Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[alamb1]

Quote:

This one was marked lav.

[COLOR=800080]Partridge and possibly Porcelain. You can get lots of colors from a project paint pen and I think I remember reading that CatDance has some porcelain hens in the lavender pen.[/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]Here is the quote from her website: [/COLOR]Pens are color separated in buff, blue/splash together, black, two white pens, partridge, porcelain, paint with recessive white (for the moment), and lavender cockerels over porcelain & lavender split hens. [COLOR=800080]After reading that again - that sounds like the porcelain pen though! [/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]PA is paint though. Out of the 3 eggs I hatched from her eggs that were marked paint, two were partridge and one was paint.[/COLOR]

Oops! That one that you thought porcelain is actually from my white pair!

 

[Jharper]

Ok I so I'm putting eggs in the incubator from this guy and these girls. Any ideas on go the offspring will look?

I have another one. I will have to get a picture of her in a little bit.

 

[TNBarnQueen]

This works for me..

I found that not bringing up the humidity until internal pip helps them. I incubate at 100 and hatch at 97. I live in a humid environment. You need to find the perfect humid and temp environment for your home for good hatching. My numbers might not work for you. If you live in a humid climate you need less humidity, if you live in a dry climate you need more. My hatches work best for the chicks on lower temps. They have more vigor and are less likely to die early from complications. Some have very good successes on high temps. This is just my person experiences. It also depends on what type of incubator you have. I have table top incubators. The best one I have found so far is the Genesis. I have $400 dollar ones that are not as reliable or as successful. I usually have 100% hatch with my own eggs. I do not remember when I lost a chick from my own eggs.

I do not add any water at all in my Genesis. My humidity is around 30% with out water. If it does drop below 20% I have added a damp sponge. I do add water when the incubator starts cheeping, and raise it up to 50%. When chicks start hatching the humidity goes up on it own. I have also gone into the chick room and found chicks hatched out of eggs still in the turner with out any added water.

Sometimes those lil ones hatch early.

I live in East TN and we have already met our yearly average on rainfall if that tells you anything about what our humidity has been like. Horrible! In my house it runs around 20-255. Not sure why it is so dry so I keep a sponge in my hovabator keeping it between 40-45. I have been locking down raising it to 60 percent and I think that is my problem. The chicks that came out real tacky is what really worried me. Before this spring I always had good hatches averaging 80-85% on shipped...a few times 100% and 95% on my own eggs. Then this spring I started reading a lot on "perfect " hatching techniques and I think that is where I went wrong.
I had been doing pretty much what you did. Some of my best hatches happened while in the turner with humidity at 35%. In fact I had one hatch Sat like that. I would LD the last 2 days at 50% H and things would go fine. My incubators don't have fans....would that make a difference? I hatch at 99 degrees and had been dropping it to 97-98 but it seemed to slow down hatching. But I liked the idea of the chicks not getting so hot in the eggs and it made sense. So I think I am going back to my old ways. They seem to have worked best for me the last 3 years.
Thanks so much for everyone's advice.

 

[Fur N Feathers]

Oops! That one that you thought porcelain is actually from my white pair!

Hey you are the one that said the egg was marked as LAV!!!! Too funny!!!!!

Maybe it is a silver based white baby?

 

[Tncowgirl1903]

I have a baby silkie that was said to be white when I picked it up and it looked white for the longest but it is starting to have a yellow tent to it and looking porcelain. It has had a yellow tint to it for a white but it is starting to look like my other older porcelain chick. Any ideas?

 

[alamb1]

  [COLOR=800080]Hey you are the one that said the egg was marked as LAV!!!! Too funny!!!!![/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]Maybe it is a silver based white baby?[/COLOR]

It is. The breeder my roo came from said he is silver based. My friend does all the incubating and she got a little confused!

 

[alamb1]

This is another little chick from my white pair. It's soooo fuzzy!

 

[delisha]

Quote: Fans make a huge difference. I turn it off after internal pip. With out a fan you stay more humid and less air circulation around the eggs. I like a fan for the first 20 days.

Quote:

This is another little chick from my white pair. It's soooo fuzzy!

cute chick

 

[gooselady]

Beautiful!

 

[gooselady]

There has been an interest, and a need, of a thread for serious discussion and questions dedicated to showing Silkies and breeding quality birds and the genetics involved therein.
All varieties and projects are welcome, and pictures are encouraged, but please lets limit this thread to serious dicussion of breeding towards the standard of perfection

I totally agree. I'm not new to the chicken world but I am new at showing chickens. I used to show dogs, mine and other peoples so I have a little knowledge in equipment and supplies. I have a trio of very nice white Silkies that I am going to try showing when I can find a show close by. I can use any input of what to feed them to keep them in show shape. Also I purchased some dog whitening shampoo to try to get that stain off. I just recently acquired my beauties. I will appreciate any and all help so I can do my chickens right at the show. Bathing and feeding.