***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[sjarvis00]

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Yes, he has other duckwing brothers...but I didn't know whether to call it gold or silver...or even duckwing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JuneZn7/duckwing102711005.jpg

If it were silver alone there would be no red or Gold present, however in most Golden Duckwing's it is the wing bay and Bow that show color other than silver.

 

[Ok_Junebug]

Next question.....I need to know anything and everything about wry tails....I have a really nice cockerel with a wry tail. How prevalent is it, is there any fix? I guess hens can pass it on too. I need information.

 

[sjarvis00]

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Wry tail is genetic, typically caused by weak or un-even muscle development. it can be passed from either parent. Not all of teh offspring from a wry tailed bird will wry tailed but it is better to eliminate it from the gene pool as it will continue to pop up for many generations if not culled out. It is much more common in birds with extremely high tail carriage and very large tails, such as the serama nd jap among others. The muscle just cannot support the weight of the tail in teh very small birds.
It can also be the result of an injury, if teh tail was very large as a juvenile and teh muscle holding the tail structure was not developed well enough it can seperate the muscle from the bone it is attached to preventing proper muscle development, or even skin scaring from predatory attacks.

 

[artsyrobin]

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Wayne, your little guys are looking pretty happy...glad you are enjoying them.

Robin, I can just keep yours until Shawnee...

Here is a color group that I am working on....don't know exactly what it is...just something that popped out a few generations back...don't know if it is silver or lemon or what...but pretty. Still work in progress.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JuneZn7/Group11711065.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JuneZn7/Group11711073.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JuneZn7/Group11711028.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JuneZn7/Group11711062.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JuneZn7/Group11711035.jpg

LOL! I know June..... just impatient to see the little darlings! you have infected me with them you know...

love those pics too, especially the one with the reddish feathers in there- so do silkied seramas have the same feather texture as silkies?

 

[Ok_Junebug]

Robin ... Silkied Serama are brand new on the scene and in the very beginning stages....still needing a LOT of refinement. We want silkied bodies but wings and tail HAVE to be at least 50% normal feathering and up to 50% shredding. Work in progress.

 

[BetsyOK]

Wry tail in silkies is caused by a curved spine, not musculature, which, of course, may be different from other breeds of chickens. You can easily feel the strong curve in the spine. The prevalent belief is that it is genetic, however, I've read other theories about wry tail; that it may be caused by outside factors such as too much incandescent lighting or too high protein at too young an age. A medical doctor who raises excellent quality silkies feels strongly that it is caused by too high protein, causing growth to be too fast. He swears that he sells his wry tailed birds to a lady who breeds with them and never has wry tailed young. I'm doubtful of that, though. He also insists that they sometimes grow out of it, which I didn't believe until I had one young cockerel whose back was starting to curve, but it DID straighten out. He was only a few months old. It usually becomes evident in my silkies around 3 to 5 months.

I read an extensive paper online from a group using chickens in a study of scoliosis in humans. It concluded that one causative factor might be sleep deprivation caused by too much exposure to incandescent lighting. That makes sense to me, as many, many chicken breeders use incandescent bulbs as heat sources, 24/7. I have occasional wry tailed silkies and don't use them in my breeding programs at all. It is something you almost cannot get away from in silkies, possibly because of the breeding for short backs. I have fewer since I cut back on the protein in my younger birds. I also quit using incandescents for heat several years ago. I use the black/purple heat bulbs for reptiles. They are more expensive, but they do seem to last longer as well. I think there is nothing you can do about wry tail once it has formed.

 

[Sooner]

How did I miss all the fun. I love learning something new!

 

[sjarvis00]

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Good info.. I heard some of those theories before as well, but keep protien down to 18-20% on growing birds, and no Incadescent lighting for heat, just CFLs in teh metal brooders, although for the first two weeks the lights stay on to get them a good start, then weeks 3-8 the lights only come on with the heating elements, after that they go through a series of 10 cages and CFL lights that are on 12 hr timer.
I was not aware it was an issue with teh silkies, do you think it could be partially lower excersize rate due to inability to fly? I know that builds a lot of muscle in the OE and other normal feathered birds.

 

[Ok_Junebug]

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Thanks, Betsy....I don't know if this is the cause of mine, but it very well could be...my birds are indoors, incandencent light, and high protein....at least it is something for me to look into. I'm collecting all the information that I can get...He is a great bird otherwise and at this early stage of serama, very valuable otherwise. I HAVE to find out what I am dealing with.

 

[Sooner]

I'm a bad chicken mom, I use incandescent that I paint red! Guess I will have to do better this spring.

Carl Wheaten OEGB do you have any? I also need to arange for a OEGB black Male next spring.