From what I can see they look great! Nice dark skin, blue ears, nice crest on the top one! Good job! I can't tell about their combs or feet but from what I can see they look great! I would love to see a pic of the lavender rooster you are using!
I just hatched my first splash showgirl. It is heterozygous, out of a blue SG cockerel and a splash silkie hen. Looking forward to how it develops, it has GREAT middle toe feather and is vaulted.
These are a couple chicks from last year... neither are vaulted.
See the bump on the head of these chicks? That is what is called a vault. A vault is where there is a hole in the skull and some brain protrudes. Some breeders link it with bigger crests, which is often, but not always the case. The one downfall is it can make them more prone to neuro damage if they are roughed up by other birds or bump their heads. Not a frequent issue, but it does occur.
This is skeksis. She started laying on monday and has given me an egg every day since. I really didn't know that they were such good layers.
Also I got her as a novelty but when she is freeranging and sees me she runs across the yard honking and gets in front of me and squats. I've fallen in love with her.
I think you guys are confusing the terminology. Bearded vs non-bearded is different than if the extension of the lack of neck feathering in birds carrying the NN gene extends to below the chin. For instance, since it has a bowtie I know it is heterozygous (both chicks). What breeding did the first chick come from? (what I mean by this is was it SGxSG, bearded silkie X SG, nonbearded silkiexsg, etc)
I am betting hatchmates that were silkies are bearded, correct? Meaning both chicks are genetically bearded but one beard is not present due to the NN gene.
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Oh thanks for that. I always thought that was just good fluff, lol. Especially since I've never actually seen or held a baby silkie. Soon though!!