Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Hawkeye95]

I have heard more than a handful of "top" breeders say that they won't sell anything less than top show/breeding stock, period. Because of the junk. They sell something off as "pet quality" and the next thing you know, there is an ad for birds from so and so's lines out of that junk. Then a whole lot of unhappy people down the line buying because they believed they were getting birds from swanky lines. Absolutely, buyer beware, but it's hard on the guy whose name is at the end of the line when those newbies get taken. I've seen it happen with Marans, Ameraucanas, and Silkies.

hmm, good point! So far, I have sold all culls on CraigsList. I have never listed a name, or tried to pawn them off as someone's birds. Understandable why you wouldn't want your name attached to birds you are weeding out.

No offense taken but silkies arent really chickens they are furry aliens...lol....we have Ameraucanas and Chanteclers and I eat them if they dont work out...but i couldnt bare to eat a silkie. As for breeding birds with defects and dqs you dont want to do it but sometimes if the bird is great in all other aspects or its all you have then you start with what you can get. You can upgrade by buying into good genetics if you know where to find it. I met a lady years ago and she had beautiful silkies she was so excited to get this kinda plain looking rooster from this famous line and showed him to me...he flew right at her as she opened the show pen door and latched onto her sweatshirt madly attacking her midsection....she just laughed and said that she didnt care as he had the genetics she wanted in her line. So i learned my first lesson in silkie breeding.

I read on to hear what you meant-- but was very interested in the lesson you learned.

For years I had an oriental gentleman who would buy all my culls at $5 each, no matter what the age. The orientals make the equivalent of "Jewish Penicillan" out of black skinned birds. The birds were killed before they left my farm, and taken away in a sack. WHY? See below...

Do a check up of some of the PET QUALITY Silkies you sell after about 6 months. I think some of you may dismayed to see the conditions that your birds are living in, once the novelty wears off.THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN BEING DEAD !

I need someone like that to take my culls! But I also feel that especially the pullets-- if they can find a pet home, that would be ideal.

Hi we have partridge Chanteclers..LF and adore how docile they are...Im actually a Canadian living here in the midwest..lol...defected but still have a farm up there in Niagara Falls area..lol...an example of using a bird with good genetics..lets see...well lets deal with a black rooster with some red leakage in the hackles now when he is under i year it is a dq but when he becomes a mature rooster he can be shown with red in his hackles as many develop that after their first molt...many shy from using those birds but often that red will help make the black blacker as in give it a more green sheen....you would have to ask Suze on how it all works....if a bird is of the lines you want let say its George Mihalik who has bred some of the best silkies ever....you have the opportunity to get some of that blood via a bird who maybe is not perfect as in the crest might not be big enough or the rooster has a bigger comb than you like or the cushion is maybe not so large so the bird is an average breeder bird but whose good genes can often come through in your offspring....you can have two of the not so great looking silkies produce the best showbirds and you can have showbirds who never produce anything of quality...silkies are fluffy aliens and are their little gene pools are the washing machines of the chicken world......as for culling that is a delicate subject I love the birds so much but if any of them develop wry neck i put them down ...i do sell pets as i get people who just want a pet for their enjoyment who looks nice just has a dq for showing....and if i have too many roos who i cant find a place for or i think they just should not be bred I send them to an auction where no one knows where they came from and I am just a number. I drop them off and leave they send me a check. I feel sad when i do it but i cant feed them all and this way our name is attached to them.

I have never seen or heard of an auction like that here locally. How did you find yours? We have swaps... but that's about all that I know of.

one more question. I was watching my "girls" a minute ago... is it possible to have a cockerel who looks like a pullet even at 10 months and doesn't crow? The splash "pullet" I have acts very boyish and doesn't lay eggs, but hasn't crowed even when egged on by other roosters. Looking at "her" tail today too it seems she has gotten even more stiff tail feathers since the last time I looked. I will post a video of them while they are eating now so you can maybe see what I mean by acting boyish.

Looks like a girl. She has girl coloring too, and no streamers coming off the crest that I can see. My splash boys get really dark in the hackels, and she has stayed the lighter color.

I've been gone-- but LOVE the discussion going on! So many great points and good ideas for going forward with our breedings!

Dragonlady, how did you find your asian gentleman? Did you take out an ad for your silkies to eat? So far, I have sold everything on CraigsList for $5 a piece-- basically eating prices here. I'm pretty sure one guy that showed up to buy several roosters was going to eat them. But he didn't tell me he'd like to come back for more, or anything. Wondering how you established that relationship.

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: Me either. I tried to look it up online and didn't come up with much. I would love to know the brand name.

 

[chikincrazee]

Its just a normal auction place ..im sure theres one in Kansas somewhere but if you can get $5 a piece of Craiglist go that way...my friend lives down there so we went to vist and dropped the birds off at the auction...some probably went for eating and others to backyard flocks...but at least they are off my feed tab...

 

[littlecritters]

Its just a normal auction place ..im sure theres one in Kansas somewhere but if you can get $5 a piece of Craiglist go that way...my friend lives down there so we went to vist and dropped the birds off at the auction...some probably went for eating and others to backyard flocks...but at least they are off my feed tab...

Sometimes these are called livestock or farmers auctions. Checking with a local Agway might be a way for folks to locate an auction in their area.

In regard to white kitty litter, I am using sweet PDZ instead. It is a natural mineral that can't cause harm if ingested. Neutralizes the ammonia smell and is sifted with a kitty litter tool. I use it on my poop board for the laying flock, in the brooder and also sprinkle on the shavings for the silkies. Works like a charm to cut odor and does not stick to feathers. The big chickens like to dust bathe in it. It doesn't matter if you use the powder or granule form, both work.

 

[peepblessed]

one more question. I was watching my "girls" a minute ago... is it possible to have a cockerel who looks like a pullet even at 10 months and doesn't crow? The splash "pullet" I have acts very boyish and doesn't lay eggs, but hasn't crowed even when egged on by other roosters. Looking at "her" tail today too it seems she has gotten even more stiff tail feathers since the last time I looked. I will post a video of them while they are eating now so you can maybe see what I mean by acting boyish.

Looks very "girl" to me.

 

[ChicksNherps]

Looks very "girl" to me.

Looks like a girl. She has girl coloring too, and no streamers coming off the crest that I can see. My splash boys get really dark in the hackels, and she has stayed the lighter color.

Okay I just have no idea with these two lol. No eggs, no crowing, sometimes they stand tall and alert sometimes they are short and squat.

 

[Hennyhandler]

Alright, I have finally gotten more pictures of my roo to ask if ya'll think he is blue or black. I had pics on here of him but I was told that it would be easier to tell if there were pics of the underfluff. I know that the underfluff for a blue would be blue looking and if he was black then the underfluff would be silvery looking. By what I saw it looked more silver but I'm not for sure. What do you think?

I know they aren't the greatest pics but that is all I could get and I know he looks a little brown or reddish but that is just the sun on him.




I swear after getting the pics on here they look even worse than they did on my phone. I didn't think they were THAT bad. I may just have to break out the camera. If you could diagnose his color from these I would appreciate opinions. Thanks.

 

[Hennyhandler]

Okay I couldn't stand it so I went out and attempted more pics. The first two are my roo but the last is my hen and by looking at her and her underfluff she looks softer and muted compared to him.


This is the hen.

 

[moomoodiddy]

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[LaPetiteFarmer]

Sorry to unleash but I am quite frustrated lol!
I am pretty upset at myself for not paying more attention, but I realized that I have two chicks with 6 toes

. Another one has a bald spot in its scull and out of 3 whites I got, the 3 seem to be roosters

So now I have to get rid of 5 more chicks

.... and I am sure I am not done lol.