Giant Silkie?

[Czech's_chicks]

How many generations do you think it would take to get a giant silkie? I was driving on Van Buren Blvd in Woodcrest (Riverside, CA) and swear I saw the largest silkie roo in my life. That started me thinking....are there standard silkies? what could you breed them with to get it going?

 

[onthespot]

If I was going to try, I'd go with the hugest cochins I could get my hands on.

 

[ChooksChick]

Someone was working on that...who was it?

 

[Debbi]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=502606&p=1

 

[Czech's_chicks]

That is awesome!

I've always been a hobbyist. Chooks have been my solace and my place to get away from it all so I've never ventured into breeding or cross breeding...but I think I will try my hand at it.

All my birds are mutts with the eggception of my 1 cuckoo maran, 3 welsummers and 1 barred rock. they are all old, too, so I think I would want to start this with a newer pullet and a silkie roo. I got the 25 pullet deal through MPC, so I guess I will see what I got when they are all bigger...right now I know some are barred because the feathers are starting to lighten.

 

[Debbi]

I'm glad you brought this up as I wanted to see an update of the previous thread. I ressurected the old thread, and would sure like to see the progress. I still find it hard to believe they are actually 10 pounds though.

 

[Czech's_chicks]

I think the practical side of me would want a larger hen because of more egg coverage...so I'd have to make sure broodiness would stay intact. I think the world of this breed.

 

[eatmorechicken]

The standard silkies that I know of are in europe. To recreate them I would start with sq dorkings, houdans, or faverolles. those birds are pretty big! I would guess that you could get a true breeding line of giants in 4 years maybe sooner if you hatched and culled alot of birds..

 

[GstringJimmy]

I am about three generations into a project breeding the silkie gene into Jersey Giants and Malay jungle fowl. Silkie doesn't express until the second generation back-cross, so it takes some time -- but I currently have three birds expressing. They are larger than most bantams, but still not as big as a standard chicken. GIve me a couple more years though.... Why am I doing this? Because I can't raise backyard dinasaurs, and giant silkies would be the next best thing.

 

[iguanasal]

I am about three generations into a project breeding the silkie gene into Jersey Giants and Malay jungle fowl.  Silkie doesn't express until the second generation back-cross, so it takes some time --  but I currently have three birds expressing.  They are larger than most bantams, but still not as big as a standard chicken.  GIve me a couple more years though....  Why am I doing this?  Because I can't raise backyard dinasaurs, and giant silkies would be the next best thing.

Can u post pics of UR silkie feather mix birds I'd like to see the expression silkie feathers on the birds very cool I thought about having a bunch of hairy chickens in the yard