It has only been recently that Red Silkies have gained my interest. A google search shows breathtaking specimens in Europe where they have been standardized. A further search reveals many have been raising them for years in the USA.
Dark Buff silkies are also a thing of beauty but breeding buff has eluded me. It is so complicated and there are so many 'too light' and 'too black and smutty' buff birds, But red! As a project using my Catdance bred paint male and bantam Rhode Island Red hens, it might be possible to get deep, dark, mahogany red into my breeding attempts. That's the idea behind this project anyway.
My male is a year and a half old and my three BRIR hens are a bit older.
They have a single comb and deep red coloring. Almost black.
The first test breeding resulted in four chicks of unusual coloring. Not at all what I expected.
The first chick is promising. At day old a buff/brown chipmunk colored chick.
Today she is a deep red/buff. Some black. Dark skin. Five toes each foot. Brown eyes. Smooth comb. Muffs and beard. Slight crest. Feathered shanks and outside toes.
Second and third chicks are just plain weird.
Day old. One is wheaten and one black. Wheaten chick has five toes each foot. Feathered shanks and outside toes. Light skin and beak. Light smooth comb.
The black chick has very black down, beak, skin, and smooth comb. Five toes each foot, feathered shanks, and outside toes. It has light middle toe tips each foot. Pigment holes.
This is what they looked like a couple weeks ago.
This is what they look like today.
There is mahogany red coming in on the wings.
I think this chick is a male. The comb and wattles are reddening.
The black chick is interesting too.
At a week old the feathers were all coming in black. Very black.
This is the chick today.
Pigment holes show white tips on the middle toes. Feathers are coming in black but also brown and mahogany. Weird.
The breast feathers are coming in mahogany the the black feathers are sort of dark blue with black lacing. It also looks chocolate around the face in good light.
I think this chick is also male.
The fourth chick hatched today it is nothing like the first three. A light buff chick with faint stripes on it's back and a dark buff head. It has light skin. Five toes on each foot and is a big chick compared to silkie chicks.
This is the chick with it's paint hatch mates.
All in all, this is an interesting start to my red project. My paint male is dominate silver maybe. Maybe why the chicks from the BRIR are linking weird genes to him and producing unexpected results? I don't know. But eggs are still in the incubator and we will see what comes next.
Dark Buff silkies are also a thing of beauty but breeding buff has eluded me. It is so complicated and there are so many 'too light' and 'too black and smutty' buff birds, But red! As a project using my Catdance bred paint male and bantam Rhode Island Red hens, it might be possible to get deep, dark, mahogany red into my breeding attempts. That's the idea behind this project anyway.
My male is a year and a half old and my three BRIR hens are a bit older.
They have a single comb and deep red coloring. Almost black.
The first test breeding resulted in four chicks of unusual coloring. Not at all what I expected.
The first chick is promising. At day old a buff/brown chipmunk colored chick.
Today she is a deep red/buff. Some black. Dark skin. Five toes each foot. Brown eyes. Smooth comb. Muffs and beard. Slight crest. Feathered shanks and outside toes.
Second and third chicks are just plain weird.
Day old. One is wheaten and one black. Wheaten chick has five toes each foot. Feathered shanks and outside toes. Light skin and beak. Light smooth comb.
The black chick has very black down, beak, skin, and smooth comb. Five toes each foot, feathered shanks, and outside toes. It has light middle toe tips each foot. Pigment holes.
This is what they looked like a couple weeks ago.
This is what they look like today.
There is mahogany red coming in on the wings.
I think this chick is a male. The comb and wattles are reddening.
The black chick is interesting too.
At a week old the feathers were all coming in black. Very black.
This is the chick today.
Pigment holes show white tips on the middle toes. Feathers are coming in black but also brown and mahogany. Weird.
The breast feathers are coming in mahogany the the black feathers are sort of dark blue with black lacing. It also looks chocolate around the face in good light.
I think this chick is also male.
The fourth chick hatched today it is nothing like the first three. A light buff chick with faint stripes on it's back and a dark buff head. It has light skin. Five toes on each foot and is a big chick compared to silkie chicks.
This is the chick with it's paint hatch mates.
All in all, this is an interesting start to my red project. My paint male is dominate silver maybe. Maybe why the chicks from the BRIR are linking weird genes to him and producing unexpected results? I don't know. But eggs are still in the incubator and we will see what comes next.
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