Silkie Crest Qestion...

More than likely it will do anything more than just make things worse. If I were you I would just find a large crested silkie and cross them with that, and just because one of the parents has a large crest does NOT mean all of the offspring will.
Crossing with a different breed will do nothing but cause a million other problems, between comb type, skin color etc. Unless, you just wanted some cute pets, then I would say experiment away
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Okay, to get an amazing crest on a Silkie do not breed with a polish. That will then only cause problems with the feathers of the offspring and it will be a mess, especially if you're wanting to show. If you just want to experiement go ahead, but don't think you're going to get an amazing silkie after all that breeding. Personally it will probably just mess up the line, lol
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Why would you need to breed to any other breed of crested birds to get a bigger crest? There are so many exhibition lines out there now with huge crested silkies. If your aim is eventually show, you actually can't keep trying to make the crest larger. Part of the silkie standard and something more judges are cracking down on breeders for is the bird's ability to see straight ahead and to the sides some. A silkie should have a nice rounded full crest and beard BUT when looking nose to beak with the bird you should be able to see the birds eyes. I've heard of quite a few birds in the southern shows being disqualified or points docked for a bird's inability to see.

I agree with the previous posters, a silkie and a polish are so different, COMPLETELY different, it would take you 6-8 generations to get back to a standard good silkie after the first cross with a polish, so its very pointless to attempt it. Just breed a good crested boy to a big crested female and you should have nice offspring that inherit the fuller crests from the parents.
 
Scared of Shadows tells it all. There are already good Silkies with big crests. Many are too big. Why waste money trying to breed something that already exists? Spend your money on good stock and start out on top.
 
I agree that breeding to silkies with larger crests is the correct answer here, as there are plenty of silkies with very generous-sized crests.

However, from experience, breeding to polish, then breeding back to silkie type is not nearly as long nor difficult as described. Breeding back from cochin, which is much more similar in type, was MUCH more difficult. Note that these crosses were to bring in traits that were not in silkies.

My understanding of the breed history is that larger crests were indeed brought in by breeding to polish.
 

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