how hard is it to correct bad silkie feet?

[chasehope]

Hi all, I am trying to get involved in showing silkies, but I am having a heck of a time getting good ones. I have a few nice ones from NapaLongtails, but they are not of breeding age yet. So I purchased some chicks from another person, not from this site, which were supposed to be exhibition prospects, they were shipped to me sight unseen and I am REALLY unhappy about them. They all have 4 or 6 toes on each foot and not good foot feathering. I am also concerned about the pigment on a couple of them. So, my question is, how hard of problems are those to correct in a breeding program? Are they worth keeping if they appear to otherwise be nice? I know that they are unshowable, but what are the chances that their offspring will be better? They are still young enough that my feed store will take them if I take them soon, but they won't even give me enough to cover the cost of shipping. I am very dissapointed, any oppinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Smoky73]

Your post sounds alot like issues I have had, probably from the same person no doubt.
If you are wanting to show, do not keep any of the 4 toed ones, I plan on selling mine somewhere as pet quality which is a bummer, mine are alot older and I am attached. I also have some with off coloring and not sure about breeding that out , I just got a plan to sell the cockerels and the off colored ones. I just paid for two new ones to replace with from someone else. I fear all the ones I got might not have good genetics behind them, also had alot die previously.

You could keep them as setters or just for pretty birds, but I know some people don't have space for that.
Good luck with your issues.

 

[chasehope]

I aM VERY frustrated, they appear to be healthy and of good quality other than their feet!!! I think that I will just keep the ones with 5 toes and not worry about the foot feathering this generation. I have 2 nice roosters that have great foot feathering, so I can deal with it I guess. thanks for the input and sorry that you are going through this too. Its so hard to know who to trust.

 

[n8ivetxn]

I know this post is as old as Methuselah, but it's a great question - glad you asked it. I have a SF hen with unusual color and I really wanted to hatch some eggs from her, but she has a twisted toe

I know zilch about genetics, so I'm not sure if I even have a chance of getting a chick with her color/pattern.... I don't know the background on this group.... The person who owned them as chicks got evicted from his home and he offered them to his neighbor. She loved them and raised them up and sold them to me