Days old Silkie Chicks

[eaking]

I have nothing to add except SQUEEEEEEEEE OMG THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!!!

 

[cluckincarole]

This is my favorite. So fluffy! I've named it Penguin lol.

 

[Chicalina]

Your buff chick could either be a Silkie cross or a poor quality Silkie, i.e. not from a good breeding gene line. It doesn't matter for a pet, but would for breeding to sell or showing. I've had a Silkie chick before that had such a tiny gimpy 5th toe that it fell off as the foot grew. I called it Nemo!

I've now decided that neither of my current chicks are full Silkie, because one has 4 toes, and the other just started getting wing feathers and they are flat and not silkie feathers. I think it is half Polish. Its eyes have that look about them too. When the crest starts growing like crazy I will know for sure!

 

[Jack1313]

So stinkin’ cute!

 

[KatH2580]

TSC had silkies in their bantam bin. A large portion had pasty butt. My daughter and I couldn't leave them. So we came home with 10 silkies we did not need lol. They are cleaned up and doing well now it seems.

We are very new to this breed. We only bought our 1st silkie chicks on July 24th and they were 4-5 weeks old at that time. We have several other chickens and breeds...Orpingtons, d'uccle, cochin, barred rock, laced wyandotte, and easter eggers.

I have a few questions.

Can anyone tell me what possible colors the lighter ones might be? Some seem gray, some more white with yellow.

Also are these bearded or non? Or can you even tell at this point?

One has a very prominent poof already..others none and some seem to have a slight poof. Normal? Will they all end up looking fluffy on top as they age?

Also including a picture of our two originals. They belong to my daughter and were bought from a breeder. I'm guessing they are around 7 weeks now?? When we purchased she said they were around 4 weeks. She had several chicks together of all sizes. View attachment 2274594View attachment 2274595View attachment 2274596View attachment 2274597View attachment 2274598View attachment 2274599View attachment 2274600View attachment 2274601View attachment 2274602View attachment 2274603View attachment 2274604View attachment 2274605View attachment 2274606View attachment 2274607View attachment 2274608View attachment 2274609View attachment 2274610View attachment 2274611

Super cute I hatched 4 yesterday .... Nugget, muffin, pancake and waffle! Muffin pancake and waffle are usa silkies and Nugget who is smaller is a regular uk silkie? My first time raising them too.... beautiful little fluffballs!!!

 

[cluckincarole]

Super cute I hatched 4 yesterday .... Nugget, muffin, pancake and waffle! Muffin pancake and waffle are usa silkies and Nugget who is smaller is a regular uk silkie? My first time raising them too.... beautiful little fluffballs!!!

so cute! Love their names.

 

[Kiraeh]

It looks like the toe gene is dominant but can be suppressed or at least partly suppressed in some instances. There's not as much info out there on it as there is on colour genetics, but it makes sense. I have a flock of mixed silkie/polish and only a few have silkie feathering but a lot more have extra toes.

 

[Chicalina]

This is my favorite. So fluffy! I've named it Penguin lol.

View attachment 2275085

omg I'm dying of cuteness overload!

 

[Chicalina]

It looks like the toe gene is dominant but can be suppressed or at least partly suppressed in some instances. There's not as much info out there on it as there is on colour genetics, but it makes sense. I have a flock of mixed silkie/polish and only a few have silkie feathering but a lot more have extra toes.

That's interesting. I'd love to see photos of your flock! I've never crossed any chickens before, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what the chicks turn out to be. I've got another clutch under a broody.

Sorry for hijacking your thread @cluckincarole

 

[cluckincarole]

It looks like the toe gene is dominant but can be suppressed or at least partly suppressed in some instances. There's not as much info out there on it as there is on colour genetics, but it makes sense. I have a flock of mixed silkie/polish and only a few have silkie feathering but a lot more have extra toes.

Interesting. Thank you!