Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[Hawkeye95]

Several months ago I slipped and feel in the coop while trying to catch a baby. The whole flock totally freaked and my roo who has sturdy wing feathers flew up the wall about four feet and slid back down and landed on his bottom. Everyone seemed okay but the next day I noticed his tail was crooked. I'm so glad I witnessed the episode or I would have thought it was wry tail. It took about three months for that to heal and he is fine now. I don't have a clue how often these things can be contributed to an injury. In my very first batch of shipped eggs from ebay I had a beautiful pullet that seemed to suddenly develop wry tail at about 3 -4 mths. and I gave her away.

oh wow! And you never would have known if you hadn't seen it happen! I don't think there is any injury I can think back on. But good to know! I'm going to wait her out a bit more and see how it turns out.

With my splash silkie the scoliosis/wry tail has become very noticable. At first, it was subtle and I had a feeling that something was off... How about giving yours a bath today so you can get a good look at her spine, hips and tail. Palpate her hips to see if one is higher than the other. And regarding Peeps comment about she and her rooster both falling...I had forgotten that rabbits can have broken tails which are rare but considered DQ's. Could is be possible that the base of your bird's tail is broken?

GREAT idea about giving her a bath! It would be much easier to see her spine at that point. Today isn't going to work out, but I think I will make that happen soon and get a couple shots of her back while it's wet. I have no idea if she could have a broken tail. Much more likely that it's something else. But good idea.

We have plenty of rain today...I will pray that some of it heads out west to you all.

YES!! send that rain our way!!

 

[peepblessed]

We have plenty of rain today...I will pray that some of it heads out west to you all.

 

[chisNchickens]

Okay, got some pictures of the back I'm worried about. It's 108 out there now... yuck.

It's the same bird, but tried to get a picture of it where it wasn't turning or moving it's head around. This bird is 4 months old. When would back issues start to show up? I've tried to feel it's spine and I can't detect any curvature, but it's not like I'm trained or have experience in checking for that either. It's just it seems a bit "off" at times. Other times it seems okay. Now I find myself looking at this bird over and over again. The little pictures can be clicked on to enlarge them. Do I have cause to be concerned or just wait a while longer??

Sounds and looks similar to my boy I mentioned previously. At four months I didn't see it, but at around six. One side of his back is higher than the other - very easy to see.
I showed pics to Bobbi and she is the one who noticed it. At that time it just looked like his tail was a tad wry, but his whole left side on top is deformed. Not saying that is what you have, just something to keep an eye on with really short-backed birds especially.

 

[ChicksNherps]

I want to show my silkies this october, so let the critiques flow! I got them from a local breeder. The light partridge pullet is about 5 months, the splash is about 6 months and I think he is a cockerel but not completely positive.

 

[peepblessed]

I want to show my silkies this october, so let the critiques flow! I got them from a local breeder. The light partridge pullet is about 5 months, the splash is about 6 months and I think he is a cockerel but not completely positive.

Your pullet is gorgeous, but I am worried about her wings. Is there a chance she has split wing? Also, I'm not seeing any pencilling which a blue partridge should have but that could be the photos. Not sure about your splash's type. Hopefully someone else can help you. It's definitely very pretty with nice crest, and tail. How's the foot feathering?

 

[ChicksNherps]

Their foot feathering is perfect, nice and full with fully feathered middle toes. Someone suggested she may be a dark porcelain? I will post a picture of her wings and you tell me because I don't know what split wing is

 

[peepblessed]

Their foot feathering is perfect, nice and full with fully feathered middle toes. Someone suggested she may be a dark porcelain? I will post a picture of her wings and you tell me because I don't know what split wing is

Yes, I'm the one who suggested the color. Here is an article on split wing. I hope it helps so you can check her wings. I hope they are okay. I don't think you can show her as partridge. I wish someone who knows more than me would post.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Sounds and looks similar to my boy I mentioned previously. At four months I didn't see it, but at around six. One side of his back is higher than the other - very easy to see.
I showed pics to Bobbi and she is the one who noticed it. At that time it just looked like his tail was a tad wry, but his whole left side on top is deformed. Not saying that is what you have, just something to keep an eye on with really short-backed birds especially.

Was it obvious when you wet it down during a bath? Or was it very obvious fully feathered and fluffy?

I want to show my silkies this october, so let the critiques flow! I got them from a local breeder. The light partridge pullet is about 5 months, the splash is about 6 months and I think he is a cockerel but not completely positive.

That isn't a partridge, right?? Besides the funky wings, what color would this be? Is this an AOV or actually a real color? The splash looks pretty, but too far away to see better detail other than it appears to have good wings and unfortunately a very long back. BUT if he is a cockerel, he might start to fill in better by 8mo to a year. But it will take a lot of filling in for that back to disappear.


We are at 112 degrees.... and rising...

Sonoran, I don't want to be like you in that aspect. hehehe!

I want to get wing pictures taken, but too dang hot. The birds are all sitting under the misters, so they are all droopy and bedraggled looking. Since it seems like this wry tail came on sudden for that bird--- is that how it naturally appears? Just one day you notice it? Is 4 months about the marker for that showing up? I'd love for this to have occurred from an accident, but how likely is that?

 

[ChicksNherps]

I guess she does dang. I don't believe my splash has it though, not that I have seen.

 

[peepblessed]

I guess she does

dang. I don't believe my splash has it though, not that I have seen.

So sorry! I glad you don't have a lot invested in her. She'll make a gorgeous pet though.