Question regarding silkies and frizzles

[bkreugar]

Okay so this is my second year with chickens.So DD and I decided we wanted to try out hand at breeding silkies.

So I got my order of chicks on the 10th. I got 15 of different breeds.

I got 4 frizzle pullets and 6 silkie straight run. I lost one silkie.So I have 5.So I am thinking I will put the frizzles and the silkies in together.

What will I get with a frizzle pullet and silkie too? Will I get some silkies and some frizzle or will they all turn out frizzle?

Thanks

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! If you mate a Frizzle Cochin and Silkie,
the first generation will all be regular feathered (as opposed to silkie feathered) and you should get 50% frizzled chicks and 50% smooth chicks.
They will be cuties!

Lisa

 

[bkreugar]

Thank you!!

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

SILKIE FRIZZLES
Here is some personal experience to breeding silkie frizzles that will help you out.

Trying to produce Silkie Frizzles is a task and will take a lot of years to perfect the frizzle and the
silkie genes to make good silkie frizzles.

When breeding Silkies to a frizzle most people use the Cochin frizzle to get the frizzle genes in the
offspring. Your first hatch will produce red combed silkies with either the red walnut comb (should be
mulberry walnut comb) and some straight red combed crosses.The fact that the silkies have a crest has to play a part in here also.Along with blue ear lobes, and 5 toes.

You are crossing the silkie feathering (which has the lack of usual forms of webs, that is, there is a lack
of adhesion of the barbs to one another which gives the appearance of down or silky hair, hence the name silken or Silkie) and the regular Cochin feathers so you will have to deal with getting the feather
frizzled and back to the silkie type of feathers.

Genetically, the frizzle gene is strong after being introduced to the silkie. So that your first off spring will have 1/2 gene for silkie and 1/2 genes for frizzle.

(1-A) In the 2nd generation, The 1/2 genes for frizzling should hold up to get another generation
of offspring with the silkie/ frizzle cross back on the silkie.

(1-B) Here in 2nd generation breeding you can also make a breeding of the best silkie/frizzle
cross in the male & females hatched that has the best mulberry walnut combs and this will produce more of the frizzling genes in 2nd hatching. Also using the silkie rooster and the frizzle/silkie cross females that have the best walnut combs,this give another linei n the offspring, so here are two lines to breed from.

(1-B-2 Important is to use the best combed femasles that do not show frizzling ( I call frizzle smooths) back on good frizzled cockerels

(1-B-3 also the keeping of these smooth females each yr gives you more breeders

(1-B4 if you can start with more females gives you more lines to use cockerels on
Each female is a line and then use cockerels from different lines to different females.

(1-C) Because the original frizzle was cochin I would not breed it back on the silkie crosses as this makes the walnut mulberry colored comb almost impossible get what is needed.

(1-D)The blue ear lobes and the 5 toes have to count in here also, along with the crest.

(1-E) your original frizzle bird needs a strong back ground of frizzling as this will help in the genetic
makeup of the bird for frizzling. By using the frizzle/silkie crosses to each other this strenghens the frizzling gene. It also should bring back the walnut comb. You have to get the red comb out and the mulbery comb back in.

(2-A) now in the 3rd year you should have some good frizzle/silkie crosses to breed to each other and back on the last years silkie/frizzle crosses. So good book keeping is importnt to this breeding.Also good toe punching is necessary.

(2-B) Each year keep tract of how many comes out with the red combs and mulberry combs and discard the red combs.

(2-C) You will need to watch for the foot feathering and the blue ear lobes, and the 5 toes, and the crest.

(3-A) by the 4th generation you can breed the silkie back in on the most frizzled females and with the best walnut combs and blue ear lobes and the 5th toes, will strengthen the crest also.

(3-B) The frizzling should be established so that you can breed a frizzled hen ( 1/2 frizzle & 1/2 silkie looking birds hatched) back on to a good silkie rooster and now have more of the genes for the walnut combs.This is a one time mating also.

(3-C) I would not use a bird that has any cochin in it for this breeding, or any after the first breeding. Because you need only the full blooded silkie-frizzle genes to throw the needed genes with the frizzling coming out in the offspring from the frizzled mother. By now breeding the frizzle to frizzle that have the silkie qualities should have strengthened the amount of frizzling good.

(3-D) still
have your other matings of frizzle/silkie to the good frizzle/silkie.

(3-E) and the other way around the silkie/frizzle cross rooster to a silkie hen, can be a one time mating.

(3-F) here if there are some good smooths( offspring that comes out smooth feathered but is 1/2 silkie/1/2 frizzle genes) use these hens if they have the walnut mulberry combs, & blue ear lobes and 5 toes,good crests, breed to one of the good frizzle silkie males.

(4-A) In order to breed this type of cross it take a lot of pens and a lot of years to get the desired
crosses with all the silkie traits. The frizzling is just the extra your trying for. Because of the strong
genetic traits you are striving for the Mulberry Walnut Comb, the tourquoise blue ear lobes and 5 toes
also you have to deal with the crest and the bearded and non bearded. So each year you pick the offspring to breed, take all this into consideration. It will take some time to establish a line that has the good crests also. I would imagine when bringing the silkie back into the breeding every so many years you bring a good bird with good crest also. It was always my experience that when crossing any bird in on the silkie it deminished the large crest, brought red combs, and a lack of 5 toes and the lack of blue ear lobes.

(4-B)Mainly because your are using a red single comb, red ear lobes and 4 toed, non created bird for the frizzle gene. These traits have to be bred out of the frizzled silkie offspring.

(4-C) your objctive is to breed a good silkie type on a frizzled feathered bird. So here is where the hurt
comes. There has to be culling done very severely, I would not sell these birds to others just to recap
some feed money,

(4-D) MAYBE THE HENS FOR SETTING HENS, but tell the people buying that they are culls for showing
purposes. A couple dollars for the hens each is about what they will bring. Pheasant people need setting
hens and these are good ones for that.

(4-E) Here is some advise never sell any red combed Silkies to breeders for breeding purebred birds from. New people believe what they see and hear and don't know the difference till they are at a show and get disqualified for not knowing the difference.

(4-F) BUY A AMERICAN BANTAM ASSOCIATION STANDARD OR AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION STANDARD and read both the description and disqualifications in silkies for making the
SILKIE FRIZZLE BANTAM.

any questions email me