Silkhorn project

[Chikyboy]

Hi! I have another breeding project...AGAIN!!!!! As it states in the title, these project birds will be called silkhorns, they will be a cross between a silkie and a leghorn.
As long as there are matching varieties of silkie and leghorn, there will most likely be a silkhorn of that variety too, though I will have to work it out with bbs genetics.
These are the varieties I think would look great: White, black, buff, red, lavender, blue, splash, silver, and cuckoo. The breeding order will be male leghorn over silkie females(Keep male), and male silkie over leghorn female(keep female), and breed the male and female together, cross offspring together, and breed from there.
I'm breeding for good egg production, silkie feathers, broodiness, tameness, crest, and leghorn bodytype (what do you call it?). There will be naked neck strains which will be called showgirl silkhorns, and maybe smooth-feathered strains called sathorns. @The Moonshiner @nicalandia @Amer @MysteryChicken @JacinLarkwell

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What exactly do you mean for characteristics of both? Several traits of one breed are not wanted at all in the other. Or do you mean a leghorn in every way except silkie feathering?

 

[Chikyboy]

What exactly do you mean for characteristics of both?

What do you mean what do I mean? I just want characteristics of both.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What do you mean what do I mean? I just want characteristics of both.

Okay, I think I saw what was confusing me. You want to make a new breed entirely based off of leghorns and silkies. Not silkie feathered leghorns.

One thing I will say is great egg production =\= broodiness. Excluding outliers, a breed is generally one or the other since a bird that's going broody reliably is not laying eggs reliably

 

[nicalandia]

My experience using a Silkie Rooster over Production type Leghorn is that the F1 hens are broody and bad layers, black skin on the hens and white skin on the Males, the type is very much Silkie with hard feather. Leghorns have been bred to lay 300+ eggs per year and never go broody

 

[Chikyboy]

My experience using a Silkie Rooster over Production type Leghorn is that the F1 hens are broody and bad layers, black skin on the hens and white skin on the Males, the type is very much Silkie with hard feather. Leghorns have been bred to lay 300+ eggs per year and never go broody

I have heard of lots of silkie leghorn crosses that have broodiness AND great egg laying. I am also going past f1.

 

[nicalandia]

I have heard of lots of silkie leghorn crosses that have broodiness AND great egg laying. I am also going past f1.

True, I only had a few hens so my sample was too slow to make any conclusive statements

 

[Capricoco]

Hi! I have another breeding project...AGAIN!!!!! As it states in the title, these project birds will be called silkhorns, they will be a cross between a silkie and a leghorn.
As long as there are matching varieties of silkie and leghorn, there will most likely be a silkhorn of that variety too, though I will have to work it out with bbs genetics.
These are the varieties I think would look great: White, black, buff, red, lavender, blue, splash, silver, and cuckoo. The breeding order will be male leghorn over silkie females(Keep male), and male silkie over leghorn female(keep female), and breed the male and female together, cross offspring together, and breed from there.
I'm breeding for good egg production, silkie feathers, broodiness, tameness, crest, and leghorn bodytype (what do you call it?). There will be naked neck strains which will be called showgirl silkhorns, and maybe smooth-feathered strains called sathorns. @The Moonshiner @nicalandia @Amer @MysteryChicken @JacinLarkwell

I think if you go for it, try and get your hands on some broiler silkies. These type of silkies have all silkie traits except they are large in body size. I wouldn’t use bantam silkies since you might end up with a small bodied hen that lays large eggs, which is VERY dangerous for the hen. I don’t know where you might get some, at one point I got some that were gifted to me but a flood wiped out all of them, with the exclusion of a single rooster. I don’t know where they got them with and that was a pretty long time ago.

 

[Chikyboy]

I think if you go for it, try and get your hands on some broiler silkies. These type of silkies have all silkie traits except they are large in body size. I wouldn’t use bantam silkies since you might end up with a small bodied hen that lays large eggs, which is VERY dangerous for the hen. I don’t know where you might get some, at one point I got some that were gifted to me but a flood wiped out all of them, with the exclusion of a single rooster. I don’t know where they got them with and that was a pretty long time ago.

Thank you!

 

[EmmaRainboe]

@The Moonshiner