Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[alamb1]

These are some pictures of our first chick from our white pair. I had a couple of questions. It appears to be "smutty" above its eyes. It kinda looks smoky. Does that go away as they get older? The breeder said that our rooster carries silver. Secondly, I think it has cross beak. Is there anything I can do to help it. It's about a week old now but it looks very slight Thank you all for your help!

 

[City farm]

Hi I have a white silkie hen that just hatched 11 eggs. can any one tell me what color they think they will be. the rooster is a blue splash..

Only a newbie, just had to sat congradulations... & WOW beautiful roo!!

 

[donne]

Price also might depend on the area you live in. Have you checked craigslist or tried contacting breeders?

No not yet tomorrow I will though thank you for answering my questions though !!

 

[blipit007]

Finally back on BYC! I have been spending a lot of time working with some local breeders and learning a lot. I am finally fine tuning my "eye" and what I want to see in my birds. This is Miss Olive, she is only 4 months. Hoping she will fill in that tail and her Splash markings will deepen. I have been noticing that several of my splash can take several months to develop good markings, is this the case for anyone else?

Oh what a beauty!

Does anyone have any idea what colors these are? Are they greys? Leaky blacks and blues? I know they're not the best pictures, but they found a new home today. The lady that bought them asked me what color they were and I had no idea what to tell her. The rooster started out pure black, so I'm guessing he's just leaky. The pullets all started out as partridge though. One pullet was actually partridge, another turned dark blue with some brown in the hackles. Everyone else looks like this:

Cockerel- started out black.

I had 5 that looked like this. A couple of them have some brown in their wing feathers.

Then there's this pullet, who's much different than everyone else.

And, on a sadder note, a splash hen I'd sold came back to me yesterday. The people who bought her called me (as I'd asked, if they decided they didn't want her for some reason). They said they've now decided Silkies aren't for them, she just wasn't active/never did anything. Well, I go to pick her up and they tell me "all she ever does is sit in that box" (they've had her almost 6 MONTHS). I explained the breed in depth when they purchased her. I told them all about broodiness. They had her in a kitty litter container flipped over on it side with poop for bedding

Her plucked chest has ammonia burn from sitting in excrement. Her crest and beard are completely gone and she's emaciated. I'm just sick over this. She was GORGEOUS when I sold her and now she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Ugh. Here's a picture of what she looked like AFTER a bath and blow dry (I'm pretty embarrassed to even post it)

I understand that once I let an animal go, I no longer have any control over them. But, this is unacceptable. I told these people that if they had any questions or problems that they could call me and I'd do my best to help out. What's worse? They give me back this poor hen in terrible condition and then have the nerve to ask me if I'd mind donating some chicks to them since they're children are starting 4H. Umm, NO! Never going to happen

I am so glad you got her back! Disgusting! I worked with dog rescue, so this story hits a soft spot in my heart!

 

[ChickNmamma]

These are some pictures of our first chick from our white pair. I had a couple of questions. It appears to be "smutty" above its eyes. It kinda looks smoky. Does that go away as they get older? The breeder said that our rooster carries silver. Secondly, I think it has cross beak. Is there anything I can do to help it. It's about a week old now but it looks very slight Thank you all for your help!

The "smut" goes away when they get white feathers in. My Smutty bird is turning all white.

The cross beak won't - and I hope for the chick's sake it doesn't get any worse. I am having to put one of mine down that started out as a slight cross beak but has gotten so bad that now she has wry neck. Something went very wrong in incubation, I will no longer set eggs within 3 days of lockdown...

 

[alamb1]

The "smut" goes away when they get white feathers in.  My Smutty bird is turning all white.

The cross beak won't - and I hope for the chick's sake it doesn't get any worse.  I am having to put one of mine down that started out as a slight cross beak but has gotten so bad that now she has wry neck.  Something went very wrong in incubation, I will no longer set eggs within 3 days of lockdown...

Thank you so much for the reply. I read that the earlier they start the worse they get. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Thank you so much for the reply. I read that the earlier they start the worse they get. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it.

I have a "special" Silkie. She has cross beak, sort of. The top has a twist and the bottom is straight. She's my daughters favorite, we call her Smirks. She a mess, crooked beak, crooked toes, wry tail- but she's adorable and sweet as can be.

Anyway, her twist started out so slight I wasn't sure if I was seeing what I was seeing. It did get a little worse, but it doesn't slow her down any. She's feisty I'll try to get a picture.

 

[Lynzi777]

I have a question as far as breeding certain colors together...I was under the impression after learning all about genetics for breeding that if you bred a lavender split to a black you would get 100% black. Well I bred a lavender split (blue) roo to a black hen and got one partridge chick. The black hen had only given me 1 egg so I didn't get any other chicks from her other than the one partridge. Is partridge just one of those colors that pops up from time to time when breeding the splits?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Here's Smirks in all of her crooked glory

 

[ChickNmamma]

I have a question as far as breeding certain colors together...I was under the impression after learning all about genetics for breeding that if you bred a lavender split to a black you would get 100% black. Well I bred a lavender split (blue) roo to a black hen and got one partridge chick. The black hen had only given me 1 egg so I didn't get any other chicks from her other than the one partridge. Is partridge just one of those colors that pops up from time to time when breeding the splits?

Yes. But not just breeding Splits - any color (except White?) can throw Partridge. Partridge is one of those recessive colors that doesn't come up unless both parents carry Partridge. It also expresses in chick down but may go away completely when they grow up - so you can have Partridge Chicks and Blue or Black Adults. I have a bunch of ex-Partridge chicks that now look Buff. Only one still has any Partridge coloring left on her - and that's what I was trying to get.

Also - you don't get 100% black with Split/Black - you get 50% Black Splits (carrying Lavender) and 50% blacks. They may LOOK black - but they carry lavender. While they say you can't see the difference, it does change the genetics for their children, so I wouldn't call them Black. When you throw Blue into the mix you get.. ummmmm.. I think its 25% Black, 25% Blue, 25% Black Split and 25% Blue Split? Only by test breeding can you find out who is Black or Blue - and who is the Splits.