Hi, there!

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

 

[ruralchild]

Thanks, folks, for the warm welcome.

Believe it or not, I'm still on dial-up with Windows 8.1, so loading anything is slower than a seven-year itch. Can't get high speed where I'm at and satellite costs a small fortune out here. Still, at $89.00 a year (not month), I think it's a pretty good deal. When I bought this new computer, I asked the salespeople if it came with a dial-up modem, and they rolled their eyes. Had to get a separate modem elsewhere. Anyway, here I am, despite all the aggravation 8.1 causes (worst operating system I've ever used!).

Now, I have a question about Silkies.

The Silkies we had when I was a kid had red combs and wattles. Their plumage was pure white and full, as Silkie plumage is. I have since seen images of what are supposed to be true Silkies with feathery topknots on their heads instead of combs, no wattles to speak of, and blackish skin. Yet, the hatchery where we got ours from said ours were Silkies. So, could ours have been hybrids of some sort with the red combs and wattles? I've always been confused about why some Silkies have feathers covering their heads and no wattles, while others have red combs and wattles, yet they're still called Silkies.

Can anyone clear that up for me?

 

[Devastating]

: I joined a little over a week ago and love browsing these forums, I'm sure you'll love it here too! I definitely feel you on the dial-up internet...also live rurally and when we moved here a decade ago we had to have dialup for years because at the time no other services reached us. I do not miss it at all, uuughh!

Anyway, I would say that there's a strong possibility your silkies might've either been crosses...or maybe from that hatchery they just came from stock not bred to a high standard of the breed. I've had several silkies from hatcheries, and they have come in different "combinations" of extra features (topknot/no crest and bearded/non-bearded).
Right now I have one adult white silkie rooster, and many silkie chicks. The rooster does not have the topknot/crest, or a beard, so you can see his comb and wattles; the chicks are all different with some having a fuzzy beard, some with a fuzzy head, others with both or neither. Ideal and other hatcheries seem to supply a variety of them all. One thing they all have in common regardless of feather color is the dark skin. I've never seen one with red skin before!

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks, folks, for the warm welcome.

Now, I have a question about Silkies.

The Silkies we had when I was a kid had red combs and wattles. Their plumage was pure white and full, as Silkie plumage is. I have since seen images of what are supposed to be true Silkies with feathery topknots on their heads instead of combs, no wattles to speak of, and blackish skin. Yet, the hatchery where we got ours from said ours were Silkies. So, could ours have been hybrids of some sort with the red combs and wattles? I've always been confused about why some Silkies have feathers covering their heads and no wattles, while others have red combs and wattles, yet they're still called Silkies.

Can anyone clear that up for me?

The APA standard for Silkies calls for a small dark walnut comb and small dark wattles, however "hatchery grade" Silkies often fall short of this standard and have (as you said) red combs and larger red wattles. The hatcheries still sell them as Silkies, although they were be instantly disqualified from a poultry show for these flaws.

 

[dekel18042]

Welcome, but you do realize, don't you, that once you frequent this site you will be overwhelmed with the thought that you must have chickens or other poultry and you will be plotting and planning and constructing coops just to get some? Chickens are worse than potato chips in the "just can't have one category."

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens.

Sounds like those red combed silkies were either mixes or very, very poor examples of the breed. Did they at least have 5 toes? I am surprised the SOP asks for a "SMALL" dark walnut comb.
Some colors I believe are allowed to have 'burgundy" combs - they look like medium rare.I have seen so many photos of silkies with HUMONGUS combs it makes me want to

. I don't know why the originators of the breed wanted to ruin an otherwise beautiful bird with a huge TUMOR on the head. I do love silkies, as long as their crests cover the combs.

 

[Devastating]

I have seen so many photos of silkies with HUMONGUS combs  it makes me want to  .    I don't know why the originators of the breed wanted to ruin an otherwise beautiful bird  with a huge TUMOR on the head.  I do love  silkies, as long as their crests  cover the combs.

LOL my mom feels the same, she actually worried that our silkie roo's comb was a "tumor" while he was growing up, says she doesn't like silkies because of that and is disappointed that we ended up with so many in our bantam chick assortment...I think she's crazy though, they're still cute! (I will always love crests though)

 

[ruralchild]

Thanks, folks. That clears it up for me. There are Silkies and "Silkies" -- those called such but not purely so in every aspect. I don't know if ours had five toes -- we never thought to count the toes. We didn't keep them for show, but for the eggs they produced with our banty hens. Guess we just weren't interested in purebreeds -- these were more pets than anything else. Only recently I have realized, from reading chicken magazines, that the term "banty" refers to size, not to any particular breed. "Banty" is just the small version of many larger breeds, but can be any breed, if I'm understanding it correctly.

Of course, such technicalities really aren't that important unless one is interested in showing or pure-breeding. Pets are pets, and the eggs were still good. Occasionally, we would let one or two hatch so the hen could brood, and sometimes the chicks survived and sometimes they didn't. It was fun to watch the babies grow into adulthood. We didn't have a lot of chickens, and we didn't really want a huge flock.

Hey, this is going to be a fascinating forum! Glad I joined.

 

[Michael OShay]

Only recently I have realized, from reading chicken magazines, that the term "banty" refers to size, not to any particular breed. "Banty" is just the small version of many larger breeds, but can be any breed, if I'm understanding it correctly.

You are correct about 'banty," which is a shortened form of "bantam." Bantams are small breeds of chickens.