Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

You can wash her head, if you do it very carefully . Lots of people drown Silkies bathing them, and with that breathing problem, you have to be really careful. Put her crest up too after you get her head dry.
Drown by filling the tub with water or drown just by washing the head? I always wash the heads on mine using the little sink hose, I spray back towards the crest trying to avoid the nostrils. But most of the time water does get in there and they sneeze it out. Didn't think they could drown though! I'll have to be extra careful, but unfortunately that is where they get extra dirty and need a good scrubing
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Drown by filling the tub with water or drown just by washing the head? I always wash the heads on mine using the little sink hose, I spray back towards the crest trying to avoid the nostrils. But most of the time water does get in there and they sneeze it out. Didn't think they could drown though! I'll have to be extra careful, but unfortunately that is where they get extra dirty and need a good scrubing
idunno.gif
Novices are sometimes not careful enough, and Silkies aspirate too much water when people wash their crests , even using the sprayer.
 
Novices are sometimes not careful enough, and Silkies aspirate too much water when people wash their crests , even using the sprayer.
Ah, I guess I just don't get enough water up their noses =P I also will blow onto their nostrils slightly forcefully if I think they have inhaled too much water and are struggling to clear their sinuses, seems to help them and they go back to normal. So here's a question i'm just thinking of, how do you do a nasal flush then? If your putting water into their noses? I know when I use the VetRX you mix it with water and drop it into the nostrils. Would there be a possibility of drowning with this also? Or do you really have to get enough water up there?
 
Ah, I guess I just don't get enough water up their noses =P I also will blow onto their nostrils slightly forcefully if I think they have inhaled too much water and are struggling to clear their sinuses, seems to help them and they go back to normal. So here's a question i'm just thinking of, how do you do a nasal flush then? If your putting water into their noses? I know when I use the VetRX you mix it with water and drop it into the nostrils. Would there be a possibility of drowning with this also? Or do you really have to get enough water up there?
Sometimes Silkies go almost catatonic when they are being washed. Then you really have to watch the water. You won't drown one with the Vet Rx because it makes them snort water out.
 
Thought I'd share some cuteness...






Both these chicks are white - the yellow-downed chick is a real fuzz-ball, out of my "Betty". She has given me some really cute chicks. The silver-downed chick is out of my "Rue". Rue carries the double silver gene and I have three more like this one. DDL, Rue is the girl you liked that needed the most conditioning. Her crest is now taped and the kitty litter works great so thank you again!
One other question...does it have to be regular, plain kitty litter? I now recall how much the odor offends me...yuck. And I mean clean litter!
 
Thought I'd share some cuteness...






Both these chicks are white - the yellow-downed chick is a real fuzz-ball, out of my "Betty". She has given me some really cute chicks. The silver-downed chick is out of my "Rue". Rue carries the double silver gene and I have three more like this one. DDL, Rue is the girl you liked that needed the most conditioning. Her crest is now taped and the kitty litter works great so thank you again!
One other question...does it have to be regular, plain kitty litter? I now recall how much the odor offends me...yuck. And I mean clean litter!
Too cute chicks ! The KL with baking soda is OK, but not the clumping kind.I put it in my coops that I built 3" sides around, about 1 " deep. Glad it's working for you.Use the cat scoop 2x a day, and clean feet, and you WILL grow as many foot feathers as the bird is capable of growing.
 
Thought I'd share some cuteness...






Both these chicks are white - the yellow-downed chick is a real fuzz-ball, out of my "Betty". She has given me some really cute chicks. The silver-downed chick is out of my "Rue". Rue carries the double silver gene and I have three more like this one. DDL, Rue is the girl you liked that needed the most conditioning. Her crest is now taped and the kitty litter works great so thank you again!
One other question...does it have to be regular, plain kitty litter? I now recall how much the odor offends me...yuck. And I mean clean litter!
Really cute chicks. I had one that was yellow (gold based) end up being a white - I also had one that was white (silver based) end up being white.

So now I have a question - what is the "double silver" gene? I thought Silver/Gold was a sex linked gene and the hens can only carry and pass on one gene?
hu.gif
 
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Too cute chicks ! The KL with baking soda is OK, but not the clumping kind.I put it in my coops that I built 3" sides around, about 1 " deep. Glad it's working for you.Use the cat scoop 2x a day, and clean feet, and you WILL grow as many foot feathers as the bird is capable of growing.
Thank you. Two times a day! I have been doing it about four or five - the little poopers! I am feeding the ff so poops are getting better, as far as poops go.
sickbyc.gif

I'm seriously questioning my sanity. These birds are a lot of work! I think they are more work than my dogs!
Really cute chicks. I had one that was yellow (gold based) end up being a white - I also had one that was white (silver based) end up being white.

So now I have a question - what is the "double silver" gene? I thought Silver/Gold was a sex linked gene and the hens can only carry and pass on one gene?
hu.gif
I don't know why I wrote "double"...?
hu.gif
Brain malfunction. All I know is that Rue has a dark spot in her crest - very tiny. I had asked Bobbi Porto about it and she said she probably carries the silver gene. She was right because all her chicks come out silver-downed as opposed to yellow. So I assume my roo carries it too (same lines) and that is what is producing the silver down...?
 
Thank you. Two times a day! I have been doing it about four or five - the little poopers! I am feeding the ff so poops are getting better, as far as poops go.
sickbyc.gif

I'm seriously questioning my sanity. These birds are a lot of work! I think they are more work than my dogs!
I don't know why I wrote "double"...?
hu.gif
Brain malfunction. All I know is that Rue has a dark spot in her crest - very tiny. I had asked Bobbi Porto about it and she said she probably carries the silver gene. She was right because all her chicks come out silver-downed as opposed to yellow. So I assume my roo carries it too (same lines) and that is what is producing the silver down...?
I never fed my Silkies fermented feed. They lived on Purina Gamebird Starter with BOSS, Calf Manna, and alfalfa leaves added. I can't imagine keeping crests and beards clean on fermented feed.
 
I never fed my Silkies fermented feed. They lived on Purina Gamebird Starter with BOSS, Calf Manna, and alfalfa leaves added. I can't imagine keeping crests and beards clean on fermented feed.

Well I thought I would give it a try. It makes sense to me in that the food is more bioavailable to the birds so you feed less and they produce less mess. It increases vitamin content too. I have found that by keeping it thick I don't have much problem. What I do is fill the bowl about three quarters and then top it off with crumbles/pellets. They start in on the dry and end up packing it down into the bowl and it ends up very compact, like a ferment cake. As long as I do this there is no beard mess. I also let my birds free-range on NICE days in an large xpen (actually several combined) that I move around like a tractor. I have an LGD that is wonderful at his job so I don't have to worry about anything preying on them. He goes after hawks too. Love that dog.
 

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