Silkie breeding, genetics & showing

[chickendales]

Still hoping for a photo of what black under fluff on the lower body should look like. Anyone have one?

if you look those chicks 2 of them are nicely colored blacks

 

[chickendales]

here pic of my black hen she mad at me that i went out woke her up

 

[peepblessed]

here pic of my black hen she mad at me that i went out woke her up

Hope she forgives you! lol I thought they had to be black to the root of the feather? This looks very light....

 

[chickendales]

Hope she forgives you! lol I thought they had to be black to the root of the feather? This looks very light...

even regualar feather birds have lighter colored fluff

 

[Hawkeye95]

You sure had an awesome hatch!!!
Still hoping for a photo of what black under fluff on the lower body should look like. Anyone have one?

I didn't want to post that picture of the black I hatched, because it was deformed or something. It died an hour after I took the picture. But it shows the color on the chick-- the chick next to it is a Splash, and it was stuck in it's shell. It had to have a mini bath to fluff. Don't worry-- he was fine.

here pic of my black hen she mad at me that i went out woke her up

Hmmm.... are you sure this is a black? My blue is darker than this-- and yet she throws Splash, so I am 100% sure she is blue and not black. Her under fluff looks pretty much just like this, too. I expected a black to be dark all the way down the feather shaft? But, I appreciate the picture! However, it just confuses me more! LOL

even regualar feather birds have lighter colored fluff

If that is the case--- then I'm confused! My blue looks just as dark and "black" as yours, how can that be?

 

[chickendales]

I didn't want to post that picture of the black I hatched, because it was deformed or something. It died an hour after I took the picture. But it shows the color on the chick-- the chick next to it is a Splash, and it was stuck in it's shell. It had to have a mini bath to fluff. Don't worry-- he was fine.

Hmmm.... are you sure this is a black? My blue is darker than this-- and yet she throws Splash, so I am 100% sure she is blue and not black. Her under fluff looks pretty much just like this, too. I expected a black to be dark all the way down the feather shaft? But, I appreciate the picture! However, it just confuses me more! LOL



If that is the case--- then I'm confused! My blue looks just as dark and "black" as yours, how can that be?

this hen is a black from a black breeding program and makes black babies, i have dark blues and this is black

 

[blessedchick]

I was told at one time that chicks hatched out black with the "tuxedo markings" in white are true blacks. I have had 2 of these hatch from my showgirl hen yet they both feathered out with blue-ish looking foot feathering?? The rest of their bodies appear to be black. They are beardless Silkies from bowtie x bowtie breedings...So I'm really curious about the white on otherwise black chicks and the lighter blue foot feathering...

 

[destiny_56085]

That lighter underfluff is also due to the nature of the feathering itself. In hatchery caliber birds with very little of the 'fluff factor', yes you often see black all the way through. However when we get into the show caliber birds, they often have feathering that is 2-3 times as long and almost twice the undercoat for density of feathering. I can tell on my own birds when I'm bathing them especially. I'll see a silvery tint to the base of the feathers when they are wet on a blue, whereas they are dark on a black.

Here are some pics I got of my blacks this last weekend:







This is some of the older adults taken a few weeks ago.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

That lighter underfluff is also due to the nature of the feathering itself. In hatchery caliber birds with very little of the 'fluff factor', yes you often see black all the way through. However when we get into the show caliber birds, they often have feathering that is 2-3 times as long and almost twice the undercoat for density of feathering. I can tell on my own birds when I'm bathing them especially. I'll see a silvery tint to the base of the feathers when they are wet on a blue, whereas they are dark on a black.

Here are some pics I got of my blacks this last weekend:







This is some of the older adults taken a few weeks ago.

Note how shiny and glossy a black these are. Not that dark blues aren't glossy, but they don't quite look the same. Especially when right next to black.

The tuxedo markings indicate E or E^R allele, but have no beading on dilution genes that may/may not be present.

 

[marquisella]

I have NEVER seen a judge be picky about toes (other than the count, and even then I KNOW of times they missed the count and placed birds with the wrong number. I was told that a duckfooted bird (and that is a DQ) won BB at a large show with lots of competition.

The toes would have to be very genetically messed up (duplicate polydactyly, for example--that is where there is a second foot atop the first) for me to not use an otherwise exceptional bird. Now if I have other birds who are equally good in all areas except the toes, then I might pass on it.

I wanted to point out that when a bird is awarded a placement at a show with obvious DQs, it can be contested. I was at Crossroads last year, and the judge put up as BOB a Marans with a side sprig. Someone contested it, and the bird was rejudged and disqualified. The BOB then went to the Reserve. So, if it happens, judges decisions can be reversed.