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AnneInTheBurbs said:
Sad news. I found a bunch of feathers from my black turkey in the woods. Once I get my fencing situated, this won't be an issue anymore.

The good news is that I found her nest as well, so I can incubate some of her eggs.
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I'm sorry Anne, that just suck...But glad you did find the nest. Hopefully you can get a few to develop. :fl
 
dheltzel said:
Sounds like a good plan. Working independently for a few generations will make our flocks good candidates for swapping eggs or chicks in the future to enhance the genetic diversity. I have noticed differences in the black and lavender lines I bought from John Blehm 2 years ago. Neither lay without additional lighting, but the lavenders start laying sooner when the lights are added. The blacks take longer to ramp up, but easily out lay the lavenders over time. The eggs from the blacks are larger and bluer also. That is my reason for wanting to cross my newest silkied chicks over some of the pure blacks, to improve the eggs even more.
IDK if silkieds will ever become really popular, but if I can get them to survive and lay like the blacks, then I can market them easily. For now, I refuse to sell the silkieds to anyone that is not either an experienced breeder or a "crazy chicken lady" (you know the type, spare no expense to make the birds happy). First time chicken owners find them cute, but heed my warnings about getting roos and them not surviving well (at least the original strain). Actually, anyone that had kept silkie bantams successfully for a while would also be a great candidate, they seem very similar to me -- minus the propensity silkie bantam roos have for turning mean.
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Sounds like a plan :) I'm really hoping to improve the sturdiness of the silkie feathered ones. I've had write a few people express ingest in them but like you, I'm not selling any to anyone yet.

AnneInTheBurbs said:
Sad news. I found a bunch of feathers from my black turkey in the woods. Once I get my fencing situated, this won't be an issue anymore.

The good news is that I found her nest as well, so I can incubate some of her eggs.
Click to expand...

I'm so very sorry Anne :( it's heartbreaking to lose them, especially when they're a favorite :hugs
 
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fisherlady said:
The rooster may be aging, or have a couple of favored hens who satisfy his urge so others aren't covered, or he or the girls may be heavily feathered on the back end which can interfere in successful mating.

Silkie are tough to tell until they crow or lay an egg, though a cockerel does tend to have more pronounced wattles and a wider comb at a younger age...it just isn't as cut and dried as most other breeds. We have a current broody who I was 80% convinced was a rooster till I caught her in an egg box finally.
Roosters also can get longer feathery tufts on the back of their head at a few months. But again, it can be very subtle and not all get them, so still only a maybe thing.
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Here is the Silkie roo in question. I am starting to think he is not pure silkie, because he looks so different and is huge. Thanks, I had forgotten about the streamers, they were a good indicator with the last roo I had.


Not mine, but a friend sent me this picture. :)



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Meat birds are getting big quickly!

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I began cleaning up the property yesterday, and got the last of it this morning. I went back out after lunch, and cleaned out all the water bowls. Collected eggs, and worked in the duck pen. The garden area was moved from the front of their pen, to along the side where their pool had been, and is now bare dirt. I also worked some on their shelters. Still work to do there. The drake reminded me that he is in his dominant mood this time of year. He was not pleased with me when I was disturbing the nest.
I got the lawn tractor started, and cut some of the taller grass while inspecting the rhubarb and fruit trees.
 

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