Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

Alrighty, then! Soft feet. Hadn't really worried about that much before ....
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She has dry feet, compared to my polish roo
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He has girly pedicured feet
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Hello everybody.
I'm not into showing silkies, but I do have an interesting silky breeding project going on that I would like some input on, especially with the genetics involved.

I have some x-bred chickens from a full white silky roo and a frizzle cochin hen. The hen and the chicks are displayed on this genetics thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/731351/frizzle-genes-of-this-bird#post_10141899

Of all the chicks in the picture, I have 5. All have an intermediate silky type feather that look like normal hooked feathers with an abundance of down underneath the smooth feathers. They are noticeably from silky blood, but don't look like silkies.

They all have pea combs and extra toes and feather feet.
Booth males are white with pinkish skin.
The 3 females all have black skin.
1 is white.
1 is black with brown
1 is tannish brown with frizzle feathers.

All 3 whites have a dirty, rusty looking red cast or blush on their white.

These 5 birds have recently come into breeding age, but are in General Population flock. We've started collecting eggs, and our first confirmed egg from these birds hatched on Christmas Day. The chick has returned to the hookless silky feathering, white feathers, black skin, feather toes, and one extra toe. It is pictured at the end of the above thread. It too, has carried over the reddish blush of it's parents/aunts/uncles. Does anybody know what genes are throwing this red rust to the white?

It's pretty awesome to see the silky feathering disappear and then have it reappear in the following generation. We are thinking about putting these 5 birds in a breeding pen by themselves to see what kinds of traits show up.

Thank you for any comments or insights.
Happy new year!
 
Well, our flock is looking good! Happy and Healthy, clucking around. I have noticed since moving them into the barn, their appetite hasn't been great. There is always left over crumble in their feeders. I gave them some lettuce and warm oatmeal the other day and they scarfed it down like they havent eaten in months. Is it just the time of year or is there something can do to boost their appetites? They are getting vitamins and electrolytes still after having the mites and they are a little on the thin side. What can I feed to help the hens in the breeding pen get back to their normal weights? They were all wormed about eight weeks ago, so they should have put a little weight on after that right?

Is there anything that my breeding roos can and should be having to keep them in great shape for breeding? My blue breeding roo is working a little harder these days due to a overabundance of hens that popped up. No complaints here though. Just want to keep my boys healthy.
 
would anyone mind posting some tips here?: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/732195/showing-silkies#post_10155266

I started a thread for everything about preparing silkies for show. I also asked a question someone may know.
Oh you are a sweetheart!!! I think a one of my best chicken friends and I may go to the GA show....I talked to a woman the other night and she said that if you have even a strong like for silkies you need to be at this show. I think it is going to be one of the associations national for sillkies this year?
 
For a non-bearded he might be fair breeder, but is certainly not a showbird. Tail is wrong (sickles are not soft--too hard and pointed), crest and foot feathers are lacking. Body is nice and wide and rounded, though, and paired with a nice non-bearded girl you might get some pretty decent babies. $40 is too much for him; $20-30 is probably okay, especially if you have an appropriate non-bearded girl to work with, or they have one they will sell with him as a pair. If the later, look to the total price, not individual pricing to determine whether the the pair is worth the cost.
I have a very nice one that has many good qualities and looks much better but that as well as only my opinion. I would not even consider mine SQ even though he is meets a lot of the criteria for show. Craigslist can be scarry when it comes to things like this. I guess I have heard too many horror stories about it. Have you thought about asking someone here who may have one or they may know someone close to you who has good quality?
 
Sonoran.....every time I look at your avatar I think of big poofy balls! Very beautiful. Hope to have mine looking that good some day.
I have a chick that I will post pics of that is really going to be unusual. The mother is a silkie (I think mix) that I bred the roo that I ask about his coloration. You description was the first one I could actually understand. This little chick looks like it is still going to have some smooth feathering but the legs are more feathered AND...noticed that it is looking like the feet are frizzled. So..this is going to be one very interesting chick. I have a coupe more out of her so...curious to see what they will look like. They are looking like they are going to have a fuller crest than mom.
Here is the hen. She looks to be a incomplete silver penciled





Roo....the one you saw before.







 
Sonoran.....every time I look at your avatar I think of big poofy balls! Very beautiful. Hope to have mine looking that good some day.
I have a chick that I will post pics of that is really going to be unusual. The mother is a silkie (I think mix) that I bred the roo that I ask about his coloration. You description was the first one I could actually understand. This little chick looks like it is still going to have some smooth feathering but the legs are more feathered AND...noticed that it is looking like the feet are frizzled. So..this is going to be one very interesting chick. I have a coupe more out of her so...curious to see what they will look like. They are looking like they are going to have a fuller crest than mom.
Here is the hen. She looks to be a incomplete silver penciled





Roo....the one you saw before.







Oh they are cute! Very interesting!
 

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