Partridge Silkies - Nothing else

[jenniferlamar70]

Thanks!

Welcome

 

[Sylvester017]

My broody finally hatched out some partridge chicks & I want to follow this thread.

This "Partridge Silkies - Nothing else" thread is close to 500 pgs -- not a bad number considering some breeds only have 5 or 10 pgs so far!!!! My favorite Silkie variety are the Partridges - so many color variations and such a good feather coat to hide dirt or stains from backyard foraging! I had to re-home my Partridge cockerel years ago but I was able to keep his little puffball sister:



She is now my oldest hen at 5 yrs old - Partridge colors are so very pretty - especially when turquoise ears are showing:

 

[MuscovyMadness]

This "Partridge Silkies - Nothing else" thread is close to 500 pgs -- not a bad number considering some breeds only have 5 or 10 pgs so far!!!! My favorite Silkie variety are the Partridges - so many color variations and such a good feather coat to hide dirt or stains from backyard foraging! I had to re-home my Partridge cockerel years ago but I was able to keep his little puffball sister: She is now my oldest hen at 5 yrs old - Partridge colors are so very pretty - especially when turquoise ears are showing:

She is adorable! Remind me of my little girl

 

[Sylvester017]

She is adorable! Remind me of my little girl

I have a spunky little Black Silkie that's a few months younger than our Partridge hen that we adore -- but our little Partridge hen is very special to us. She is dainty, not a tomboy like the Black Silkie, yet she is alert and mature. She had a rocky start as a chick in a friend's large fowl chick brooder as she and her chick brother always had to hide from the bigger chick breeds as they grew faster and more aggressive than the Silkie chicks. I was advised not to mix dual-purpose or heavy large fowl with Silkies and I learned the hard way. I no longer keep assertive large fowl breeds with the Silkies and re-homed the large bullies. I only keep gentle lightweight breeds with the Silkies. We found gentle Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and Blue Breda as the only lightweight large fowl gentle enough to keep with the 2 Silkies.

Here's what a mean 7-lb Cuckoo Marans did to the little 2-lb Partridge girl - ate her alive in the coop every night before we realized the Partridge was not molting. Her walnut comb was gone and never grew back. I love this little girl for being able to survive against so many odds as a chick and as a pullet under my sad care so I take extra interest in everything with her now:


She has molted recently and is growing new crest feathers so has quills sticking out of her cute little head right now. Caught a snapshot today of her getting a cold drink from the Brite Tap waterer in the shade of the roofed coop patio. We are experiencing triple digit temps in SoCalif this week:

 

[pathwandering]

I am new to silkies and curious about the ones I have, I believe three partridge and a calico? The darker partridge and calico are both boys (not sure about the others yet) , so I have to choose who to keep as they are starting to spar a bit too much. I'd appreciate any feedback on their colors etc.

 

[GitaBooks]

Beautiful birds!! The bottom one is a rooster, the one it is arguing with is likely a rooster as well but the others look like hens.

I'm not an expert on what is considered proper coloring, but I love the red in the top two.

 

[pathwandering]

Thanks! The top and bottom ones crow already, and I saw the red one second down having what looked like a cockerel fight with the calico...so I think I have just one girl, the little one. I don't love her color as it seems dull but I figure it might be cool to see what happens if she is bred with the top bird. I think from what I'm reading here on this post that he is closest to standard? I will admit I have not made it through all 497 pages yet!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks! The top and bottom ones crow already, and I saw the red one second down having what looked like a cockerel fight with the calico...so I think I have just one girl, the little one. I don't love her color as it seems dull but I figure it might be cool to see what happens if she is bred with the top bird. I think from what I'm reading here on this post that he is closest to standard? I will admit I have not made it through all 497 pages yet!

Partridge girls are seldom as striking in colors as the boys but still their array of colors are pretty.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Cross posted.
Hey guys with partridge silkies what age do the roosters get the pretty colors. Do they feather in that way or does it come later?

 

[Sylvester017]

Cross posted.

Hey guys with partridge silkies what age do the roosters get the pretty colors. Do they feather in that way or does it come later?

By 6-months old our Partridge male (bottom) had very colorful feathers, shiny, and brighter than his sister (walking in front of him)


Female Partridge 5 to 6 months


Male Partridge 5 to 6 months


At around 4 months the male was exhibiting suspiciously brighter colors and streamers than his little round sister and we could no longer deny we had a boy! We had a male and female hatched on the same day so it was easy to monitor the significant differences between them.