Showgirl chicken? What? Could someone please explain this to me? xP

[ThePolishPrincess]

I've been lurking threads around here for a while and occasionally hear talk of 'showgirl chickens'. I thought these were just conceited owners who thought their girls were the best. But now I'm randomly searching fowl on the internet and come up with these super funky looking chickens!

Ever know what it feels like where people around you are laughing at a joke and then the next day you JUST REALIZE what it means? Yeah, uh, that's me right now!

So Are showgirl fowl basically Turken and Silkie chickens mixed? I have one Silkie roo and one Turkan hen, and the possibilities seem endless as far as I'm concerned. Just no more room for any more males. But whoa, how did this happen? And how long have they been around? Wierd looking creatures, I'll give 'em that!

Can anybody give me a detailed, but slightly edited background of the 'breed'?

I'll respond tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

 

[rilly10]

Just put up two egg listings! One from my porcelain/lav pen and one from my blue/splash pen! Both will hatch showgirls.

 

[mizauntcathy'shenhouse]

Princess....Whew! So glad you gave an explanation for the showgirl chickens....I've pretty much been thinking the same way you were. I'll have to do some googling, now that I know it's a specific breed.

 

[briarpatchfarms]

Showgirl have been crossed by silkies and turken but that isnt just how you get showgirls either you have to breed all the red combs out, the white skin, and get the 5th toe to there has been a lot of work to get this breed. Not only that but they are still throwing single red combs after all the years put into this breed

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

There are some pretty good showgirls out there. I've been aware of them for 8 or 9 years at least. The quality depends on how many generations they have been bred--the longer, generally the better. Some of the characteristics require at least two crossings. Personally I've never seen red combed showgirls--all the ones I've seen have the dark combs.

I don't believe the breeders have agreed on a standard for neck feathering, and it varies depending on whether there are one or two copies of the naked neck gene.

The name showgirl comes from the idea of a Las Vegas Showgirl with the elaborate and huge fans they dance with.

Personally I prefer bearded silkies and non-bearded showgirls (the ones with beards remind me of the circus side-show's bearded lady, lol).

As I understand, they need to breed back to silkie every few generations, so the breeders are not looking at standardizing showgirls as a separate breed, but rather new silkie varieties.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Thanks everyone. It's good to feel in the loop.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

Quote:
most of ur statement i agree with except the red and singe part. that is not true it depends on the generations and how hard u breed them and the quality of the stock. i have NEVER breed a single or a red combed showgirl and mine breed true but some of mine r bred to F-17. mine throw ONLY dark mulberry walnut combs.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

Quote:
i raise, breed and show them if u want to see more pics please feel free to check my website the link is by my avitar.
silkie

 

[LilPeeps]

The goal for breeding showgirls is to get silkie type and characteristics, with a naked neck. They can be bearded and nonbearded, homozygous or heterozygous. When shown, they're done so as an AOV silkie. It takes many generations to get a decent showgirl. They don't need to be bred back to a silkie once a good line is established, but until then, they should be bred to silkies to improve them.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

It takes many generations to get a decent showgirl. They don't need to be bred back to a silkie once a good line is established, but until then, they should be bred to silkies to improve them.

The breeders I know working on showgirls will disagree with that statement, and they have some of the best. I don't breed them, have never had any, so I rely on what they have said. Several month back the discussion on whether they should work towards being standardized as a variety or breed was discussed at length on one or the silkie groups--sorry, don't remember which one--the general consensus was a variety simply because they need to be bred back to retain type.

I agree with your assessment that it doesn't seem like that should be a necessity once the correct type is achieved, but the opinion of needing to breed back every two or three generations seemed to be pretty universal.​