the very fine dog grooming brushes that are all wire can help. Looks like a million metal pins on the brush. But don't try to get them all out or you can end up breaking them. But giving the bird a quick (lightly!!!!) brush can help a bit.I just bathed my three girls for the show tomorrow and one of my blues have 6 toes...well at least a definate toe nail...not really a toe...I just don't know how I missed that...well she will not be going now and I am bummed I only have two to take...oh well...
My splash has a lot of waxy pins on her head when I was washing her and I couldn't get them off as I have no fingernails..not a good night...
These are all blues.... were you going to post a black too? And if one of these was supposed to be a black, then you have what I have! I have blues that "look" black, but they are not. I keep them and use them with splash to help darken up the spots and it has worked great! Unfortunately you will probably still end up breeding more dark blues that look black which is undesirable for showing. Blues should have a lighter body, darker head and hackles. I have gone on ahead and shown my dark blues at shows, but next to the correctly colored blues-- they will never do well. Also, a judge can spot a dark blue vs black.
I'd put him at a pet quality. But that has nothing to do with him being a Non-bearded bird. If you like this look, always be sure that you are buying non-bearded silkies to work with. Mixing bearded and non is really a bad idea. His comb is on the red side, he has a long back and his tail is all hard feathers-- that was nothing you did in washing him. If anything, washing should bring out more fluff and fuzz. He also has next to no feathering down his legs and on his feet. His middle toe should be fully feathered. BUT-- I'd go ahead and take him to the show and learn! Maybe you can pick up a better bird there. Watch for all of those things I told you about. His tail and neck should be very close together showing little or no back at all. Or if you don't see anything there, look for good breeders who are breeding Non-bearded silkies. There are more people breeding bearded, so don't be confused. A bare face and visible wattles let you know that they are a non. They can be equally as stunning as a bearded silkie if they are well bred.I need some pointers on this guy. #1. I've never shown a silkie. Perpetration practice has commenced. I gave him his first bath today. I didn't place any emphasis on getting his color back bright white. I just wanted to get the first layer of yuck off from this week long rain and see how well he would tolerated being washed. I used dog wash. I've done my best at making sure he didn't have any possible DQ issues.
If you see any please let me know. I'm defiantly no expert on silkie breed standards. I did a bad job at getting all the soap out of this tail and he's a tad wet.
When I look up photos of breed standard I see these beautiful round puffs. I also see photos similar to his. I'm completely confused.
The tail worried me the most.
Compared to some, I'd say he's a bit leggy?
But I can't help but love his face!!!!
Should I even bother though? He was hatched July 9th. From what I read he may or may not be old enough.
Any tips & tricks on whitening his coat? How to manage his tail etc? Any advice would be a god send.
The Leggy look you're talking about is because he has the lack of feathering down his legs and feet. So I'd say he's not show quality or even breeder quality-- but like I said, GO to the show and learn, learn!! Talk to the other silkie people there and get ideas on where to go from here! You will not regret going. For whitening, I use ShoSno and it is a blueing shampoo. You suds it into the bird gently and then wait the 3 minutes it tells you to wait, and then rinse it out well. Don't leave it on longer or you could turn a bird purple. I even use this on my Splash birds to help get out any yellow from sunburn or food stains, etc. Works great. But you can buy any whitening shampoo for dogs that has blueing in it and it should work. The shampoo will be blue or purple.
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***Okay, I came back to edit this post to post a couple pictures of roosters I currently own. I just wanted to show you so you can see what I'm talking about. Look at their tails and their necks..... they are touching! NO back can be seen. This is what you want. Now, my first rooster is really too leggy-- you can see how he is lacking a bit in the tail and it kind of throws off the look under him. That's not quite where you want to be. The second picture of the splash boy-- THAT is where you want to be. He is round all over and no leggy legs and a nice full crest and tail. Keep in mind that Non-beared birds will still look like this! They will just have a cleaner looking face.
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