Showgirl thread- for posting pictures and discussing breed!

[bpgraham]

OK.. this is not a great picture.. the heat lamp in the back ground is red with dreaded pink wall... her neck is black...very black.. but her "hair" color does show up just as it is. This is the mom. She produces this color, black, white, gray, gray partridge, and Silver.

(She's the queen of the house!!) She runs the show here!!

 

[ultasol]

I like the blues.
Mother

Two different sons:
This one is going to Letisha who goes by Simply Splendid Silkies next week

...and this one is another spare young cockerel I bathed this week. He's full of pinfeathers and has a ton of filling out to do.

now if the blue SG hen would get busy making some pullets, I'd be awfully pleased. I am using a blue silkie cock over her which I have been showing.

 

[ultasol]

.... I get the occasional black too...

While I don't love the wattles on this boy, or the wings, he has one wonderful trait which can be a struggle to get on SG, he has AWESOME middle toe, foot, and shank feathering. It seems to be a big challenge in breeding SGs.

I also have them in white. I do have two partridge SG hens which were the last two owned by Sheryl Butler which I got when she decided not to work with partridge anymore (Spring 2010). I believe they are older birds and the rate of lay hasn't been great, and so far I've only hatched silkie chicks out of them. I am really hoping to get some SG chicks from them as they are nice showgirls.

 

[perolane]

Jen..please post your experiences on breeding SG to SG here. I think we have all thought it shouldn't be done. By the way, going to get one of your boys!

bpgraham...my birds are all very young, all 1-8 months...so no eggs or chicks yet. From my pairing of a black silkie hen to a lav silkie roo, I just got my first 2 eggs this week. As soon as my black & lav split showgirls grow up, they'll be paired with the lav roo. I have concentrated on obtaining good bloodlines, now just have to wait a bit for them to grow up & fill out. You're only about 4 hours from me, so next year maybe we can do some swapping for different bloodlines!

I'm just being able to tell the boys from the girls now.

 

[sutillman]

Here is my pretty showgirl. Also have a blue, but don't have a pic of her. Can't understand why everyone thinks they are so ugly!

 

[ultasol]

I haven't bred showgirl to showgirl, because my focus is silkies. I have seen them though, bred by Sheryl Butler, and while they don't have bowties I believe overall quality of the birds used makes a big difference. I think I mentioned it before but getting good middle toe feathering is a challenge, as is keeping the wattles small in cocks/cockerels, based on my growouts this year.

 

[rilly10]

Very pretty white pullet!

Also, I do agree with the wattles. Mine has ok wattles but a big comb. His feet are great though...I got luck with his feet. Just to be sure I will be pairing him with girls that have heavy foot feathering and dark skin.

On another note, what is everyones take on bearded vs. non beareded? Are non beardeds just popping up or are they out of non-bearded silkies? I think I like the bearded variety better and will be more apt to keep bearded chicks to grow out than non-bearded. What is evereyone's take on beards?

 

[ultasol]

These are two whites I took to the Stevenson, WA show.

A cockerel

A pullet

 

[rilly10]

Congrats on the wins!

 

[ultasol]

The cockerel got himself all worked up. Notice there are no longer shavings in his cage? There were ladies on his right, ladies on his left, and a little OEG cock behind him- I think he danced and strutted the entire show. Notice the lack of shavings in his cage? I couldn't keep them in his cage. Overstimulated males, sheesh