Show quality?

[emzee]

Sonoran Silkies:

So what do you think about the rooster's tail? Do you think I should show him or the hen since his crest is better?

 

[EweSheep]

Like she said, too many hard feathers. It is not silkied or soft.

Personally they are great for pets only, not for show.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Quote:
I def. do not know what Sonoran knows when it comes to the judging of Silkies, but the Roo's tail is not full enough. But, if you are going to pick one of the 3 to show, I would say the Roo.

Take a close up picture of him so that Sonoran can get a better look at him. She will need a straight on side shot, face shot and a picture of his toes so that she can see how his foot feathering is.

I would recommend that if your just wanting to get the experience of showing, that you could take him to a local 4-H show.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Yes, to really tell, get the photos Cammy described, and make sure to put the bird up on something, or get down on your hands/knees so that the shots are level. Try to get shots where the birds heads are up. My opinion from the photos you show is that the roo is probably best, but, better photos could eaily change my mind or reinforce that opinion.

 

[emzee]

Okay, I got some level pictures of my silkies. I decided to rule out the pullet. After taking the pictures, I think that the cockeral is closer to the standard, but I would still likes some opinions.

Here's the hen:

Full body:

Legs:

Head:

The cockeral:

Full body:

Legs:

Head:

 

[karabbitry]

To be perfectly honest I would not show either of them. They both have major faults and neither are show quality. So if you want to show one still just pick one, because I really don't think it will matter. If I were you I would not show them but still go to the show and talk to breeders and maybe purchase some new birds!

JMHO

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

If you cjhoose to show, the cockerel is the better of them, but as karabbitry said, none are good quality for exhibition. The things going for your cockerel are his comb and his crest. He also holds his wings nice and high. While his crest is small for bearded silkies, it is better than many that I've seen on non-beardeds; it needs iomprovement IMO, but not significantly so. His foot feathering is considerably better than your other silkies, but all of them need improvement. The hen's tail is much better than the cockerels. It looks like it has softer feathering as well as being more proportionate. He almost looks like he has some leghorn or phoenix in his background to get that long tail held almost level. Notice how the silkie hen in my avatar is holding her tail up high? That is what you want.

A silkie's type can be considered as three spheres: the largest is the body, then next is the tail and the smallest is the head & crest. I'm not good at estimating, but if someone would come up with a ratio for the proper proportions between these three I would be grateful.

 

[JayDe]

At what age can you tell if a silkie is show quality?