Okies in the BYC The Original

[Sooner]

We are back to rain here also! I have to say that I try not to complain about the weather but I am alittle tired of rain. We have had so much that the grass is over taking us. I had to mow paths to my feed building and pens yesterday because I didn't have enough time to get the whole yard before I had to leave to go to football! Didn't get in till after dark, only to have my neice think she was going into labor and bring her little girl over. She is a sweetie. Turns out she wasn't in labor & was sent home. I am so tired this morning.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

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I just got mine, too

I am certainly going to be showing at that one, and I think dandellion007's girls will be too

Tara, will you be there?
Sorry y'all might not be able to come

Could you take the "scenic route"

Heya, no new roads that I know of. Heck, they can't even finish some of the ones they're repairing!

I haven't received the mailer on the Idabel show, so I don't know the details. I could show, I reckon, if my boys grow their tails back before then. At any rate, I'll go just to see the birds and support my chickening friends!

 

[BetsyOK]

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Donna what I know about Showgirls I have learned from Betsey. To get your percentages up you should breed a Showgirl with a Naked Neck but you need to outcross back to Silkie every few generations to keep everything in line so to speak.

It gets a whole lot more complicated too when you figure that the birds you are crossing may not be throwing the dominant genes needed to produce Showgirls. Some experimentation with the breeders may be needed as far as crossing which hen to which rooster.

My Showgirls are at least 12 generations down from the original cross, so that's what I'm working with. Naked Neck is a dominant gene, but even this far down, a lot of the parent birds carry only one gene for NN, and you cannot tell by looking which have one gene and which have two--only the resultant chicks will give you that information. I would guess most of mine have only one, as I'll get about 1/3 without the NN. In this case, they are silkies, and they usually have five toes. These silkie chicks will never produce NNs.

I get about 2/3 Showgirls and 1/3 Silkies from my Showgirls. I think the 50% prediction is incorrect; it should be 2/3 1/3, but this is only approximate, and you have to hatch a very large number of eggs to get this to play out. Overall if you hatch a large number, the statistics should be pretty close.

The babes that aren't Showgirls are silkies because the NN gene is dominant. Pure Silkies will sometimes produce young with four toes or four one one foot and five on another. That's a completely different gene. Yours are simply silkies with four toes.

If both of your parent birds happen to carry two genes for NN, you should get all showgirls; however, I believe you then run the risk of the red skin and combs reappearing.

The people I got mine from suggest that you use silkies in your crosses occasionally, to keep the black skin and combs strong. Even using pure silkies with my Showgirls, I still get quite a few Showgirls, but haven't ever tried to figure the percentage.

I wouldn't recommend crossing pure NNs back to the showgirls; that would only reintroduce the red skin and combs.

Hope this helps.

 

[Buster52]

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Don't mean nothin'. My son is a Christian Buddhist. Or is it Buddhist Christian? I forget. Anyway, he has a masters in Christian theology and teaches theology at a private Christian school.

 

[Dandelion007]

BetsyOK, that's a lot of good information from experience. I'm printing that out for future reference before it gets buried. I hadn't heard about the possible red necked problem with two double gene birds. Thanks for the post!

 

[al6517]

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I emptied it this am so all is good, I have to do that once a week. The inbox is fired up and ready for the home stretch LOL. No rain yesterday, but since the pens are all cleaned out and fresh hay & DE and cleaned/sanitized waterers & feeders it will probably pour on me today LOL.

AL

 

[CleoChick]

Well, I have lost 6 more chickens from the initial massacre. I guess the stress was too much.
I am getting some hatching eggs from Carla at POOPS and some chicks from Chiclooker and Whirlwind. That should keep me busy through the winter.
Does anyone have Serama's or Serama hatching eggs? I thought I might try and hatch some since I am going to be firing the incubator back up.

Thanks!

 

[Whirlwind]

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Sorry about your loosing more chickens. That stinks. Sent you a pm. Cindy

 

[Whirlwind]

Morning okies. It is cool and has been sprinkling here. Moving slow today.

Yesterday was tax day for those of us that are self-employed. Ick. Way to ruin a good day.

Everyone have a super day today.

 

[andisgarden]

Well, the Vet had emergencies yesterday and hasn't been able to call OSU. LIKE my problem isn't and emergency??? It is to me

So I got an incubator to put Maran eggs in just in case. Does anyone have tips for a newbie? I have read everything on here about it but, I am sure there are tips that I didn't find. It is just one of the styrofoam kind from Atwoods.


Thanks,

Andrea