Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I'm a meat eater. My issue is not with birds being eaten. My issue is with birds being badly treated when sent to "pet" quality (or whatever!) homes that end up being far from ideal situations. We just have to make sure we don't have our heads in the sand.

 

[aoxa]

I'm a meat eater. My issue is not with birds being eaten. My issue is with birds being badly treated when sent to "pet" quality (or whatever!) homes that end up being far from ideal situations. We just have to make sure we don't have our heads in the sand.

I am a meat eater as well, but I will not eat silkies. Can't stomach it. I have a lot of friends that get my culls straight away if there is a defect (misformed feet, bad wings, crooked beaks) all they want are pets, and they do go to good homes. Even this boy who's foot looked like this:

You can see the disability that didn't affect it's life at all. Now it lives with a good friend in a pet home, and she sends me pictures and has named him Scotty Mac. I refuse to sell silkies with defects like this because I would be afraid of how they were treated. However, I have 4 friends that take these birds if I come across them. Most just want broodies and pets.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I must say, I'm just a wee bit surprised by your response here, sager. "Pet" quality Silkies often don't go to good homes or homes at all as you well know. I'd much rather do them in myself than send them to such an unknown fate ....

My eyes have been opened ....

Perhaps the area one lives in makes a difference? Or the method of selling them? The pet homes I have seen are every bit as good or better than most of the "exhibition homes" I have seen. And this is talking about well-kept exhibition birds.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: This is just a general discussion; I don;t think Aoxa or anyone else was referring to you specifically.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: No need to be sorry

I personally agree wholeheartedly with you.

 

[sager:)silkies]

I'm a meat eater. My issue is not with birds being eaten. My issue is with birds being badly treated when sent to "pet" quality (or whatever!) homes that end up being far from ideal situations. We just have to make sure we don't have our heads in the sand.

barb i can deffinatley see were ur coming from and if i ever did see my silkies go to a bad home i would be sad and unhappy and i would just never sell to that person again and if it happen more often then id like then i may have to change things

 

[aoxa]

Perhaps the area one lives in makes a difference?  Or the method of selling them?  The pet homes I have seen are every bit as good or better than most of the "exhibition homes" I have seen.  And this is talking about well-kept exhibition birds.

I think the area and method is definitely the case. Especially if you live in an area with a high population of Asians (how do I say this without sounding racist.. Honestly it's not about that). Also if you 'give' them away, you are more likely to attract poor homes.

I sold my boys from $5 - $20. Almost all went to homes where kids wanted them as pets. They already had regular hens and wanted a first rooster. A silkie is a great first rooster.

My call ducks went to someone I really didn't like. He handled them improperly, and I will never sell to him again.

Here are some of my pet re-homed roosters

Now can you really say these boys would have been better off if I ended their lives?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I do agree with you. One generation of crossing two lines does not create a line of one's own. I am not sure how many generations it takes; a lot. And I will happily give credit to those breeders from whom I have gotten birds. Even many years later.

I got my start in silkies with two Stanford whites, added in a Mihalik lavender splash and progressed from there. That was 12 years ago. I've since added more of those lines as well as a number of other lines at various time, but for the most part bred the birds I had and then re-bred them again and again. My birds generally tend to be a bit smaller than some other lines, and they are definitely very slow maturing.

I definitely claim my chocolates as my own. While the silkie blood came from my own "mixed-line" flock, I crossed them to chocolate polish from a friend's flock, and then to each other and back to silkies for several generations. This weekend Eric Kutch told me that if chocolate was recognized for silkies, he would have judged my chocolate pullet as Best of Breed over my black pullet who was Reserve Featherleg. (I should have asked how she would have fared against the brahma who took featherleg!) . I think I have photos of first and second generation birds in an album on the club website.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I have several neighbors who have birds from me. One has an adorable little coop and fresh green grass for their very small flock to run around on every day. They want birds without much crest because they have a pool and want to be sure the birds don;t accidentally fall in. These birds are VERY pampered. Another neighbor's birds are her kids adored pets. They have a very nice, very clean coop and get a lot of attention. They do share the coop with her layers, but nothing wrong with that.

On the other hand, an exhibitor I know keeps most of his flock at others' homes, going by "daily" to care for them, One of these homes is a friend, and she regularly criticizes his lack of adequate care for his birds. And this is a person who will not keep a bird that is not capable of winning at a larger show, so we are definitely not talking PQ birds.

 

[Feathersprings]

thats exactly why i said i would sell my pq birds if u read my first post then u would know that im against killing birds

I cant do it either... which is why i dont raise meat birds.. wish I could. I have been having good luck selling to 4-H kids . I am just getting back into breeding Silkies and wont be just hatching as many egg as I can lol! I will only be hatching to get what I want for myself and will be able to share a few. I live in an area where there isnt a lot of demand and most people have a 2-4 hour drive to pick up even pet birds .