Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[thedragonlady]

Is slipped wing truly a genetic defect or is it due to a bird being fed too much protein while growing? I have heard both. What are your thoughts?

Has anyone else heard this?

Slipped wings, called Angel Wings in Waterfowl, can be due to too much protein in Waterfowl. I have not found this to be the case with Silkies. I raised one clutch of Silkies years ago, 1/2 on high protein feed, and 1/2 on low protein. Both groups had the same percentage of bad wings. I culled that line FAST!

I have found though, in my huge Orps, that it is important to get the babies flying up to a low roost early to develop their pectoral muscles to get a well filled breast, before they get too heavy to really fly. At maturity, very few show quality Orps fly as well as Silkies due to their weight.

 

[aoxa]

The APA standard was written first. Years ago, most people who got into bantams had already shown LargeFowl.They understood about wings. Does it really matter if the problems with Silkie wings are due to being slipped, or split? They are BOTH DQs ! Silkies are supposed to be able to fly. Not so much, but enough to get up to a roost.

I found over the years that true SPLIT wings are not terribly common in Silkies, but SLIPPED wings are rampant .The only way to knock out this breed defect is to simply stop breeding Silkies with any wing faults, and not to split hairs about it. The problem is getting WORSE friends, not better.Fully half of the Silkies I see posted on BYC have bad wings!

I love the fact that more Silkies are being bred now , but I hate to see such a common fault in the breed taking over.

I find you can see a fault with a wing even if it is not fanned out. The split/slipped wings are not as common here believe it or not. I have yet to even see one of my birds with it. I have seen weak wing where they don't hold their wings close enough to their body (that's what weak wing is called, right? Correct me if I'm wrong...)

 

[thedragonlady]

I find you can see a fault with a wing even if it is not fanned out. The split/slipped wings are not as common here believe it or not. I have yet to even see one of my birds with it. I have seen weak wing where they don't hold their wings close enough to their body (that's what weak wing is called, right? Correct me if I'm wrong...)

Once you start seeing what you call "Weak Wing" ; slipped wings are next. Try giving your babies a branch to fly to in their brooder space to develop those Pectoral muscles. If the problem still continues after that , breed to only strong winged birds.

 

[chickendales]

Isn't cuckoo typically a blue feather with white bars? Like the Barred Rock - which is obviously barred rather than cuckoo but still the same barring gene. Just wondering how you would know it was a "blue cuckoo" v just a plain old cuckoo. I guess you can add the barring gene to any colour? Do we have black barred or cuckoo birds? (I'm going to have to get my books out again ....

)

barred rocks are black bird with white bars, a blue cuckoo would be blue bird with white bars

 

[Adoravachick]

I have heard of more than a few breeders will clip the primary feathers on younger birds to take the weight off of the wing tip, and allow the muscle to learn to tuck in naturally.
However, I don't know if it is covering up a defect, or helping to correct the wing muscle...
Different breeders have different feelings on this.

That is interesting. I wonder what the outcome is in the long run?

 

[aoxa]

Once you start seeing what you call "Weak Wing" ; slipped wings are next. Try giving your babies a branch to fly to in their brooder space to develop those Pectoral muscles. If the problem still continues after that , breed to only strong winged birds.

I had only one with weak wing and she has already found a pet home The rest hold them really tight to their body. I find the weak wing looks sloppy.

 

[fluffyfeathers]

How early can you see if a bird has a weak wing? Can you tell as early as a week or two old?

 

[aoxa]

How early can you see if a bird has a weak wing? Can you tell as early as a week or two old?

Not in my experience.. They don't seem to reach full potential in the wings until week 16 in some. I've seen earlier, but at 20 weeks, if they show signs - I'd rehome them.. If not sooner.. If you care to check out my gallery of images. I have a progression of a silkie growing up. Phyllis.. She's not as great as some birds on here - that's a given. I do feel she has very strong wings though. She didn't always have such nice wings. They really started improving come 15 weeks or so.

Now.

 

[fluffyfeathers]

Thanks for your reply. I will go look at your gallery. Phyllis is beautiful!

 

[fluffyfeathers]

I went and looked at your gallery. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that. So wings are one of the traits that can't be culled for early on. I'm glad to know that because I was close to letting go of some young chicks that might have turned out great