NOT a Silkie, buuuut....

[OlyChickenGuy]

I acquired this rooster from Craigslist. The lady said he was a "pure-bred Chinese Silkie rooster", and said that's what the person she got him from said. Someone was certainly lying, or didn't know what they were talking about! Take a look at this boy - GORGEOUS, but definitely NOT a silkie! What do you guys think?







Now I do find it interesting that he has a splotch of blue on the inside of his leg in that last photo there, and he DOES have five toes ( his spurs wiggle, too, instead of being firmly planted on his leg like my other boys ). I thought the colouring looked an awful lot like red pyle, but I haven't seen enough red pyles to make that assertation definitely. I also think he has a very "sultan" stance, but he doesn't have quite a poofy-enough top-knot, nor the right comb. He's OBVIOUSLY a mutt ( just looking at the ear lobes tells me that much ), but a mutt of... WHAT, do you think??

 

[silkiechicken]

Looks like a heintz 57 to me.

Some silkie for the blue in the legs and to get that comb, sultan for the body type and toes, and game likley in the mix for that coloration. Your guess is as good as any. LOL

 

[hdowden]

i would thing he has sultan in him some were's possible red pyle gene in him as well, there is a possabilty that he does have silkie in him as well on further back in his line.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

Thanks so much for the input, guys. I'm glad to hear other people suggest sultan, because with that and his colours, he reminds me a whole lot of Elvis' white period, which just might end up being his name! Elvis or Memphis, I haven't quite decided yet.

SilkieChicken - I thought silkie for the blue splotch on his leg, too, but then many chickens have blue legs - or is it just "slate" shanks that other chickens have? I also thought his comb looked too smooth to be a walnut comb, but maybe a cushion comb? Or are those two sides of the same coin, so to speak?

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't really know much about chicken genetics, but I've had some meat silkies with just plain round fat combs like that. If that boy has any silkie, It is certainly no more than 1/4. I also say silkie due to the blueish tint on his face patch. I don't know if sultains have that kind of blue face tint or not.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

Oh! I didn't know that about the meat-silkies. I'd only ever seen silkies with combs that look like actual walnuts or coral!

I don't know much about Sultans. I honestly thought I'd never have one since I never much liked the looks of them, and silkies are the only feather-footed breed that I have any interest for. I guess it's time for some good, sit-down breed research! I'll have to find out if sultans take any special care. I'm always worried about feather-footed chickens breaking their feet feathers and bleeding out.

 

[silkiechicken]

OH, when I say meat silkies, I just mean non show quality hatchery stock that I just used for meat, that I bred indiscriminate of color or type. So with random breeding, their combs were not perfect walnuts, and could end up rather cushion in shape at times.

I've found when feather legged breeds break their leg feathers, they do bleed, but like chicken pin feathers, tend to clot very quickly unlike small flighted birds like the parakeets.

 

[hdowden]

i have all feather footed breeds and have no problem from the feathers breaking i do try and keep their feathers looking nice but its hard when they want to scratch in the mud. only special care they would need is if you plan on showing them you would want to take care of their foot feathers if you dont plan on showing then you can let them free range.