Choosing Silkie Colors ~ Help please!

[CK Chickadilly]

Alan & Chris.....AWESOME!!!!

Ok, now I want pairs of each

I think I am going to go nuts!

How much do you guys sell eggs for?

 

[CK Chickadilly]

Well, I did it! I ordered 12+ bearded silkie eggs in blue, cuckoo & splash, they should be here by Fri/Sat. I am so nervous!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Whoohoo!! Congrats on the silkies-to-be! I have a blue and a white and I totally want more.

You must post pictures when the babies get there.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Ok... I'm going to tell you this now, so that you aren't disappointed when they hatch.

The blue and splash can be bred together, no problem, and depending on who you ordered them from, you shouldn't have a problem.

Don't expect much from your cuckoos though. Cuckoos are not a "standard" variety, and I think they still have A LOT of problems. RED RED RED single combs are quite prevalent in them if I am not mistaken.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

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Ok here is the part that no one is going to like...

Breeding for improvement isn't all its cracked up to me. People are sometimes mesmorized by good looking Silkies, but dont always understand what it takes to get them there.

Culling (not always killing) is a big part of breeding for improvement. You take your best of the best, and breed them together, and cull the rest. Then you take the best offspring of the best parents and breed them together (or back to the parents). Then you take the best offspring of those and breed them back, and so on and so on. And as the generations are bred, and culled and bred and culled and bred back and culled and bred back..... you start to see improvement because you are "streamlining" the good genes and eliminating the bad.

It takes a lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of culling to get improvement. Like I said, culling doesn't always mean killing, but 9 times out of 10, you wont be able to rehome all the pet quality culls, so you have to resort to the other method.

But in a nutshell, thats how you breed for better color/quality. Breed, cull and keep the best, breed, cull and keep the best, breed, cull and keep the best......

 

[Teresaann24]

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I have a white silkie roo that has the beautiful mulberry colored comb but it is a single comb. What caused this? I am not even sure this chick is a hen or roo. I am thinking roo because it has more comb then any of my other hens.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

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oh gees, any number of things could have caused it. Whats struck me is that its mulberry, but single. Usually single combs are more red than anything, at least from what I have observed.

It could be a genetic mutation, it could be genes from an outcrossing of ancestors of your birds, really any number of things could have caused it. Even good birds will sometimes throw something totally unexpected after years of throwing quality birds. You just never know.....

 

[Teresaann24]

Quote:
oh gees, any number of things could have caused it. Whats struck me is that its mulberry, but single. Usually single combs are more red than anything, at least from what I have observed.

It could be a genetic mutation, it could be genes from an outcrossing of ancestors of your birds, really any number of things could have caused it. Even good birds will sometimes throw something totally unexpected after years of throwing quality birds. You just never know.....

We have decided to make this bird my little girls pet bird. He does not have any qualities I'd like to see in my future birds. He has the single comb and has curled toes. Not sure if thet is genetic or just something that happens. What i don't understand the roo and hen this guy is from has always gave me beautiful type silkies. Thats why when i saw the single comb i was amazed.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

The curled toe thing could be genetic, but it could also be a humidity issue during development. It has yet to be scientifically proven as to which it really is.

As for the comb thing, like I said it could be a freak thing and a rare occurance. Genetics are NEVER guaranteed, even in the best lines. It may happen once and never again, or it may happen every so often. Just depends on how the genes match up...

 

[CK Chickadilly]

Lots of great info here. Sounds like a lot of work, time & effort to get really great show quality silkies. I can really appreciate what you do Chris!

I am not really into breeding for show quality, more for just nice looking pets

I really like the way Silkies look. The cuckoo was pretty & the person I bought them from said the blue & splash were SQ.....WindChyme & she had started her flock with Hattrick Silkies.

I am also hoping to get some good full size laying girls this coming spring too. Just can't decide if I want to try a few different hardy breeds or get one hardy breed & a roo to go with.

As far as the humidity goes, what should a normal reading be for the 1st 18 days? I got a humidity digital thingy today & it is reading 49. It was around 60-65 & I dumped the water out of it.

So if you breed the blue & splash together, what color are you going to get, blue & splash again? What color combs do they get? & red on the cuckoo?

I have some silkie/cochins that are totally gorgeous, that is what made me want to get the real silkies. Love that soft fluff!