Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[faithlyork]

Don't quote me, but looking at your and comparing to mine, the one on the right standing looks like a pullet. The one on the lefts crest looks like a rooster. I only have two silkies so that just by best guess.

 

[faithlyork]

Actually with the second picture, the one on the left looks more like a pullet. So, never mind! I don't have a clue! Lol

 

[Zgm12]

Best Guess : \ on sex

The silkie on the right is definitely a pullet. The other one looks like it could be a rooster, but I'm not positive. Some more pictures would help.

 

[Troubadour05]

Quote:
I agree, the one on the right looks like a pullet, but not sure about the other. More pictures please! :]

 

[1TurkenLover]

I'll try to get better ones when Rain Stops .

 

[Kathryn173]

Could someone tell me if this silkie roo has an acceptable comb colour? His skin is black, and he has the 5 toes etc. It's only his comb and wattles that have went this maroon colour as hes maturing. I just need to know if this is a good or bad thing before I get rid of him, I have others that are still all black but I think he has a better shape.

Thanks

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Acceptable for what? Breeding or showing? I think its still dark enough that you could show him, if that's your intention (though I suppose he could loose points for it, my roosters combs are almost black, like a dark purple). And, if bred to a female with a nice, dark comb, it shouldn't pose an issue either. But, in my opinion, it could be darker. But, then again, no bird is perfect. If he has better type than your other boys, I'd keep him, light comb or not. You've got to build the barn before you can paint it

 

[1TurkenLover]

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one started CROWing ............ guess which one

 

[Kathryn173]

Acceptable for what? Breeding or showing? I think its still dark enough that you could show him, if that's your intention (though I suppose he could loose points for it, my roosters combs are almost black, like a dark purple). And, if bred to a female with a nice, dark comb, it shouldn't pose an issue either. But, in my opinion, it could be darker. But, then again, no bird is perfect. If he has better type than your other boys, I'd keep him, light comb or not. You've got to build the barn before you can paint it

Thanks, It was really for breeding, I'm just worried the lighter colour would come through more in the offspring.

 

[SunnySky]

Hello! I'm relatively new to breeding silkies and am hoping you all can clarify a couple things for me.

First, as I peruse Silkie sites here on BYC and on Facebook I'm noticing many people advertising silkie cockerels or roosters that have bright red combs. I'm talking red that rivals that of my Orpingtons. Others are not quite that red but they are lighter than mulberry, that's for sure. Some people are selling these guys for like $50 to $75 each! Or they advertise them as breeding or show-quality. Is it really that easy to breed out a red comb? It seems to me you wouldn't want anything with a red comb in your gene pool to begin with but maybe I'm wrong. Could it pop up in later generations if you did chose to breed it out?

My other question lies in the size of crest. I see all different degrees of fullness to crests. Is that a simple trait to correct with breeding? Meaning, if you have a cockerel with a smaller crest but pullets with large crests or the other way around is there potential to hatch offspring with large crests? Or would those with smaller crests be a cull?

I'm sure these are simple questions to the experienced breeders but I'm wanting to learn as much as possible about this stuff.