Partridge Silkies - Nothing else

[Sylvester017]

Came back from the vet follow-up on 61/2 -yr-old Violet's dry pox. She still looks lumpy from the bumps and vet gave more antibiotic creme to stave-off secondary infection and now I have a 3-month Dominique chick showing a bump under her eyelid. Guess I have to let it run its course with our 5 chickens. Vet says to ride the dry pox out as long as there's no evidence of wet form and use Tylan in the flock drinking water to treat secondary infections because they are all already exposed. Vet says there's no chance of getting the pox again after recovery. So far my adult Cuckoo Breda who generally runs around with Violet has not shown any infection yet a 3-month old Dom chick has picked it up. Hate this because there's not knowing where this got introduced in a small flock like ours. Viruses are dormant and unless chicks are vaccinated at hatch from pox or marek's they'll always be susceptible from wild birds in the yard or fly/mosquito carriers of disease.

Good news about Violet is that she didn't lose her appetite and actually gained weight this past week. She just has bad aim at her feed because of the obstructed vision from the pox around her eyelids. She always had bad aim anyway but it's worse now during recuperation. Violet is my oldest hen and after having to put down our Black Silkie a couple months ago I'm glad Violet is still around.

 

[MrsChicky55]

Just hatched my first batch of silkies. This one I’m guessing is a partridge? The breeder mentioned she might also be a calico. What’s a calico?

She’s really pretty but honestly I’m not sure how to breed a partridge, what do you pair with them? Can’t wait to see if she sizzles! He/She???

 

[Hinotori]

Looks like a partridge chick.

I'm not sure about calico since so many have different definitions for it. That needs resolved before it's anywhere near an accepted color.

Partridge should be bred to partridge. Though most white and black actually have it as a base underneath. If you have time and patience, you can breed black into a partridge line to improve base black coloring. First gen offspring is very leaky black. Second gen can have leaky black or be correct partridge color.

Mostly don't cross colors. Even if something comes out looking right, it probably won't breed true on color.

 

[Hinotori]

Goku crowing for me yesterday. He is very much the sweetest rooster I've had. Even surpassing my ameraucana boy Duke. Goku actually is a bit too friendly as he gets stepped on occasionally because he prefers to be underfoot and close to me. He's worse than my stalker german shepherd.

 

[Sylvester017]

Just hatched my first batch of silkies. This one I’m guessing is a partridge? The breeder mentioned she might also be a calico. What’s a calico?View attachment 1169753
She’s really pretty but honestly I’m not sure how to breed a partridge, what do you pair with them? Can’t wait to see if she sizzles! He/She???

Go to FeatherSite.com (link below) to see an accumulation of crazy varieties and sizes of bearded and non-bearded Silkies. To me, Calico doesn't look any different to me than Partridge; but since Calico is not an American standard color, Calico and Tortoiseshell can probably be anything until standardized. It took me a while to find out that the standard "gray" variety of Silkie is also called "silver partridge" by some -- who knew? @Hinotori on this thread knows her Partridge Silkies very well and would be an excellent reference for advice on breeding them.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Silkies/BRKSilkies.html

 

[Sylvester017]

My 61/2 yr-old Partridge hen is almost finished with her bout of dry pox. She still has one crusty bump left on her left ear and one on the top of her beak next to her comb but all the other bothersome crusts around her face and eyes are gone -- Hallelujah! Vet gave us a triple antibiotic ointment for ophthalmic use on the crusty bumps because the regular triple antibiotic ointment can irritate eyes when applied on the face.

Still keeping her isolated from the rest of the flock until she's completely healed -- she's getting old and slow but I'm so glad she's healing -- she's been around since the start. She has hundreds of new quills and feathers coming in so it looks like her resistance was down during molt when she acquired the pox. It's very difficult to get molting chickens to eat during molt so I'm glad she's finally getting her appetite back.

I'm fortifying the whole flock with more vitamins which my poultry vet always stresses whenever I visit him. One of our new Dominique juveniles got a crusty pox under one eye but healed up in just a couple days using the ointment and Tylan in everyone's drinking water. Pox is a virus and has no "cure" but the antibiotics help to curb secondary infections. When illnesses hit, conditions like infections or cocci can occur so I'm glad I have a good vet that carries the medicines I need.

Violet is still in the hospital pen but doing so much better!

 

[Hinotori]

The biggest problem I've seen on calico is those who aren't dedicated breeders calling their splash roosters with bad leakage as calico.

Silver has several names depending on breed. Self blue is called lavender depending on breed, too.

The fact that silkies are (I think) the only breed that accepts splash as a color is silly since it's just two copies of the blue gene instead of one.

Not every coloring has a name and if it doesn't breed true at least 50% of the time it isn't a set color pattern. That 50% to take account for the incomplete dominant genes like blue.

There is a reason that I say the two odd colored hens I have just look similar to isabel. They are not that color pattern genetically and just look like it. And why is isabel called porcelain in silkies? It doesn't have the mille fleur pattern. (I believe that their grandmother/great grandmother was carrying a copy of the lavender gene. Finally two birds with a copy gave me them.)

 

[Sylvester017]

The biggest problem I've seen on calico is those who aren't dedicated breeders calling their splash roosters with bad leakage as calico.

Silver has several names depending on breed. Self blue is called lavender depending on breed, too.

Lavender is two Blues producing only Blue offspring and no Splash or Black?

The fact that silkies are (I think) the only breed that accepts splash as a color is silly since it's just two copies of the blue gene instead of one.

I've always wondered about all the color identifiers that are re-named from breed to breed for the same color genetics? I'm so glad I resisted the urge to show Silkies! I just want to enjoy their sweet personalities -- at least most of their personalities!

Not every coloring has a name and if it doesn't breed true at least 50% of the time it isn't a set color pattern. That 50% to take account for the incomplete dominant genes like blue.

There is a reason that I say the two odd colored hens I have just look similar to isabel. They are not that color pattern genetically and just look like it. And why is isabel called porcelain in silkies? It doesn't have the mille fleur pattern. (I believe that their grandmother/great grandmother was carrying a copy of the lavender gene. Finally two birds with a copy gave me them.)

I never could see a difference between Isabel or Porcelain either and never questioned it -- I just accepted certain chicken breeds calling certain colors a certain way.

 

[Hinotori]

Look up pictures of a porcelain d'uccle then isabel in any breed. The most common d'uccle pattern is mille fleur. Porcelain is the lavender gene added to that and dilluting the color.

Isabel is buff with the lavender gene.

 

[Sylvester017]

Look up pictures of a porcelain d'uccle then isabel in any breed. The most common d'uccle pattern is mille fleur. Porcelain is the lavender gene added to that and dilluting the color.

Isabel is buff with the lavender gene.

Lavender is two Blues producing only Blue offspring and no Splash or Black?