Kiraeh
Songster
So I have twenty chicks from a mixed Polish/Silkie flock. The oldest dozen are six weeks now and looking pretty spiffy.
Seems like this is a semi-common flock combo, they're both docile crested breeds so it makes sense, they probably get along pretty well.
Now, I hatched these nuggets myself, and I never saw the parent flock except a few pictures in the ad. Good biosecurity on their part but it means I'm guessing about the exact parentage. From the range of combinations of traits, I think there must be both pure and mixed parents involved, but I don't really know for sure.
Here are my oldest, in rough order of most silkie to most polish.
First, my two pure-looking silkies. Proper dark skin, soft feathers, extra toes. One of them had a bit of brown as a chick, looked like maybe a red crested red polish chick, but it grew in all grey/black. We'll see if that colour comes back I guess. Sometimes I think that one or both of them is a frizzle, it's hard to tell with the slow silkie feathering.
Next is an interesting one! The only other silkie feathered of the lot, but at least a little mixed from his leg/face colour. And I'm thinking more and more he's not a frizzle but a frazzle.
His curls are really extreme and he's not well feathered even at six weeks. I can't find pics of silkie frazzles to compare, but silkie frizzles seem to have a more normal and lush covering of feathers, and his two sibs have better coverage(altho still typical slow silkie feathering). He was a much cuter baby haha, with his super curly wings.
Then I have two that are very silkie looking, just with hard feathers. Round bodies, slow growing, and crests more like silkies than polish.
They have black skin, feathered legs- real puffy pants haha- and extra toes. Neither has silkie feathers but one of them has extremely bulky and soft feathers, where the other one has tighter, 'hard'er feathers. Increasingly charming as they grow into their silkie roundness.
Next I have several with the polish body type, hard feathering, mostly dark skin, mostly extra toes, but still without the polish crowns.
This is Nine! One of my favourites, the first to hatch and very friendly and demanding. Sex is a bit of a mystery- nine is a little bigger than most others, but that's not a great tell in mutts. Friendly but not as dominant as some of the other chicks. No wattles and little comb development. Nine used to be a solid dark grey but has been developing the black crest and white leakage over the past few weeks, I'm real curious to see where it goes.
Next is my showstopper, Leonidas.
Just the most glorious lionfish of a chicken. Leo and Nine are the only ones with these little single combs, the rest seem to be getting silkie walnuts or polish Vs. Another gender mystery, Leo is Disney-princess friendly and a total lap chicken, possibly because stunning looks have gotten him a lot of extra attention.
Green skin, extra toes, lightly feathered legs, and stunning solid feathered partridge frizzle feathers. Leo has a particularly charming squiggle crest.
My other frizzle is a little more polish-looking, with a proper round crest and no comb.
Black skin but no extra toes or leg feathers. She's chill but not yet as friendly as many of the others.
Next is a couple black crested blues, one with red leaking on the chest. They have neat polish crests and dark skin. I don't think they're pure polish but idk how dark polish skin normally gets, I think they still have a little silkie in em.
This one maybe not. Has a few white feathers in the crest.
Skinny was one of the smallest at hatch, from an egg I was sure must have been a silkie but he doesn't look to have any silkie in him except the underwhelming crest, maybe a pullet egg? He was a skinny and loud baby and is still loud but has caught up with the others in size.
Skinny's got a first class ticket to freezer camp so far, he's bit me a couple times already. Just pure sass.
Last is Boris. He was an awkward chick, had a really bad case of ugly crest growing in but he's turned around and is finally much more handsome than his namesake. If I have any pure polish, it's Boris.
I think that's all twelve! I can post more pictures if there's any you're curious about, and I'll introduce the second group later, this post is long enough.
Seems like this is a semi-common flock combo, they're both docile crested breeds so it makes sense, they probably get along pretty well.
Now, I hatched these nuggets myself, and I never saw the parent flock except a few pictures in the ad. Good biosecurity on their part but it means I'm guessing about the exact parentage. From the range of combinations of traits, I think there must be both pure and mixed parents involved, but I don't really know for sure.
Here are my oldest, in rough order of most silkie to most polish.
First, my two pure-looking silkies. Proper dark skin, soft feathers, extra toes. One of them had a bit of brown as a chick, looked like maybe a red crested red polish chick, but it grew in all grey/black. We'll see if that colour comes back I guess. Sometimes I think that one or both of them is a frizzle, it's hard to tell with the slow silkie feathering.
Next is an interesting one! The only other silkie feathered of the lot, but at least a little mixed from his leg/face colour. And I'm thinking more and more he's not a frizzle but a frazzle.
His curls are really extreme and he's not well feathered even at six weeks. I can't find pics of silkie frazzles to compare, but silkie frizzles seem to have a more normal and lush covering of feathers, and his two sibs have better coverage(altho still typical slow silkie feathering). He was a much cuter baby haha, with his super curly wings.
Then I have two that are very silkie looking, just with hard feathers. Round bodies, slow growing, and crests more like silkies than polish.
They have black skin, feathered legs- real puffy pants haha- and extra toes. Neither has silkie feathers but one of them has extremely bulky and soft feathers, where the other one has tighter, 'hard'er feathers. Increasingly charming as they grow into their silkie roundness.
Next I have several with the polish body type, hard feathering, mostly dark skin, mostly extra toes, but still without the polish crowns.
This is Nine! One of my favourites, the first to hatch and very friendly and demanding. Sex is a bit of a mystery- nine is a little bigger than most others, but that's not a great tell in mutts. Friendly but not as dominant as some of the other chicks. No wattles and little comb development. Nine used to be a solid dark grey but has been developing the black crest and white leakage over the past few weeks, I'm real curious to see where it goes.
Next is my showstopper, Leonidas.
Just the most glorious lionfish of a chicken. Leo and Nine are the only ones with these little single combs, the rest seem to be getting silkie walnuts or polish Vs. Another gender mystery, Leo is Disney-princess friendly and a total lap chicken, possibly because stunning looks have gotten him a lot of extra attention.
Green skin, extra toes, lightly feathered legs, and stunning solid feathered partridge frizzle feathers. Leo has a particularly charming squiggle crest.
My other frizzle is a little more polish-looking, with a proper round crest and no comb.
Black skin but no extra toes or leg feathers. She's chill but not yet as friendly as many of the others.
Next is a couple black crested blues, one with red leaking on the chest. They have neat polish crests and dark skin. I don't think they're pure polish but idk how dark polish skin normally gets, I think they still have a little silkie in em.
This one maybe not. Has a few white feathers in the crest.
Skinny was one of the smallest at hatch, from an egg I was sure must have been a silkie but he doesn't look to have any silkie in him except the underwhelming crest, maybe a pullet egg? He was a skinny and loud baby and is still loud but has caught up with the others in size.
Skinny's got a first class ticket to freezer camp so far, he's bit me a couple times already. Just pure sass.
Last is Boris. He was an awkward chick, had a really bad case of ugly crest growing in but he's turned around and is finally much more handsome than his namesake. If I have any pure polish, it's Boris.
I think that's all twelve! I can post more pictures if there's any you're curious about, and I'll introduce the second group later, this post is long enough.
at Boris and lionfish chicken names
