Just a few questions....

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Are you kidding me, thank you!

Yes, breeder quality is nice... but at that price I can buy dozens and select the best to breed from. Plus, breeder quality isn't ALWAYS what it's cracked up to be.

Ugh, I'm overloaded with chicks, got cuckoo hatching eggs coming in the mail and now I can order a WHOLE bunch of these!

I wouldn't place an order with Ideal before because I didn't like that they offer debeaking (though I do see WHY commercial operations NEED to)... learn something new... things change.

The post office just called and my eggs are in!


This color here is one of my favorites.

I'm pretty sure the debeaking is optional. You can ask to have it done, which I never do. Mine have never been debeaked.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I'm pretty sure the debeaking is optional. You can ask to have it done, which I never do. Mine have never been debeaked.

Yes. It was optional. It was just the thought of being against it. But I do realize there are reasons why things are done even if we don't like it. I order 30!

The blue I started with were very dark (I thought black until stood next to a black) also. We start out here learning it is OK to run BBS together but don't realize at first the long term consequences. But everybody does have different appeal to their eyes, and so I am selecting for MUCH lighter blues in my line.

Interesting ideal list a "grey" Silkie and I have seen them mentioned before. I still think mine will be splash once developed, but I am very excited to find out. This is like a whole new level of guess the gender/breed game.

 

[Frizzlychick]

So @Crazy for Chickens! any updates on if your EEs are pullets? I have an EE I’m questioning who is going on 8 weeks who is showing some similarities to yours in the comb, just not as red but it does get flushed when she gets worked up over something

 

[drumstick diva]

debeaking is horrible - and torture to my way of thinking

 

[EggSighted4Life]

debeaking is horrible - and torture to my way of thinking

I agree!

However, after seeing some "free range" and "cage free" chicken factory videos and knowing how brutal chickens can be... it MIGHT be the lesser of the evils in THAT instance.

So I did get my 30 chicks... half survived shipping (This has been standard for bantams even from quality breeders). They were ALL beautiful... though 30 may not have been enough to choose many quality chicks from and no more available until next year. There were some with fused toes, missing 4th or 5th toe, and some with extra toes. Lots with pink toes. Things I might not notice if I hadn't bred Silkies already. Things I might be appalled to see... IF I hadn't hatched a ton of chicks and seen that things can happen. I would never let them go out like that from my stock. I would not be able to place a large order with Ideal for standard readily available birds with the quality control... BUT THANK YOU @Crazy for Chickens! for turning me onto a place where I could get SOME of what I was looking for to select the best quality I can from.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

So @Crazy for Chickens! any updates on if your EEs are pullets? I have an EE I’m questioning who is going on 8 weeks who is showing some similarities to yours in the comb, just not as red but it does get flushed when she gets worked up over something

Yes! They are pullets. 12 weeks old, and not showing any roosterish signs. Yeah!

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

I agree!

However, after seeing some "free range" and "cage free" chicken factory videos and knowing how brutal chickens can be... it MIGHT be the lesser of the evils in THAT instance.

So I did get my 30 chicks... half survived shipping (This has been standard for bantams even from quality breeders). They were ALL beautiful... though 30 may not have been enough to choose many quality chicks from and no more available until next year. There were some with fused toes, missing 4th or 5th toe, and some with extra toes. Lots with pink toes. Things I might not notice if I hadn't bred Silkies already. Things I might be appalled to see... IF I hadn't hatched a ton of chicks and seen that things can happen. I would never let them go out like that from my stock. I would not be able to place a large order with Ideal for standard readily available birds with the quality control... BUT THANK YOU @Crazy for Chickens! for turning me onto a place where I could get SOME of what I was looking for to select the best quality I can from.

That's too bad you got some lesser quality ones. I only ordered ten, but they all had five toes. I think some did have some pink, but it's gone now.
Do you have any 'splashes' ?

 

[Frizzlychick]

Yes! They are pullets. 12 weeks old, and not showing any roosterish signs. Yeah!

Mine turned out to be a rooster the best I can tell. I will never know for sure because the other day she gave her life to protect the flock from my dog. The others ran and hid but she challenged the dog as it was trying to get in the garden