Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[chickendales]

I read a lot about giving your birds food, but I have also heard contradicting information about not feeding your birds at the show because then their crops get full. I was going to give them a few pellets before we leave for the show so they aren't starving but so their crops aren't completely protruding with food. Is this okay? Or do they require you give your birds food at the show?

for one day shows i feed the night befor really well and water and feed a lil when i get there then feed after judgeing

 

[aoxa]

nice thing about poultry shows is your names not on the cage you exibiter # is so so really all you have do make shure you coops clean birds are fed 

My name was on the cage at the county fair show. Not at the provincial show though.

 

[peepblessed]

My Phyllis (partridge) in show.
I kind of rushed taking pictures. We were selling birds in the sale area as well, so it was distracting. I love that they have hand sanitizer right at the doors

Major congrats!!! She looks beautiful!!

 

[chickendales]

My name was on the cage at the county fair show. Not at the provincial show though.

the point was unlike dog shows the judge dont need you there to judge the birds and most time you cant go any where near the judgeing

 

[aoxa]

for one day shows i feed the night befor really well and water and feed a lil when i get there then feed after judgeing 

Same here. Silkies aren't as big of a deal as other breeds, but water will/can mess up their beards. Especially on whites. I always do a refresh right before judging. I'll wipe them down with baby wipes, take water and food out and make sure their feet are clean.

I bathed my silkies 2 days before show, but with smooth feathered birds it's harder. They lose their natural shine from grooming if you do it just before show. I will try to do it a week before next time.

 

[aoxa]

Major congrats!!! She looks beautiful!!

Thanks

 

[chickendales]

Same here. Silkies aren't as big of a deal as other breeds, but water will/can mess up their beards. Especially on whites. I always do a refresh right before judging. I'll wipe them down with baby wipes, take water and food out and make sure their feet are clean.
I bathed my silkies 2 days before show, but with smooth feathered birds it's harder. They lose their natural shine from grooming if you do it just before show. I will try to do it a week before next time.

yes is normal feather birds i bath week before if i do it at all

 

[aoxa]

yes is normal feather birds i  bath week before if i do it at all 

This time around I only bathed the houdans. The other smooth feathered birds were left alone. I thought you had to bathe every bird when I first went, so I bathed 12 in one night. And blew dry. Goes without saying that I was EXHAUSTED!

 

[peepblessed]

I have a few of Isabels eggs in the incubator right now, due to hatch in the next couple days. I bred her to a blue roo though, so I guess that wouldn't help. I do have a little splash cockerel, he is still young though. I do have a couple of blue cockerels that are shaping up nicely. So Eli may be moving out. I am still looking for a SQ black roo and SQ black hen.

If they are both blue you should get 25% splash. If one black and one blue, no splash. I think it's pretty obvious that she is blue though.


The way the Blue gene works in a breeding can be broken down as follows:
1) Blue x Blue: This will produce 25% black, 50% blue, 25% splash.
2) Black x Blue: Produces 50% black and 50% blue.
3) Black x Splash: You'll get 100% blue.
4) Blue x Splash: Produces 50% blue and 50% splash.
5) Splash x Splash: This will give you 100% Splash.
6) Black x black: 100% black

 

[peepblessed]

Dwight Scott, he did give me some great information, but I did leaving feeling somewhat confused. He did tell me that he actually preferred the size and type of my Isabel, but her "black" coloring wasn't dark enough. She is on the smaller side, sleeker, more upright, and more compact than Isadora. They are both so different looking.
When I arrived at the show, I checked in and found my coops, one of the tags were marked incorrectly. Both were marked black instead of one blue and one black. I had someone come and check the tags and he commented "you should leave this one as black and show her as black, I'm a judge, and I wouldn't call that blue". He showed me the blues and their coloring looked like a light blue or dark lavender. The lighting wasn't the best, and I can say that my blue looked VERY dark under the lights. I didn't like that she was left mismarked as black and shown as black, I would have rather her been disqualified as a dark blue and marked correctly. I don't know, feeling pretty confused. Certainly not deflated, just confused.

The good news, my daughter was so happy that her birds were there at the show, but she was disappointed that we didn't win a ribbon. I had to tell her that her birds did very well because they behaved themselves and needed some practice to be good showbirds. She said "They might need more practice then." I need some practice too.

I just wanted to clear up that a splash isn't always white back ground. Light blue back ground with dark spots is splash. I couldn't find where you mentioned it.