Prehistoric Chick

alogue5173

Chirping
7 Years
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
146
Reaction score
5
Points
81
Location
Harrison, Georgia
Was wondering if anybody else had ever come up with one of these strange looking chicks. He reminds me of those drawings they do on the discovery channel of what they think dinosaur birds looked like. He is an interesting little fellow and has quite a personality. I don't know what kind of mix he is...a friend of mine got the eggs from someone else and incubated them. The person that had the eggs said their could be some silkie parentage in the eggs. This little guy has black feet and beak, really dark eyes, an almost non-existant comb and grey skin. As you can see he sports a tassle, not a whole pouff like a polish or silkie. His feathers are a beautiful dark bluish grey (they look black in photo) and are really long. He is not feathering like my other chicks that seem to feather in layers. All of his feathers are really long and stiff. Plus he has the biggest feet I have ever seen on a bird that young. Most of my chicks feet are much smaller and slender. His feet are big and thickish. He also has some feathering down his legs, but not as heavy as a cochin. I know he is a cross or mix, but anyone got any clues to parentage?

 
I think your chick bears out the word of the owner that said that there could be some Silkie in there. The black/gray skin pretty much clinches it. The really full crest of a Polish or Silkie is the result of their vaulted skulls. When you breed a bird with a vaulted skull to one that doesn't have it, the offspring usually don't have vaults, and have much smaller crests. Silkies also have feathered legs. So some feathering on the legs + a small crest on the head + gray skin = some Silkie in the mix, but sorry, I haven't a clue about what else might be in there.
hu.gif
 
In your first post you kept referring to this chick as he. I just wanted to say that it looks very girly to me, and is very pretty! Looks typical of a Silkie mix ;)
Nikki
 
I would be ecstatic if it were a girl...I just assumed it was a boy b/c it was so slow feathering. The chick is about 5 weeks old now.
 
It has the typical female color for a blue bird (dark head, light body) and very pretty lacing. Its hackle and saddle feathers are also rounded, another female trait. Silkies are notoriously slow to mature, which could be why your little one took a while :) Alot of blue mixes will also develop leakage (usually red) in the cockerels.
Nikki
 
Thanks so much for the info. I have never raised silkies before and don't know much about them...and even less about chicken genetics. I appreciate the help
bow.gif
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom