Dumbest Things People Have Said About Your Chickens/Eggs/Meat

[chooks4life]

Quote: Not all silkies are bantams, but even the bantams are fine eating. I like bantams of all breeds I've tried so far. They never have trouble fleshing out and pack some serious nutrience in, surpassing some of the larger breeds for taste and texture. Some of the larger breeds have inferior digestive systems not to mention often don't forage as well. Also a lot of silkie eggs have the same sized yolk as a production layer's egg... So those avoiding egg whites in their diet should get a flock of silkies, lol. They have their uses, as long as you don't buy show stock... No fan of those, they're such delicate featherweights, at least the ones I've had and gotten rid of almost as quickly as they arrived...

 

[loveourbirds]

Not all silkies are bantams, but even the bantams are fine eating. I like bantams of all breeds I've tried so far. They never have trouble fleshing out and pack some serious nutrience in, surpassing some of the larger breeds for taste and texture. Some of the larger breeds have inferior digestive systems not to mention often don't forage as well. Also a lot of silkie eggs have the same sized yolk as a production layer's egg... So those avoiding egg whites in their diet should get a flock of silkies, lol. They have their uses, as long as you don't buy show stock... No fan of those, they're such delicate featherweights, at least the ones I've had and gotten rid of almost as quickly as they arrived...

silkies are that weird breed that people have trouble classifying. all silkies are silkies unless crossed with something else, a lot of silkies were crossed with polish to make the large tuft on their heads. a lot of breeders have crossed them with larger fowl to increase egg size. these birds will gain more weight (about 7lbs on a descent bird). they will also lay larger eggs, almost twice the size of a true silkie.
a true silkie in America is considered a large fowl, in England and other countries it is usually considered a bantam. this adds to the confustion. a true silkie is an aweful layer of small eggs, they are usually friendly birds similar to cochin bantams in size and personality. for the most part they would be worthless as a meat bird, black skinned and little meat other than breast. they are one of the best broody breeds. also one of the most delicate breeds as chicks.
from a hatchery you will probably get the larger birds. crossed for hybrid vigor and overall easier to raise. to get a good show pair you will have to go to a show, they wont come cheap.

 

[NCChickLovers]

This is what someone told me today,

Him: You need a rooster for your chickens to lay eggs.

Me: Why...?

Him: He teaches them how to lay the eggs when he crawls under them.

Me: umm... ok

 

[kodster]

This is what someone told me today,

Him: You need a rooster for your chickens to lay eggs.

Me: Why...?

Him: He teaches them how to lay the eggs when he crawls under them.

Me: umm... ok

LOL! uhhh... scratching my head, walking away.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: I go by the older breed standards to define what a silkie is, as people have mixed and matched (and mismatched) until what you say of silkies is unfortunately the truth in many places; however it's not how the original silkie is, neither the bantams nor the larger ones, and I try to adhere to those standards rather than the new ones. In their country of origin they were originally used as utility birds, though some were more for show; I don't go by the American or Australian standards for them as they obtained silkies comparatively recently and have all stripes of mixes passing as silkies, not to mention many sickly purebred strains that do the breed injustice. The bantams are the most common ones but the large ones have been around for long enough and are also true silkies too. I'm not a fan of commercial hatcheries to be honest, and I would not consider a show stock breeder as anyone likely to give me more than a good looking but useless bird. Enthusiasts who maintain the utility and functional aspects are those whose birds I would buy.

I'm not talking about any mix breeds when I just say 'silkie' and true, like you say, a lot of people mix them up terribly. The black flesh was believed to be medicinal and in my opinion it is; it's easy to have a yardstick to measure by when you've got some family members as severely ill as some of mine. We eat the black-flesh /bone /skin /organ ones too and those make the best stews and roasts, extremely gelatinous and beautifully flavoured with no shortage of meat. They may be more 'medicinal' simply via being more nutritional, I don't know, but food is meant to be one of the most important 'medicines' we consume, and it has been proven so to my family. Getting chickens was a life saving choice for some of my family. We don't have any silkies left as I want to breed birds that can freerange in the rain and cope with misted in mornings better but I wouldn't say no to getting more; mixed bred silkie genes are all through the current flock, as I was working to get that very gelatinous, fine textured, great flavoured meat from the silkies into the mixed layer and heritage breed mongrels. Success! For now at least.

In my experience the small ones, if true silkies, have a good amount of flesh, and they are among the toughest of bantams. I have noticed a lot of weedy things being sold as purebred silkies. They probably are purebred but they're not a good strain, they're probably show-only which I never touch. A truly good silkie can't really cope with rainy weather as well as some other breeds but its immune system is quite hardy and their mixed breed offspring just do not seem to ever get sick. Frizzles are another I don't like; mostly the frizzle gene is attached to a weakened pulmonary system, somehow. They're cute, but hardiness and capacity are important traits I breed for.

EDIT: I guess it's like some people eating quail; I think, what a lot of effort for so small a meal! But then again I eat silkies and they're worth it...

 

[loveourbirds]

I raise pharaoh quail. I sell a lot to people who eat them for meat, I never have. I agree with you, they are a small bird and a lot of work for just a little meat. I guess one of the things to look at with quail is the speed of reproduction and growth. hatch, grow 6 weeks, gather eggs and set in incubator for 19ish days then hatch again. there are insects that reproduce slower LOL.

I have silkies from different backgrounds. I don't show, but I know it seems to be desireable for them to have the puffy polish heads here in the US. my blacks are from show birds, rooster is about 4 lbs, hen is very broody, not a lot of comb, and black skin. the buffs are about the same size, hen is less broody, skin is lighter in color but still purple, neither of my buffs are crested. my whites: rooster is larger about 7lbs, one hen is about 4-5 lbs other hen was evidently from a large polish cross, fully crested and about 6 lbs. the crested hen appears to be the broodiest. it amazes me how many people don't know about the crested silkies having a high instance of vaulted skulls. they don't know to separate them, and it gives them a bad reputation because of a lot of loss.

I agree about the frizzle gene. I have thought about adding it to my bantam cochins, but I can see adding a gene that seems to weaken a chick. they are pretty birds, I love looking at them at shows. people who deal with the frizzle gene need to study it well. crossing 2 frizzle chickens could be detrimental to a flock, and breeders don't tell customers this a lot of the time.

 

[lilmynx13]

any of you ran into egg racists ie egg buyers that complain about shell color? currently the group we sell to have been complaining that we have EE's and some chickens that lay a light cream colored egg.. they only want the brown... that being said.. im thinking wow if i get some really nice marans that lay extra dark eggs i might charge them more.. i hate the pickieness they have about the shell color.

 

[ronott1]

any of you ran into egg racists ie egg buyers that complain about shell color? currently the group we sell to have been complaining that we have EE's and some chickens that lay a light cream colored egg.. they only want the brown... that being said.. im thinking wow if i get some really nice marans that lay extra dark eggs i might charge them more.. i hate the pickieness they have about the shell color.

I has one person complain that the Dark green Olive colored eggs made their scrambled eggs too fluffy....They were pullet eggs so it had nothing to do with the egg color of course.

 

[loveourbirds]

i cant believe how many people wont buy white rocks because they think a white chicken lays a white egg.

 

[Urchin]

I was just poking around online and came across some one who swore that if you don't have a rooster in your flock to mate with the hens, eventually your hens' functioning ovaries will atrophy, the non-functioning ovaries they have will start producing testosterone and eventually you'll have a bunch of nonlaying, crowing hens who think they are roosters.