Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[littlecritters]

Excuse myself for being so ignorant but I would like to start breeding for the first time and I am very new in the breeding world. My question is: Is it bad to breed brothers and sisters together? If it is what is the best way to breed? One of my very good friend moved away and gave me several of her silkies. I believe they are all related... I have a splash rooster, one splash hen, and 2 blue (one light and one dark). What will happen if they breed together and I keep some babies, and I breed one of the offspring back to their dad or mom? I would love to learn more.
Thank you.

For the sake of argument, let's assume your birds are unrelated and your rooster can be bred with the three hens. Could the experienced breeders please share specific suggestions on how to develop a breeding program with this initial stock?

Dragonlady, Hawkeye, Jacknme, Peepblessed, ScaredofShadows, Sonoran....would you mind sharing what might work well with this configuration of birds?And at what point would new stock need to be introduced?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

I waited to get an answer from my friend, and i guess they are related. Now, she doesn't know for sure if they are coming from the same BBS pen, but she hatched them together. I tried my best to get some shots of my splash roo (Maxime). Any critiques are welcome lol. He is very dirty right now, sorry. I have a dark blue which iam quite happy with (she has a nicer bonnet than in that picture), but it's so hard to get a nice shot arg. My splash hen doesn't have a nice puff, and my light blue is in between. They are around 6 months old i believe. Anyways, here they are:

 

[thedragonlady]

Quote:
The first thing you must, and I mean MUST, if you want to be successful, is purchase BOTH the APA standard and the ABA standard and study them. Then get yourself to some shows, and see what is winning. You should develop a picture of the ideal Silkie in your mind BEFORE buying any birds. Once you are sure of what you want, and have talked to enough winning breeders to be sure your vision is correct, you can start looking for birds. Not before. Remember that the Silkie is a very feminized breed. The girls almost always win, and many of the really pretty boys do not breed well. I would never select a cock bird who is too feminine, but I want one from a gorgeous mother and grandmother. The girls should be the best that you can afford to buy, and should all resemble one another, no matter where you buy them.Type is key.Without type, you are lost.The obvious faults in the breed today, such as bad wings, bad toes, and reared back stance should be avoided in all your starter birds. Stick to Black and White until you know enough to fool with the complicated colors...No made up named colors should be bought, pretty as some are. If the color is unrecognized, and you want to show, what is the point? Take your cock bird, and breed him to all 3 hens. See what you get .Is the type there? If it's not there in all 3 hens' offspring. Go find another cock bird. A cock is 1/2 your flock. A good one will stamp his offspring. Once you have consistent typy off spring from your 4 birds; never keep a bird who does not conform ...I don't care who it is related to.That's the biggest mistake that novice breeders make. All your birds should have the SAME shape, no matter if Black, White,or Grey, which you might get . Anybody who does not conform leaves.NO exceptions. Once you have all your birds looking alike in shape, keep a good cockerel, or two, on ice.You can breed back to the original cock bird for at least 6 generations if you are very picky about what you keep. If a fault pops out , use one of your cockerels, and see what you get. As a last resort, due to faults, or infertility, go looking for a cock bird who has your type. Use him once, and breed back to your original line of males. This certainly worked for me. I never pedigreed my birds. I breed what I see. I have done the same thing with champion horses, Belted Galloway cattle, Mastiffs, Nubian goats, African Geese, SLW Lf, and BWys, Butterfly Koi, as well as the Silkies.You must train your eye!

 

[Adoravachick]

I waited to get an answer from my friend, and i guess they are related. Now, she doesn't know for sure if they are coming from the same BBS pen, but she hatched them together. I tried my best to get some shots of my splash roo (Maxime). Any critiques are welcome lol. He is very dirty right now, sorry. I have a dark blue which iam quite happy with (she has a nicer bonnet than in that picture), but it's so hard to get a nice shot arg. My splash hen doesn't have a nice puff, and my light blue is in between. They are around 6 months old i believe. Anyways, here they are:

Your splash roo has very nice leg and foot feathering, I don't see an overabundance of hard feathers in the tail and from what I can see his wings are nice a tight. Your black is pretty too, nice tight wings, the legs and feet, I can't tell in the pic. I would say if you are concerned with breeding related birds, get som hatching eggs and go from there. Then, you can pick which ones you want to keep and cull the ones you don't.

 

[peepblessed]

For the sake of argument, let's assume your birds are unrelated and your rooster can be bred with the three hens. Could the experienced breeders please share specific suggestions on how to develop a breeding program with this initial stock?
Dragonlady, Hawkeye, Jacknme, Peepblessed, ScaredofShadows, Sonoran....would you mind sharing what might work well with this configuration of birds?And at what point would new stock need to be introduced?
Thanks in advance for your help!

I don't have any personal experience in breeding sibblings. If I had really perfect birds, I would try it. I don't like the idea of doubling up on faults.

 

[peepblessed]

I waited to get an answer from my friend, and i guess they are related. Now, she doesn't know for sure if they are coming from the same BBS pen, but she hatched them together. I tried my best to get some shots of my splash roo (Maxime). Any critiques are welcome lol. He is very dirty right now, sorry. I have a dark blue which iam quite happy with (she has a nicer bonnet than in that picture), but it's so hard to get a nice shot arg. My splash hen doesn't have a nice puff, and my light blue is in between. They are around 6 months old i believe. Anyways, here they are:

I think you have a very nice nice pullet. Hard to say in one photo but I really like her. I like the high tail on your cockerel and he seems to have really nice foot feathering. He seems awkward and immature at this stage but will likely improve. I bet you wont recognized him in 3 months.

 

[chikincrazee]

Hi I havent been on here forever...thought I need to come back as I am loving all the great ideas and replies on here. My son shows silkies all over and does well with them..we have a lot of varieties...white...black...buff..partridge...blue..splash and dabble in paints and porcelains. Love the silkies they are so beautiful and friendly. So i will try to keep in touch with the thread and maybe i can contribute to the conversations.

 

[Adoravachick]

The babies, Isabel threw the blue and Ingrid threw the splash. When do the markings usually come on the splash? One of the pullets in my white pen layed an egg today...I don't normally check their nest boxes because they are young, but today I felt the need, I was pleasantly surprised. Now well have to see if its fertile, I would like to know if the little white cockerel is doing his job. I will be blown away if it is fertile.

If I breed my white roo, to my blue hen for black chicks, what is the likelyhood that they will be pure black without leakage? According to the genetic calculator, it says "black unicolor". Ha anyone bred this combo, if so, what was your outcome?

 

[chikincrazee]

I have never heard of breeding white to blue to make black...hmm you need Sonoran to help you on that...i do know you can breed white to black to get some black..white and sometimes partridge...

 

[Adoravachick]

I have never heard of breeding white to blue to make black...hmm you need Sonoran to help you on that...i do know you can breed white to black to get some black..white and sometimes partridge...

I am sorry, I meant Black hens....