Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Naliez]

And a few of the others

 

[Adorkable]

Slimy is showing some beautiful colors. What's the difference between splash and paint?

Genetically they are totally different. I'm not an expert so I can't really explain all that stuff, but from what I understand is that paint in silkies is dominant white with pigment holes (which is why they have the black spots). I think paints have solid colored feathers, meaning that each feather is either white or black.

I think splash is usually a light grey color with dark blue splashes of color throughout. Splash can be bred from splash to splash with 100% splash babies, but the offspring can become really dilute and after doing several splash x splash matings the dark blue "splashes" of color will become so light they will hardly be visible, so it's probably best to breed splash to blue which should give you about 50% blue and 50% splash babies.

I don't know too much about genetics so I can't really explain all the technical stuff.. sorry lol

 

[Naliez]

Genetically they are totally different. I'm not an expert so I can't really explain all that stuff, but from what I understand is that paint in silkies is dominant white with pigment holes (which is why they have the black spots). I think paints have solid colored feathers, meaning that each feather is either white or black.

I think splash is usually a light grey color with dark blue splashes of color throughout. Splash can be bred from splash to splash with 100% splash babies, but the offspring can become really dilute and after doing several splash x splash matings the dark blue "splashes" of color will become so light they will hardly be visible, so it's probably best to breed splash to blue which should give you about 50% blue and 50% splash babies.

I don't know too much about genetics so I can't really explain all the technical stuff.. sorry lol

No, that is perfect info for me. Anything more and you'd see my eyes glaze over and I'd be lost. Thank you! We got these eggs from SQ stock and I was hoping for some good quality birds; maybe get my kids into 4-H shows with them. I know they're still pretty young yet but maybe later I'll post some more pictures and you guys can tell me if there's any serious faults you can see?

 

[Adorkable]

Quote:
I would probably wait till they are at least 5ish months old before evaluating them, but there are a few things you can look for at their age. They should all have 5 toes on each foot. Their shanks should be feathered down the outer sides. Make sure they have the correct comb (walnut). Can't really think of anything else off the top of my head. They're very young (and cute!).

 

[phrogwomen]

This is the same silkie from hatch date of July 4th to today <10-7-15> the last picture it the bird in front.

What color would this be? I know the roster was blue. I'm almost sure the hen was buff.

 

[Naliez]

I would probably wait till they are at least 5ish months old before evaluating them, but there are a few things you can look for at their age. They should all have 5 toes on each foot. Their shanks should be feathered down the outer sides. Make sure they have the correct comb (walnut). Can't really think of anything else off the top of my head. They're very young (and cute!).

Thank you! They're all looking good so far. I really love the look and personality of Slimy but can't keep a roo here. Hopefully, he'll just be a really BIG hen... We are debating trying a no-crow collar if and when the time comes, but the more I read about it, the more mixed reviews I see. I certainly don't want to injure or mistreat Slimy just for our benefit. I'm trying to look into possibilities of new homes now, so I'll be ready, rather than scrambling to find any home rather than a good home. I know generally, people don't eat Silkies, so I think he'll have that going for him! We had actually picked up a couple day old BAs for our friends, but they kept putting off picking them up and we got attached. It wouldn't have been too much of an issue to hand them off at 20 weeks old (despite putting all of the work and money into raising them ourselves), but their set up would have been a pretty steep drop in the quality of life and safety for the chickens, so we told them we were keeping them. Talk about awkward. Lol

 

[juliemarie]

.

I am going to look at this little guy this weekend. The first picture is 3 months old and second picture is 6 months old. Sorry if the pictures are not great. They came from the seller. I would like to see if he may be show quality or a breeder. Thanks

 

[dawnmbailey63]

wow gorgeous

 

[sumi]

Hi everyone, the Silkie breed is our chicken breed focus breed this week. Please come share your pics and stories over here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048544/chicken-breed-focus-silkie/0_30

 

[Ray E]

My Charlie being fresh