Self Blue (Lavender) Silkie Thread

[Darling Farms]

How is everyone's hatching going?

Is anyone having better success with their hatch rates?

~Darling Farms

 

[peachie600]

Do hatch rates improve noiceably breeding splitXsplit or splitXlav and are the resulting chicks as good colorwise as a lavXlav breeding???????
Has anyone used just some incredible blacks that seem to be helping ?

 

[Darling Farms]

We haven't noticed an improvement in the hatch rate yet with the blacks or the black splits. We are on the third generation out with two unrelated black lines

I think if there isn't an improvement in a few more generations then it is something seriously flawed in the lavender genetics.

But that's OK they sure are pretty and we will keep on tryin'.

However it is really too soon to tell as of yet. I think that quite a few lines of blacks need to be weaved into the lavender lines for several generations before any progress can be made!

What a fun and challenging project... if you have the time and the patience.

~Darling Farms


We have some pretty ones for sale for those you you who might want to have some FUN with these pretty fluffballs! Auctions are on our website and facebook page... see below.

 

[Debbi]

Pardon my ignorance, but I have no Lavs. Why are they harder to hatch? Does the color possibly carry a "lethal gene", like the Araucanas tufted gene? Are the chicks fully formed but just not hatching, or are they not growing at all? Would like to know in case some Lavs or splits may come into my future!

 

[Darling Farms]

No one knows exactly. Some have a suspicion that there may be a lethal gene but they haven't been around long enough to have the data.

The hatch rate can be extremely low... 20-50%. Usually about a third to half of the ones that make it to day ~18 die at about that point and do not make it to hatch.

We have had hatches were we have set over a hundred eggs and NOTHING has hatched.

We have gotten our hatch rates up to about 75% through helping and extra nutrition for our flock. Unfortunately we then found that our chick death rate went up in an equal fashion and it all evened out.

There is NOTHING I hate more than helping little chicks along to the 'other' chikie place.

So we still supplement nutritionally but do not help our chicks out in the least (at least in our lavender program)

We are striving for a healthy self sustaining flock.

~Darling Farms

 

[Silkie-lover33]

 

[mshuey1]

Hi can anyone tell me if my silkies r lavender I was thinking there blue but there papa was black&lavender. The hen lavender. How can I tell?

 

[FrenchToast]

Quote:
I would think they should be all lavender with the papa being a lavender split and the mother a pure lavender. Now I don't know if that would change if the father was in fact a blue lavender split???

They look like they could be lavender to me. I know there are different shades of lavender.

???

 

[Darling Farms]

They do look like some lavender cuties!

 

[chickendales]

Quote:
post pick of the parents please