Project Gojira A Giant Silkie Naked Neck Project

[Lauravonsmurf]

Project Gojira...

We are figuring the F1 Crosses will be this...

Various Silkie Bantam Rooster over Light Brahman Hens
Various Silkie Bantam Rooster over Sex Link, CX, random breeds and EEs
Various Silkie Bantam Rooster over Naked Neck Hens
Splash French Maran over Silkie Hens
Oriental Stag over Silkie Hens

As soon as we can get additional Brahman (Buff and Dark), additional broiler strains and Naked Neck pullets to the project we will.

We will keep biggest pullets by weight, height, and general solid body. Then breed back to only biggest Silkie roosters. This should create some Silkie feathered chicks F2. Only Silkie F2 chicks will be considered for breeding including roosters now... we can back breed if needed to F1 or foundation birds if needed. As well we can begin crossing lines at the F3 stage.

We don’t expect big birds right away... so we shall see how it goes. Right now we are raising the parent stock.

Project Gojira will also be participating in the Giant Silkie Project. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/giant-silkie-project.1346733/

 

[casportpony]

Sounds like a fun project, good luck!

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I think the two Brahmans are pullets.
The Silkies I just don’t know yet, hopefully one will be a rooster.
Not sure on the Cornish X yet.
The one Maran I thought might be a Cock is a Pullet I think. So Marans maybe dropped for now from the project.

We will probably get NN chicks next spring to add to the program. One of the Oriental Game is maybe a NN... but if so it is a hard feathered breed... on the other hand the O. Game have nice long strong legs too soon to know gender yet on them or if this might work... I really think more broiler lines and NN will be best.

I have two Polish Roos for sure, probably a few bantam breed Roos too... but these are all pretty light breeds.

Hopefully 1 Silkie is a boy. If not we can get more chicks in spring.

 

[Ruthster55]

Pictures or it didn’t happen!

 

[nicalandia]

I would cross a Show Girl rooster with Red Rangers hens and you will get Black Skin females that are naked neck, this cross is a sex link cross(id+, FM vs Id, FM) the pullets will have black neck/skin when hatch, males will have white/yellow clear skin

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I am in the planning, raise the foundation stock stage... but still too young to breed.

Here are a couple I am planning to use once mature enough to breed.

I think this Silkie #1 is a pullet...

Brahman pullet #1

Brahman pullet #2 both of these girls are huge compared to any other bird the same age but different breed.

Silkie #2 I am unsure of gender.

One of 4 Cornish X and one of the Oriental Games, I think this Game might feather it’s neck out, but not sure so wait and see.
But it has nice solid legs good sized already and would add hopefully a more upright carriage to the gene pool.

The Oriental Game that I think carries the NN gene for sure... gender of the Orientals unknown yet.

Another Cornish X

I am hoping for one boy out of the group... then I can start a crossing project. If by some bizarre chance of fate all are pullets I will have to choose biggest Rooster from another breed to start the project with. There is one little black Silkie chick too... but really too young yet. I think one Cornish X maybe a rooster... as it is huge.

I have 1 Ancona, 2 Polish, cockerels for sure, pretty sure 1 EE cockerel, if all the breeds I plan to use for the project turn out to be pullets... I will choose one of those boys. All the other breeds I have are pullets, or unknown genders just too young to sex and not really right for what I want to do or Bantam breeds.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

I would cross a Show Girl rooster with Red Rangers hens and you will get Black Skin females that are naked neck, this cross is a sex link cross(id+, FM vs Id, FM) the pullets will have black neck/skin when hatch, males will have white/yellow clear skin

I would love to add actual Show Girls and Red Rangers to the project. Next Spring I will order some Rangers for sure, Show Girls I will need to get hatching eggs for. But it would speed up the breeding program drastically.

 

[Ruthster55]

I am in the planning, raise the foundation stock stage... but still too young to breed.

Here are a couple I am planning to use once mature enough to breed.
View attachment 2230650
I think this Silkie #1 is a pullet...
View attachment 2230651
Brahman pullet #1
View attachment 2230653
Brahman pullet #2 both of these girls are huge compared to any other bird the same age but different breed.

View attachment 2230654
Silkie #2 I am unsure of gender.
View attachment 2230655
One of 4 Cornish X and one of the Oriental Games, I think this Game might feather it’s neck out, but not sure so wait and see.
But it has nice solid legs good sized already and would add hopefully a more upright carriage to the gene pool.
View attachment 2230656
The Oriental Game that I think carries the NN gene for sure... gender of the Orientals unknown yet.
View attachment 2230657
Another Cornish X

I am hoping for one boy out of the group... then I can start a crossing project. If by some bizarre chance of fate all are pullets I will have to choose biggest Rooster from another breed to start the project with. There is one little black Silkie chick too... but really too young yet. I think one Cornish X maybe a rooster... as it is huge.

I have 1 Ancona, 2 Polish, cockerels for sure, pretty sure 1 EE cockerel, if all the breeds I plan to use for the project turn out to be pullets... I will choose one of those boys. All the other breeds I have are pullets, or unknown genders just too young to sex and not really right for what I want to do or Bantam breeds.

I think at least one of your Games is a cockerel. That is good. The Game cockerel and the Brahmas look pretty young still. When the Brahma or Silkie hens have been in lay for a little while, put that Game rooster in with them.

That Cornish X might be a pullet. If you can keep her around long enough using restricted feeding, you could try, as a gamble, crossing the Game with her because she has an obviously desirable body size. The problem with this is that Cornish X don't breed true, because they are a 4-way hybrid cross. That involves both parent and grandparent flocks to breed those KFC birds. You probably shouldn't put much effort into that because it's a gamble. If the result is good the first time, it likely won't be so good the next time. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cornish-cross-genetics.692666/#:~:text=require grandparent lines.-,IE those four lines are bred (grandparents) to produce the,parents produce the cornish cross.&text=you can see Barring on the leaking feathers when they get older.

@Kabootar has taught me that the hen brings most of the body size to her descendants while the rooster brings plumage color and shape. You should pick your breeder roosters carefully according to plumage color, shape, and pattern. Size is more important for selecting the hens for the project. You want the Game rooster's strong suit in the chest/shoulders (breast meat). If it were me, I would look for a somewhat larger Oriental Game or Aseel.

How many breeding coops do you have built?

Wait for a while after the pullets have reached their point of lay. Pullet eggs are really small and probably not viable. Let them lay a few before you put the young hens in with the desired rooster.

With the Game + the Silkies + the Brahmas + the possible Cornish X pullets, I see a need for at least 5 breeding coops + runs if not more. If you want to breed true to continue the lines (i.e. Brahma rooster over Brahma hens and Silkie roosters over Silkie hens), you will need at least 10 coops + runs.

Do you have an incubator, brooder, and growout coops?

Remember that you will need some partitions at the base of your runs to prevent your Game rooster (with whichever hens) from seeing and maybe trying to fight with the rooster in the neighboring coop and run. Fighting is a Game bird's instinct but you do not want "wire fights" between your breeding coops because they will tear each other up!

The photos show an incomplete start of some run separations for breeding coops that will be more advanced after a few days. We are setting up all the coops that way, although in reality probably only one or two will need the partition to prevent roosters from seeing each other.

In a dry climate, the partitions between runs could be in lumber. However, lumber is relatively expensive and decays rapidly here, especially with ground contact. The concrete blocks are cheaper and longer-lasting.

 

[Kabootar]

I am in the planning, raise the foundation stock stage... but still too young to breed.

Here are a couple I am planning to use once mature enough to breed.
View attachment 2230650
I think this Silkie #1 is a pullet...
View attachment 2230651
Brahman pullet #1
View attachment 2230653
Brahman pullet #2 both of these girls are huge compared to any other bird the same age but different breed.

View attachment 2230654
Silkie #2 I am unsure of gender.
View attachment 2230655
One of 4 Cornish X and one of the Oriental Games, I think this Game might feather it’s neck out, but not sure so wait and see.
But it has nice solid legs good sized already and would add hopefully a more upright carriage to the gene pool.
View attachment 2230656
The Oriental Game that I think carries the NN gene for sure... gender of the Orientals unknown yet.
View attachment 2230657
Another Cornish X

I am hoping for one boy out of the group... then I can start a crossing project. If by some bizarre chance of fate all are pullets I will have to choose biggest Rooster from another breed to start the project with. There is one little black Silkie chick too... but really too young yet. I think one Cornish X maybe a rooster... as it is huge.

I have 1 Ancona, 2 Polish, cockerels for sure, pretty sure 1 EE cockerel, if all the breeds I plan to use for the project turn out to be pullets... I will choose one of those boys. All the other breeds I have are pullets, or unknown genders just too young to sex and not really right for what I want to do or Bantam breeds.

If you want to breed big and heavy birds, you have to select big and heavy hens. The rooster's size is not that important. Silkies are bantams, they are supposed to be small. I see no sense in using silkies in development of a meat breed, unless you are breeding for black skin.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Well this is on hold... I had chickens stolen by humans and a hawk kill my silky. So we are improving the chicken run (make it harder for humans and hawks to get at our girls and boys) and will be replacing birds. Not sure what we will end up with stock wise. So total bummer...