Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RebeccaBoyd]

That is so sweet! We are hooked on Silkies too & always had them.

One thing about cross-breeding Silkies is that the temperaments may not be sweet in the offspring. Just like Breda fowl ~ the B/B/S were sweet but the Cuckoo Breda that used Malines to crossbreed to get the cuckoo pattern changed both the size & the temperament of the Breda fowl.

All my Blue Breda were people/flock friendly sweeties but the Cuckoo Breda was much bigger/heavier & very aloof. In talking w/ other Breda owners/breeders they had the same issues ~ all B/B/S varieties were exceptional sweeties while other Breda crosses like Cuckoo or Mottled were skittish.

Phaedra ~ my first & favorite Blue Breda hen
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I only have experience with my 3 crosses. Temperaments were solid.

Twig for example. He was perfect with people, he never gave me any cause for concern even in his idiot stage. He did not actively seek out to be handled like his daddy Branch. He would let me handle him at night before he got on the roost and if caught never fought it, he melted and enjoyed some snuggle time. The issue with Twig is in trying to keep him I messed up the perfect rooster dynamic I had going. Branch and Bubba were hatchmates. They worked perfectly together. With those boys while I had more then enough hens for a 3 rooster flock, early on the boys let me know that 2 roosters was the magic number. Around 5 months old Bubba singled out Twig and was mean to him. It was a warning sign I ignored and should not have but I soo hoped to have Twiggy stay. After 3 months Twig finally stood up for himself to Bubba and Bubba backed off. I was soo happy and was not as observant as I should have been then in the golden period about the roo dynamics. I missed the signs. Twig got bolder and bigger then his dad. At 13 months Twig really came into his own decided he was no longer bottom of the totem pole. He turned on Branch. There were a few scuffles between them. I did not see them, mom did. She told me he and Branch were getting into it and I needed to choose between them. She voted Twig. I did not listen to her, she was still sort of in the anti-branch phase. My eyes were opened when Twig and Branch got into it right in front of me and I am thankful I was there. Twig started it and had Branch cornered in the back of the coop trying to kill him. I snapped, punted Twig off Branch and had him listed that afternoon. I caught him after and put him in isolation and was giving him until the weekend to be placed. Twig had a new home within 24 hours. Twig now has his own breeding flock for Barnyard mixes and is doing well. He is still great with people. In a way, the Twig and Branch scenario is very similar to the Mr. P and Bert issue that @Ponypoor is having. I would love for them to work it out but it appears it cannot and having been in the same spot I fully support whatever decision she has to make. I've been there.

The hens Goose and Spooky, they are just lovely. They are sweet and friendly like the Marans but with just a touch of the silkie spunk. I could have a whole flock of them and I would not mind.

 

[Ponypoor]

Ooh, time to dig out pictures. You want to talk about a gorgeous in my opinion silkie cross, I have found it.

I have my own "satin" silkies. The cross is Black Copper Marans x silkie.

The first of this cross was a total oops I guess Branch can breed the Marans. I set Bunny with 3 eggs when she set on the couch and 2 hatched. I also set her with 3 "pure" Marans eggs. 2 hatched and at hatch I knew immediately the "Corona" chick was different. Marans do not have double toes!! Branch you dog you. Both chicks ended up being boys and I kept the cross and named him Twig. I tried for over a year to peacefully incorporate Twig into my flock. Twig was a good boy, but Bubba hated him. He finally stood up to Bubba and things seemed to be going well for a bit then Twig snapped and tried to kill his daddy Branch. That was the final straw and I rehomed him last summer, no one messed with Branch.

Here is Twig
View attachment 3952138
Twig had the color of a BCM rooster but half the size. He had the silkie toes, beard and muffs. He was stunning and I do miss him. I wish he had worked out, I tried so hard.

The second of this cross was again not intended. My silkie hen Chiquita decided she like Bubba a bit better then Branch and when she went broody and I let her hatch her own eggs there was once again a oops in with a pure silkie chick. Once again being my luck wanting silkie pullets, the pure silkie....boy of course. The oops, I still have the oops running around and I love her to death.
Meet Goose
View attachment 3952141
Like twig she is half the size of the pure Marans but bigger then the silkies. She also has the silkie double toe, beard and muffs. She is gorgeous in my opinion with her coloring, just like a Marans hen with the full copper hackle markings that my hens lack. Her eggs are small silkie sized but not white like her momma laid. They are a soft brown. The marans gene darkened those eggs about 4 to 5 good shades. My marans line is Broody, cross that with the silkie and omg Goose is a chronic broody. She is a wonderful mother, did not expect anything less from her.

Before Twig turned on his daddy I had thought and had plans of breeding Twig and Goose. It was perfect because while both were Marans x silkie they had different parents. Then Twig became a idiot and essentially ruined those plans. Raven went broody a few days after he left and I gave her 1 goose egg to incubate. I got insanely lucky with that egg. Not only did it hatch, for once I got the desired pullet. I had one shot to get the Twig x Goose daughter, Goose understood the mission.

Here we have Spooky.
View attachment 3952148View attachment 3952150
She's a perfect little girl. I look at her, I see the Marans in her body shape but the silkie genes are strong again. Again, double toe, beard, muffs and silkie sized egg. Her egg is 2 shade darker then her momma Gooses. Not Marans dark. If I eventually get another Marans rooster and I still have her I will backcross her to him. I think in one or two more generations I could have potentially kept the look and size of Goose and Spooky and got the darker marans egg.

I have 2 loves in the chicken world. I love Black Copper Marans. The hens are sweethearts, their egg color, and the roosters are big gentle giants. No offense to Branch, I love and miss that little man, but it is hard to beat the classic look of a BCM rooster. The coloring is iconic and my favorite. My 2nd love is silkies and it took me by surprise as I resisted silkies for a few years. Branch and his hatch mate Poppy changed that. I thought of silkies as ugly weird alien looking chickens. They were 4 weeks old when they were no longer ugly, and no longer weird looking to me. Their personalities changed how I saw them. They are little clowns and dogs in a chickens body. I am hooked for life for the silkies.

Maybe that is why I adore Goose and Spooky and tried so hard with Twig. They are the best of both worlds.

I am pleasantly surprised and happy with my polish cross hens.

I get the lovely topknot and some weird funky combs and wattles.

Like Tippy here

And her sister Eli-too

 

[Sylvester017]

I only have experience with my 3 crosses. Temperaments were solid.

Twig for example. He was perfect with people, he never gave me any cause for concern even in his idiot stage. He did not actively seek out to be handled like his daddy Branch. He would let me handle him at night before he got on the roost and if caught never fought it, he melted and enjoyed some snuggle time. The issue with Twig is in trying to keep him I messed up the perfect rooster dynamic I had going. Branch and Bubba were hatchmates. They worked perfectly together. With those boys while I had more then enough hens for a 3 rooster flock, early on the boys let me know that 2 roosters was the magic number. Around 5 months old Bubba singled out Twig and was mean to him. It was a warning sign I ignored and should not have but I soo hoped to have Twiggy stay. After 3 months Twig finally stood up for himself to Bubba and Bubba backed off. I was soo happy and was not as observant as I should have been then in the golden period about the roo dynamics. I missed the signs. Twig got bolder and bigger then his dad. At 13 months Twig really came into his own decided he was no longer bottom of the totem pole. He turned on Branch. There were a few scuffles between them. I did not see them, mom did. She told me he and Branch were getting into it and I needed to choose between them. She voted Twig. I did not listen to her, she was still sort of in the anti-branch phase. My eyes were opened when Twig and Branch got into it right in front of me and I am thankful I was there. Twig started it and had Branch cornered in the back of the coop trying to kill him. I snapped, punted Twig off Branch and had him listed that afternoon. I caught him after and put him in isolation and was giving him until the weekend to be placed. Twig had a new home within 24 hours. Twig now has his own breeding flock for Barnyard mixes and is doing well. He is still great with people. In a way, the Twig and Branch scenario is very similar to the Mr. P and Bert issue that @Ponypoor is having. I would love for them to work it out but it appears it cannot and having been in the same spot I fully support whatever decision she has to make. I've been there.

The hens Goose and Spooky, they are just lovely. They are sweet and friendly like the Marans but with just a touch of the silkie spunk. I could have a whole flock of them and I would not mind.

Interesting dynamics w/ roos.

We've had interesting dynamics w/ just hens. One hen will always compete for alpha. If more than one hen wants to be alpha then there's squabbles. That's when we saw that having only one or 2 Silkies in a flock of big girls was bad ~ a Silkie wants to be alpha hen as much as a standard hen but pitching a 2-lb Silkie against 6 or 7-lb hens is disastrous. We had to weed out more aggressive egg-laying breeds & add only gentle tempered breeds w/Silkies which in our case turned out to be Blue Wheaten Ameraucana, Blue Breda, & Dominique hens. The Leghorns, Marans, & ex-large Cuckoo Breda had to go.

There are exceptions in every breed but interestingly our last 3 Dominique pullets instantly acknowledged old Silkie Violet as alpha w/no squabble & they came to her rescue to chase off feral cats or other aggressive hens. Darnedest thing we ever saw how they protected the little Silkie!

 

[featherhead007]

Ooh, time to dig out pictures. You want to talk about a gorgeous in my opinion silkie cross, I have found it.

I have my own "satin" silkies. The cross is Black Copper Marans x silkie.

The first of this cross was a total oops I guess Branch can breed the Marans. I set Bunny with 3 eggs when she set on the couch and 2 hatched. I also set her with 3 "pure" Marans eggs. 2 hatched and at hatch I knew immediately the "Corona" chick was different. Marans do not have double toes!! Branch you dog you. Both chicks ended up being boys and I kept the cross and named him Twig. I tried for over a year to peacefully incorporate Twig into my flock. Twig was a good boy, but Bubba hated him. He finally stood up to Bubba and things seemed to be going well for a bit then Twig snapped and tried to kill his daddy Branch. That was the final straw and I rehomed him last summer, no one messed with Branch.

Here is Twig
View attachment 3952138
Twig had the color of a BCM rooster but half the size. He had the silkie toes, beard and muffs. He was stunning and I do miss him. I wish he had worked out, I tried so hard.

The second of this cross was again not intended. My silkie hen Chiquita decided she like Bubba a bit better then Branch and when she went broody and I let her hatch her own eggs there was once again a oops in with a pure silkie chick. Once again being my luck wanting silkie pullets, the pure silkie....boy of course. The oops, I still have the oops running around and I love her to death.
Meet Goose
View attachment 3952141
Like twig she is half the size of the pure Marans but bigger then the silkies. She also has the silkie double toe, beard and muffs. She is gorgeous in my opinion with her coloring, just like a Marans hen with the full copper hackle markings that my hens lack. Her eggs are small silkie sized but not white like her momma laid. They are a soft brown. The marans gene darkened those eggs about 4 to 5 good shades. My marans line is Broody, cross that with the silkie and omg Goose is a chronic broody. She is a wonderful mother, did not expect anything less from her.

Before Twig turned on his daddy I had thought and had plans of breeding Twig and Goose. It was perfect because while both were Marans x silkie they had different parents. Then Twig became a idiot and essentially ruined those plans. Raven went broody a few days after he left and I gave her 1 goose egg to incubate. I got insanely lucky with that egg. Not only did it hatch, for once I got the desired pullet. I had one shot to get the Twig x Goose daughter, Goose understood the mission.

Here we have Spooky.
View attachment 3952148View attachment 3952150
She's a perfect little girl. I look at her, I see the Marans in her body shape but the silkie genes are strong again. Again, double toe, beard, muffs and silkie sized egg. Her egg is 2 shade darker then her momma Gooses. Not Marans dark. If I eventually get another Marans rooster and I still have her I will backcross her to him. I think in one or two more generations I could have potentially kept the look and size of Goose and Spooky and got the darker marans egg.

I have 2 loves in the chicken world. I love Black Copper Marans. The hens are sweethearts, their egg color, and the roosters are big gentle giants. No offense to Branch, I love and miss that little man, but it is hard to beat the classic look of a BCM rooster. The coloring is iconic and my favorite. My 2nd love is silkies and it took me by surprise as I resisted silkies for a few years. Branch and his hatch mate Poppy changed that. I thought of silkies as ugly weird alien looking chickens. They were 4 weeks old when they were no longer ugly, and no longer weird looking to me. Their personalities changed how I saw them. They are little clowns and dogs in a chickens body. I am hooked for life for the silkies.

Maybe that is why I adore Goose and Spooky and tried so hard with Twig. They are the best of both worlds.

Twiggy!!!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Interesting dynamics w/ roos.

We've had interesting dynamics w/ just hens. One hen will always compete for alpha. If more than one hen wants to be alpha then there's squabbles. That's when we saw that having only one or 2 Silkies in a flock of big girls was bad ~ a Silkie wants to be alpha hen as much as a standard hen but pitching a 2-lb Silkie against 6 or 7-lb hens is disastrous. We had to weed out more aggressive egg-laying breeds & add only gentle tempered breeds w/Silkies which in our case turned out to be Blue Wheaten Ameraucana, Blue Breda, & Dominique hens. The Leghorns, Marans, & ex-large Cuckoo Breda had to go.

There are exceptions in every breed but interestingly our last 3 Dominique pullets instantly acknowledged old Silkie Violet as alpha w/no squabble & they came to her rescue to chase off feral cats or other aggressive hens. Darnedest thing we ever saw how they protected the little Silkie!
View attachment 3952215View attachment 3952217

Oh yes the pecking order is just as real and as fierce with the hens. The worst fights I have had have between the hens. I also think it was no coincidence that every time one of the participants was broody. The natural pecking order is a huge reason I fully support those who are allowed to have roosters having them. Every one of my boys take their job seriously and immediately step in to break up hen fights. Most times disciplining both parties of the fight with a sharp peck to the head or shoulders. A good rooster or two stabilize the entire flock dynamics and prevent excessive bullying. Now, these silkie girls of mine, they have been no where near the bottom of the pecking order. Chiquita was rehomed to me due to bullying. When she was allowed to integrate she very quickly rose to near the top. She was the then top hen Butters 2nd in command and thrived. Poppet, she is the same. Tiny but a mighty spitfire who has a hoard of minions at her disposal and also has aligned herself with the current top hen Raven.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Twig is a handsome lad!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Twig is a handsome lad!

I miss him. For a brief period I seriously considered trying to buy him back when I lost Branch and Bubba. I want to but, there is George, Randy and possibly a silkie cockerel to think about. Twig is thriving. Twig has his own flock as a single rooster. Twig let me know he wanted to be a single rooster. Getting him back would be selfish on my part and a disservice to him.

 

[Ponypoor]

Raised garden bed stone border & sandbox cedar border ~ causes of bumblefoot on our Dominique hen when she snoozes/perches on them.

I see that my old hen Sharpie has black scab like callouses on her feet, but she isn’t lame so I just leave them be.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Hubby mentioned splitting the meatybirds off to the brown coop+original run extension and just not opening it to the big run and those two coops (so close to having the third done!)
Would this mess up the established ladies too much? They'd have to get used to sleeping in a different coop and using different nest boxes.
That would be the way to divide them up though, since the doorway under the brown coop has to be opened every morning.

 

[featherhead007]

I miss him. For a brief period I seriously considered trying to buy him back when I lost Branch and Bubba. I want to but, there is George, Randy and possibly a silkie cockerel to think about. Twig is thriving. Twig has his own flock as a single rooster. Twig let me know he wanted to be a single rooster. Getting him back would be selfish on my part and a disservice to him.

You could tell the new owner that BYC is available and waiting for him/her to join (so we can see Twig again)