Please bear with me...I'm extremely a "chicken novice!"

ElleninDublin

Songster
10 Years
Sep 9, 2009
32
16
109
Eugene, OR
Okay, so here is my question...pls don't laugh too awfully hard...
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We will soon be receiving (from a friend), six 3-4 month old silkies...I think I've figured out that 2 of them are roos. She is also giving us this absolutely beautiful roo, that I think is a Silver Laced Wyandotte or something similar...about 6 mos. old and just began to learn to crow...which is why we are getting him...she thought he was a she. Anyway...my question is...will he mate w/my Silkies? If I'm going to have different breeds (not many), but do I need to keep them from crossbreeding? Also, w/a couple of Silkie roos, will they mate w/their sisters? Will I get "deformed" chicks if I don't just use them for eggs?
Thanks for any advice you can give!

Ellen...(originally a So. Calif city girl!)
 
Yes to your other question. The silkie roos will mate with their sisters. If the inbreeding is extensive, some genetic problems may result, like crossed beaks, but extensive deformation is unlikely unless your chickens are already too inbred.

If you want to keep your silkies purebred you will need to keep them separate from the wyadotte or any other breed of chicken.

Think of chicken breeds like dogs. Yes, a german shepherd will mate with a beagle, and you will get a mutt. Yes, a mama german shepherd will mate with her son or brother, but unless there are already obvious genetic defects, it will take several generations of inbreeding for any new ones to appear.
 
You may have a couple problems putting the SLW rooster in with the Silkie roos unless they were all raised together form chicks. Second, I'd be cautious about letting him mate with the Silkie hens since he is a big breed bird.

As far as the inbreeding, no, nothing bad will happen to the offspring, though certain characteristics (good and bad) may be heightened.
 
Thanks for the info! I found out they're none of the silkies are related and the wyandotte roo isn't related to the hen wyandotte I'm getting....so, hopefully since they've all been raised together, it'll go well.
 
I still wouldn't keep those breeds together if you want chicks. If you had say- bantam cochins and silkies- they'd be a good mix. The size of the SLW roo (as mentioned) is not a good thing for silkie hens, and he WILL try to mate them.

By the way- welcome!
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You're so mean. I love it. We aren't laughing at you Ellen, we have been there too. You just help us remember our "newbie" days.

The only other item I might add is that your SLW Roo will be bigger and may become the dominant Rooster. They he would not allow the silkie roo to mate anyone. At least not when he can see. So if you would like little silkie chicks I would keep them seperated when they become breeding age.
 
Yes the silkie roos will mate too thier sisters. I would not breed brothers on sisters. I do think you are going to get some intersting Wynodotte mixes.
 
I'm not laughing. I grew up on a farm with chickens and I'm still learning a lot. And you will get a lot of conflicting opinions on here. We all have different experience levels, different personal experiences, different set-ups, and different goals and reasons for keeping chickens. With all this, I think we get along pretty well.

Anyway, I agree with most of the posts here. All roosters will mate with all hens, some more successful that others. All breeds are the result of cross-breeding or mutations, and this cross-breeding involved a lot of father-daughter or brother-sister or mother-son inbreeding. This is also how champion show chickens are created.

You may get a lot of different opinions and dire warnings about having multiple roosters. Before you panic if someone says you are absolutely going to have problems with that, please read these threads. You might have problems and should be aware of what they might be so you can watch for them. But as you can see in these threads, problem are not guaranteed.


Number of roosters thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=219443

Breeders managing roosters
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=250327

Managing multiple roosters
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229968
 

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