Should I complain to breeder about red comb on Silkie?

[BreadBreadson]

Hi everyone,

I am new to chickens and new to Silkies, so I don’t know what to do here. I wanted to own a couple good quality Silkies, so I tracked down a private breeder who claimed to have “champion” parent stock that had won multiple shows. I got two, a white and a grey. They are now 3.5 weeks old and the white one has developed a red comb, which I’m told is a disqualifying trait in Silkies. I was not necessarily going to show them, but I was interested in doing some casual breeding and also I wanted to have good quality ones for my own pleasure. I paid $30 each for them. I am not sure how expensive or cheap this is for Silkies. Also, I am not sure how much crest they should have at 3.5 weeks. My Polish’s is quite visible, and these have none. Is this the average rate of development for Silkies, or is this a hallmark of a small crest/bad quality? Also, as a side note, they do not have vaulted heads, but I had read that vaulted vs non vaulted doesn’t make a huge difference in final crest size. They do have black skin and the correct number of toes.

Anyways, I don’t know what I should do at this point. I am usually very non confrontational, but I am kind of upset. Should I contact him about this, or should I chalk it up to bad luck and move on? Do you think he misrepresented the quality of his stock? Should I avoid buying more Silkies from him in the future, or do these things just happen no matter the quality of the stock? Also, does the red comb mean that my white chick is a cockerel?

Thank you for your input.

 

[MattCopeland]

Hi everyone,

I am new to chickens and new to Silkies, so I don’t know what to do here. I wanted to own a couple good quality Silkies, so I tracked down a private breeder who claimed to have “champion” parent stock that had won multiple shows. I got two, a white and a grey. They are now 3.5 weeks old and the white one has developed a red comb, which I’m told is a disqualifying trait in Silkies. I was not necessarily going to show them, but I was interested in doing some casual breeding and also I wanted to have good quality ones for my own pleasure. I paid $30 each for them. I am not sure how expensive or cheap this is for Silkies. Also, I am not sure how much crest they should have at 3.5 weeks. My Polish’s is quite visible, and these have none. Is this the average rate of development for Silkies, or is this a hallmark of a small crest/bad quality? Also, as a side note, they do not have vaulted heads, but I had read that vaulted vs non vaulted doesn’t make a huge difference in final crest size. They do have black skin and the correct number of toes.

Anyways, I don’t know what I should do at this point. I am usually very non confrontational, but I am kind of upset. Should I contact him about this, or should I chalk it up to bad luck and move on? Do you think he misrepresented the quality of his stock? Should I avoid buying more Silkies from him in the future, or do these things just happen no matter the quality of the stock? Also, does the red comb mean that my white chick is a cockerel?

Thank you for your input.

Can you show some pictures of the silkies?

 

[BreadBreadson]

Can you show some pictures of the silkies?

Here you go

 

[BreadBreadson]

The red comb on the white one looks much more vivid in person

 

[cgmccary]

They're only 3.5 weeks old. Things change. Let them grow up some, then complain to the Breeder. I've had people buy chicks and complain that their eye color is not correct at 4 weeks old. I tell them that none of mine have correct eye color at 4 weeks old, none, never. I tell them to grow them up and they will see that eye color changes.