied Orpington aka Fluffington... Lol Her eggs will be going into the incubator in a few days, and I may try and squeeze in some more of the other eggs I've been hatching of these guys. I'll keep you posted!

 

[inquisitivebird]

These are fascinating! Can you keep the cockerels?

It'll be interesting to know how those eggs hatch.

They really are little cuties.

We can keep the cockerels, as we are on a farm. But we usually eat the ones we don't breed with.

 

[ElizabethChic]

There’s lots of projects out there that specifically breed for silkied feathers. I’m dyinggggg for a silkied Cochin. It’s recessive, so could conceivably pop up down the line

I just got a silkied cochin from my last hatch. Have a half dozen silkie showgirl/ cohin a day old, waiting for them to feather out.