Cuckoo Silkies

[Matilda Belle]

Does anyone else have them? I got a few chicks and I hear that they could be sex linked. How can you tell the females from the males? When do they get their barring? Will some not have barring? Parents are both cuckoos. Here are a couple of the new chicks I got. (One is obviously a satin.)

 

[Elliebeans]

I have 3 cuckoo silkie chicks, all nearly two months old. I don't have photos of them handy so will have to get some after work. The breeder I got the eggs from didn't mention sex-link and I've never heard of it before. All her hens and roosters were the same colour so I'm not sure how it would work.

I'm afraid I can't remember off the top of my head when they got the barring but it took a little while, you can see it now though.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I think maybe to sex link you need one black parent. I’m not sure either.

 

[Matilda Belle]

This one looks a little older than the others and it is black. Do you think it will stay black or getting barring?

 

[Elliebeans]

I'm a dope and forgot to take decent pics of my babies last night but this is a chick I hatched last year that unfortunately died. There's some white on the top of the head and on the wings. My other cuckoo chicks had this too. I think the breeder I got the eggs from said that's how you tell if they'll be cuckoos- they need some pale spots.

I love silkies and think the cuckoo colour is great and was going to build up a small breeding flock but have decided against it. The Lady I got the eggs from is the only person I've been able to find anywhere in my state (and I live on an island) but her chickens can pass on vaulted skulls. She's an excellent chook keeper and obviously finds a way to manage but I've lost 2 babies to injuries after they were pecked on the skull by other chicks. We separated them and nursed them the best we could and it was heartbreaking to lose them. I just don't want to breed that trait into birds.

 

[Elliebeans]

Here are two of my three at just under 2 months old.

 

[Matilda Belle]

Cuties!

 

[Matilda Belle]

Here are a few of mine.