Debbie's Silkies

[Debbie292d]

Well in that case, when are you setting more eggs?

Every 4 days about 2.5 dozen.

Except for this experiment, it'll probably take a month to know, giving it one week to switch sperm that is. I guess we'll see! How exciting!

I know what happened. The mottled came from a place I ordered buffs and paint eggs. I got a bunch of weird things, like Oscar that gorgeous naked neck rooster, and Pearl, the beautiful NN paint, and no buffs. Not many of hers hatched, and I didn't realize some of hers would be satin, so kept what wasn't, not realizing the one hen I kept has a mottled gene in her.

could the white on the head be confused with the mottled look?)

No, as the white dot for the single-barred is tiny.

Here's one cuckoo chick (left) with the three mottled.




I had no idea those would be sex-linked, just like I'm doing with the black hens and the chocolate rooster. Cool beans! So I'll keep one of each. I'm all caught up with pre-sales with the sale of all 20 of these this weekend, then I'll start watching and saving.

Also, plan to keep: I'm going to be DNA testing any pure white ones with solid black feet I get from the paint pen and keeping one of those (there's one in this batch), a couple of chocolate pullets, a blue hen and cockerel, cuckoo pullet, buff pullet or two, and any that look like Missy, the grey moorehead partridge (she needs a roo) or keep one of her partridges she's producing to breed back to her. She's in the paint pen with a white rooster.

 

[Debbie292d]

We got sod yesterday. The chickens are tickled pink!

Now, before anyone warns about netting on sod, they don't do that up here. This is purely grass and dirt.

Gus and Gerty, the ducks in the 4-Season pen got some sod too! I posted in the Duck forum to see if someone knows their sex. They like the grass more than their tub of water!

 

[2ndTink]

We got sod yesterday. The chickens are tickled pink!

Now, before anyone warns about netting on sod, they don't do that up here. This is purely grass and dirt.
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View attachment 4117379

Gus and Gerty, the ducks in the 4-Season pen got some sod too! I posted in the What Breed or Gender forum to see if someone knows their sex. They like the grass more than their tub of water!
View attachment 4117377View attachment 4117378

Gus and Gerty grew so fast

The sod looks great! You have some super lucky chickens.

 

[Debbie292d]

Gus and Gerty grew so fast

The sod looks great! You have some super lucky chickens.

I never knew ducks grew so fast! I'm being told they can be sexed at around 8 weeks, so I have another month to go. I'm a bit worried that they look so much alike that they'll be the same sex. I'd rather a pair or two females, but if they are two males, I'm not sure how that's going to work. The last thing I need are two ducks fighting!

We're eventually keeping them away from the chickens, as they'll have their own hutch and door off the back end of the kennel beside the coop. We'll open that up daily, and they'll be going out the back side and hopefully staying back there. The path to the creek is back there, too. King and his three old hens hang out back there mostly so he'd nail any duck going for his hens.

 

[Debbie292d]

Since February, I've been hatching about 20+ silkie chicks every four to five days. I added them up, and that's been 20 batches for a total of 301 chicks. They've all sold, albeit a few day-olds I have left. I will advertise on FB as I haven't done so since February. It's been amazing how far people come for these. The furthest to date is Iowa, 4.5 hours.

I finally kept five!

My goals are to get mottled going again, a moorehead partridge rooster for Missie, and another chocolate and cuckoo hen. I may have all of those here. I also have to get paint going better but that's another story below.

I was using baskets in the beginning so I'd know where the chicks were coming from as the eggs are all marked by pen as we gather them. I thought I was getting good at it, but not!

Left to right, rusty one, no idea so maybe from Missie. I want to see what that one's going to be.

Dark gray/silver, probably from Missie too. Chocolate mottled, a female. Soon I will know which hen that is as I'm testing the black hens. Next, a rusty one with nearly chipmunk markings, but not. I still think it'll be a partridge and probably from Missie. A light silver/grey with a very minuscule white dot on her head. That should be a female cuckoo.

I'm going to be DNA testing any pure white ones with solid black feet I get from the paint pen and keeping one of those

Nope! I thought they could test for dominant, but neither IQ, Silkie Lab, nor Chickcheck does. Thus, I've ordered some fancy paint eggs on eBay (8). She has a satin hen in her paint pen, so if I even get half of those to hatch, I'm going to just hope a silkie rooster is one of them. I'll sell any satins.

The paint pen I have is a white rooster (Wyatt), a beautiful paint hen (Patty), and her sister, a white hen that had gray spots when it hatched, but is pure white now (Petra), and Missie the grey/silver partridge moorehead hen. I've been getting a random paint and mostly white chicks, plus Missie's eggs.

And 'tis the season for broodies. I have six broody hens right now.

 

[2ndTink]

I'm so glad you are finally getting to keep some of those cuties!

Oh yes, so many broodies here too! I was up to 9, I'm down to around 4 or 5, hard to say as I have 2 or 3 that I think are just getting started as I'm finally getting a few others to break... It's an ever evolving situation

 

[Debbie292d]

27 hatched yesterday, so they're with the leftover 8 from six days ago. I have someone coming Wednesday for several, so will advertise after they're done.

Out of this new batch, I snagged a tiny (maybe) blue cuckoo pullet. It's from Bridgette, the small blue hen, and Buddy, the cuckoo.



Bridgette was broody, as was Katie the cuckoo hen in with Buddy, so the hens are/were in jail and Buddy is free ranging.

Remember Peachy, the mysterious light buff-colored rooster that came from my chickens, but I didn't know what it was? As I thought, he's not a buff as he failed the test. So, now he's in Pen 4 with Missie the silver partridge and Winnie the white hen. This is now to test for Red Pyle.

Supposedly, his best chances are with Missie, the partridge.




On the right, you can see Buddy wanting back in. He's been out for several days now. Strangely, this is always what happens when one comes out of a pen, they wind up hanging out near the pen for months. There are acres to go free range, but I guess they want to be back in.

 

[SARAHLEESILKIE]

THANK YOU DEBBIE! MY MOM AND I JUST LOVE THE BABY SILKIES FROM YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE LOVELY TOUR. I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON WHAT COLORS THEY BECOME.