Showgirl thread- for posting pictures and discussing breed!

[bpgraham]

I have both Bearded and Non-Bearded. My Non-Beardeds come from my SG's that are Non-Bearded to a Non-Bearded Silkie Roo. The Bearded are Non Bearded and Bearded SG's to Bearded Silkie Roo's. My favorite is the Bearded. I also seem to get more "I want that one.." from people here buying Silkies when they see the SG's on the Bearded babies... soo... I'm heading in an all Bearded direction. My Non-Bearded Silkie Roo puts heavy leg feathering and good toes on the SG's soooo... trying to use that for that end and then breed back to the Bearded that have a better Top Hat... That is what makes it fun!! And unlike Horses it doesn't take years for 1 cross to work out. lol.

 

[ultasol]

All of the SGs I posted are from bearded silkies x SG. I don't have any non-bearded silkies, although I did have one nice non-bearded male pop up this year which went to a 4-h kid.

Another thing that I see popping up is wattle size in all varieties and improving earlobe color in the blues. Calesta Rieth of Hobosilkies has some very nice cuckoo showgirls and I actually have one from her in growout. I will have to get pics...

 

[rilly10]

So generally speaking as long as you pair a bearded SG with a bearded silkie you will typically hatch all with beards? I would think it would be the same as silkies but I see just as many if not more non-bearded showgirls than bearded.

Speaking of hatching...I just candled my first set of eggs from my lav sg roo I posted who is paired with a bearded lav silkie hen and 4/5 have veining! These are my first eggs from them! SOOOO HAPPY!

 

[ultasol]

Ok,.. I am going to try to explain my understanding....
With showgirls it's not as simple as bearded or non-bearded, because there is another gene at play- the NN (naked neck) gene. You could have a bird that, if it weren't for the presence of the NN gene, would have a beard appear beardless because the NN gene is expressed in that case in such a manner that there is no feathering underneath the chin. If you look carefully at the pictures of the blue SG brothers I posted, you will see the first has a few feathers (sparse) underneath the chin whereas the other has none. The mother is from a SGx silkie and is hetero for NN, and she was crossed with a bearded blue silkie cock that is from bearded on bearded breedings.... so the boys are from a mother who was bearded silkiexsg and a father who was bearded silkiex bearded silkie.

I have a couple of silkie full brothers of these boys and all are bearded. I believe these SG are carrying the genes for beards, but the expression of the naked neck gene causes the lack of feathering underneath the chin, so the phenotype looks non-bearded, but genetically they are bearded.

Does that make sense?

 

[silkie_sue]

Hi there other Showgirl lovers
This is a picture of one of My younger hens, Jasmine.

http://usera.imagecave.com/ashkedarklace/MVC-007F.JPG

I have a small flock, 4 showgirls hens and 2 sg roo's. Also 3 Silkie hens and 2 Silkie roo's.
Oct. 26th my first showgirl hen started laying (Madonna). So I put her in with the silkie roo'
and two days later checked a egg, yep, fertile

.I've been collecting eggs since then....will be
collecting till Nov. 8th, that's the day they are going into the incubator.Sooooo...that will make
for a hatch date of Nov. 29th. Oh and did notice someone mentioned what generation their showgirls were
That's always good to know so, I'll add to that......this new hatch will be a 12th generation.

I'm so excited someone else wants to talk Showgirls, yea!

Thank's for starting this topic

Suz

 

[rilly10]

Ultrasol- thanks so much for the explanation! That makes much more sence! So would my roo not be considered bearded since it is so sparse?

Silkie_sue- Jasmine is very pretty! Love the black skin and blue lobes against the white! The whites deff display the skin and earlobes the best! Are all of yours white? Would love to see more pics of everyones showgirls!

I would post more but right Now I only have the one lav roo! I am going to be adding another blue roo soon to pair with a blue bearded silkie I have to start a BBS pen!

 

[ultasol]

I don't think the bearded or non-bearded question really applies to SG. For instance, when I have entered them in a show this is how I enter a SG:
Breed: Silkie
Variety: White showgirl
Gender: K (stands for cockerel)

what I put down when I enter a white silkie cockerel, for comparison.
Breed: Silkie
Variety: Bearded White
Gender: K

So, if you have a SG out of a background of repeated crosses back to bearded silkies, the bird is probably carrying the bearded gene,... but there will be no feathers or sparse feathers underneath the chin due to the naked neck gene. This is my understanding, and if anyone has any other information I would be glad to hear it.

 

[silkie_sue]

hi rilly 10
Thanks I think Jazzy's a looker too And yes all of my showgirls are white. The 4 SG hens are all naked neck and the 2 SG roo's are bow tie.
My hubby thinks I'm nuts because I want....just one little black SG hen, just for me as a pet I want to name her Elvira.

Suz

 

[rilly10]

Quote:

Somehow I missed this part the first time!!! I AGREE 100%! Every time hubby complains about how ridiculous the silkies and showgirls are I remind him I do have a stallion and two mares....would he rather I breed them???? That usually shuts him up!

Oh and Silkie_Sue... You must get an Elvira! I am on your side for that one!

 

[Chickie Mamma]

Here are a couple pics of my white showgirl..

I have a question...
This is a non-bearded white bowtie.. right?
I plan on mating her to my bearded white silkie roo...
What will I get? Is it possible to get a bearded bowtie?
Genetics are confusing