Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[AZChiknGoddess]

Thanks. He is in a breeding pen now but still has an eye watering problem. I have to clean the area around his eye about once a week now. I plan to show him at the end of this month. Maybe I can get that watering issue under control or stopped. He's real easy to handle since he's been getting it cleaned out since he was a week old. Here he is now His top knot is more like a hat. His streamers go up over it. I need to get a close up of his head.

I wonder if being a frizzle, he has an inverted eyelash causing the eye irritation.

 

[kabhyper1]

Are blue or silver partridge accepted by the silkie assoc. for show yet?
One of my little 3 month old blue partridge boys

 

[only1bgirl]

Does anybody have an idea what color my Silkie is in the front and or possible sex of both? I thought the egg was marked blue but she has a darker head than body and she had chipmunk like markings as a chick. I know the lady I got the eggs from has silver partridges too.

 

[only1bgirl]

@Caitlin_VT
Gorgeous birds you have! I'm new to Silkies too, I only have two that are 3 months old and an incubator with Buffs going now. I was wondering if your grey silkie had chipmunk like stripes as a chick? Trying to figure out what color I have, thought she was blue but read that the stripes mean partridge.

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

Does anybody have an idea what color my Silkie is in the front and or possible sex of both? I thought the egg was marked blue but she has a darker head than body and she had chipmunk like markings as a chick. I know the lady I got the eggs from has silver partridges too.

Kind of looks like a darker porcelain.

 

[Caitlin_VT]

@Caitlin_VT
Gorgeous birds you have! I'm new to Silkies too, I only have two that are 3 months old and an incubator with Buffs going now. I was wondering if your grey silkie had chipmunk like stripes as a chick? Trying to figure out what color I have, thought she was blue but read that the stripes mean partridge.

I must have a pic somewhere.. I really can't remember! I knew from the beginning that it was going to be grey in color, and it may have had stripes...!

 

[Zgm12]

My silkies are nearly 3 months and I wondering what color they are. When I got them as chicks I thought they were blues, but they have changed quite a bit and turning out to be a lot darker. Here are some pictures of them as chicks and adults:

Here are two of them now:

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Blue or black. If you can get your hands on a splash to breed them to you'll know for sure. Black x blue= black and blue chicks only. Blue x splash= blue and splash

 

[Zgm12]

Blue or black. If you can get your hands on a splash to breed them to you'll know for sure. Black x blue= black and blue chicks only. Blue x splash= blue and splash

Thank you for responding! If I ever were to show them what color would I show them under? Also is there any way other than breeding to tell if they are truly blue or black?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

With blacks, the black color goes all the way down the feather shaft. Blues are usually lighter near the skin, but breeding them is (in my opinion) the surest way to tell. In your last picture, they look dark blue to me, but blues can be tricky! I try to breed for the blue in my avatar (dark head, lighter body), they're much easier to distinguish from my blacks! If I find a dark blue that I thought was black through breeding, they end up finding a new home.
Its so hard to tell them apart, that a lot of breeders pen their blacks away from their blues to keep them separate. I'd love to do that, but I don't have enough blacks (good blacks are hard to find for some reason).

Good luck!