Minnesota!

[gofeedthegirls]

I found a nest of about 12 eggs in the barn and I am not sure how long they had been there... the oldests ones could be 4 weeks old. Im not comfortable selling this set of eggs to anyone, so IF I understand correctly it is perfectly fine to cook these eggs and feed them to the chickens?

 

[Cebarmlds]

I found a nest of about 12 eggs in the barn and I am not sure how long they had been there... the oldests ones could be 4 weeks old. Im not comfortable selling this set of eggs to anyone, so IF I understand correctly it is perfectly fine to cook these eggs and feed them to the chickens?

Yes, you could also do the float test. Put them in a bowl of water if they float throw them in the compost pile if they sink they're ok to eat.

 

[bear7298]

Ham Lake, Mn here

 

[FoxyChicken]

If you would want better layers, you should look at Khaki Campbells. They are smaller birds too to be feeding and housing than the Buffs.

No, Minnie, what you are supposed to say is "Hey Foxy, you don't want ducks. They are noisy and messy and they will need their own separate housing from the chickens. Don't do it!!"

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Well, if they had a Self-Blue(what most people mis-label as Lavender) split going on. Which means, they can express Black as their phenotype (what you see) but carry a masked genotype (what you don't see) that will only show up if both parents are a split color gene. It looks either Self Blue or Blue, and the Blue (Andalusian Blue gene) only shows if one or both parents are Blue or Splash.
So, my guess is that it is from parents carrying the Self Blue. Confused yet? LOL
With Andalusian Blue (like I have with my Cochins). Here is what you get when breeding:
Black to Black = all Black offspring
Black to Blue = half Blue, Half Black
Black to Splash = all Blue
Blue to Blue = 25% Black 50% Blue 25% Splash
Blue to Splash = half Blue, half Splash
Splash to Splash = all Splash

But with Black splits to Self Blue, I don't know the numbers for sure, but I believe if you have two parents who are splits, then they should produce 50% Black and 50% Self Blue.
I will be honest, I find the whole "Lavender" craze irritating because people have mis-labeled them. They are pretty, but the only true Lavender colored birds, or that that label is used with are some Game birds. I don't think any other breeds have been accept under that label/variety. But for sure, they are beautiful Silkies in that variety.
The way you can tell the difference too is that the shaft of the feathers is that light blue or dove gray color as well as the barbs of the feathers, whereas with the Andalusian Blue, the feather shaft is Black.

That little cutie likely won't have a big crest. When they hatch they tend to have a good crest showing if they are going to get much of one. Some have vaulted skulls too which makes their crests look even bigger. In my Whites I get some that have wimpy crests, which is good for those ones to be able to see. LOL Dixie the Silkie Bogtown got from me is a Buff and she never had much of a crest and she could run all over the place. It is likely why she can stand up to the bigger birds if she needs to at BC's, she sees them coming

I read this about 10 times and I think I finally got it! So, this little one ended up with a recessive gene of some sort because there was a split color gene somewhere down the road. The feather shafts are grayish/white. I noticed a few white feathers beginning to pop out this morning. Do you think it'll be white or will only time tell? I think I'll have it around 3 months, so I'm excited to watch how it changes. I'm hoping it's a female. I just think it's super cool that this random light chick hatched from two black silkie's and with all black siblings. It's the little things in my life...lol...

@NathanZee , great pictures! I love Khaki Campbells. I always wanted to get African Geese - I heard they're more friendly than other breeds and I think they're beautiful. However, they don't lay many eggs, correct?

 

[Cebarmlds]

Ham Lake, Mn here

Welcome

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Ham Lake, Mn here

I heard only awesome people live in Ham Lake. Just sayin'...

 

[Cebarmlds]

I am headed down towards the chitys this afternoon, is Tractor Supply in Zimmerman or Elk River?

 

[destiny_56085]

Oh, and I just remember something else. You can see on occasion, that some Black lines will kick out some solid White birds that are a recessive white. Maybe destiny_ could shed some light on that though. I am not a color expert. I know quite a bit with the Blue Andalusian gene because I had a lot of birds here with it at the beginning, but now just have the Cochins and Silkies in Blue. I may add some Blue Ameraucanas back this coming year though.

Anytime a white bird has been used anywhere back in a bird's history, you have a chance of throwing whites if 2 birds that carry that recessive gene are paired. All the recessive white is an 'off' switch for color. A white bird still carries whatever color, but it just shuts off the color and makes the bird white. For example, 2 years ago we had a couple white ducklings pop up. We only have exhibition rouens and black/blue muscovies, not a white bird on the place. I let them grow out and they turned out like perfectly white rouens. I talked to a few old breeders and they said many years ago, some breeders crossed in Ayelsburies to improve the type on the rouens. I may have just gotten the luck of the draw and had 2 birds that remotely carried that gene to cross. My mom also bought a quad of black and blues on that standard cochins. Had a white pullet pop up there too this year....

You also have to think that white was the original color on many breeds. Take silkies for example... White has been in the standard for over 100 years. Black has been in since about 1960 and bearded splash and buff as recent as 2002. They had to cross in other breeds somewhere back there to introduce that color in silkies, but it all started with the whites. A lot of breeders today even cross colored birds onto whites to improve type and feathering.

 

[lalaland]

I found a nest of about 12 eggs in the barn and I am not sure how long they had been there... the oldests ones could be 4 weeks old. Im not comfortable selling this set of eggs to anyone, so IF I understand correctly it is perfectly fine to cook these eggs and feed them to the chickens?

I wouldn't sell them either, but personally, I would do the float test. It hasn't let me down yet - and I would use any that sunk to the bottom - but then, I am down to just a few eggs a day. The others, yes, feed back to the flock. You can just break the eggs into the feed and mix, they will gobble them up.