Silkie question.

[jeremy]

Does any Silkie come in the standard size? Or have they all been bred as bantams?

Thanks!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

US, bantams only. Other countries have both.

 

[JenEric Farms]

This is a link to feathersite, shows pics of a bantam next to a standard (Germany).

www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Silkies/SilkBtyStdM.JPEG

 

[jeremy]

So this leads to another question, why no standards in the United States? For something that seems so loving and cuddle-able, wouldn't the full size version be twice the amount of fun??

Is there anyway to import these standard sized birds?

 

[walkswithdog]

Import = you having about 2000 to throw at a project. Often more... ugh.

 

[jeremy]

2k to ship a bird across the pond?

I'm betting I could get that number down if I had family buy the birds first and find a way to ship after that.

Any ideas people?

And- there's got to be at least 1 standard sized Silkie somewhere in Continental North America.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

The US regulation for importing birds is very strict. They have to be in quarantine for about 30 days...maybe more, I can't recall exactly... and it's about $15.00 per day per bird to be in quarantine. Plus, they have to be certified free of a bunch of diseases from the sending country and have a vet certificate stating so. That means that the flock they came from has to be certified free of these diseases which is a LOT of $$ for the person across the pond. It's not a one time thing. They have to be certified free for a year for some of the diseases. Then, of course, there is the shipping. Someone also mentioned needing to have a "broker"...not sure what that means...and they get $$ too.

 

[walkswithdog]

There are brokers or import agents in most countries that assist and enable smooth importation, making sure all the documentation is there, following the process, because it PAYS to have a human paying attention to the movement and care of the animal, a broker or import agent is a hugely useful critter. And they don't do it for free.

There are the fees to the breeder, as was said, fees - testing, certification. The quaratine costs. The agent or broker fees and shipping costs.

The only way family on one side helps is that it is cheaper to ship an animal accompanying a travelling person than separate. But then the travelling family member is paying for the flight- aren't they. And then the animal still goes through customs (more $) and then into quarantine, the rest of the $$$.

So no, there aren't a lot of easy shortcuts. Importation of any animal is NOT cheap. They're careful of birds because of the avian flus etc. Even if it's paranoia it's increased the income of both sending and recieving countries significantly.

So yes, figure far more than $1000 and into the $3000 range depending on country of origin, fees, certificates, shipping, quarantine, customs(both countries) and the cost of a good purebred bird worth importing.

Can you tell I've imported dogs?

 

[PeepsInc]

I had the same question. My birds are still young, but I picked the eggs up from a local girl. Her Silkies are Giant puff balls. The biggest I've ever seen. I wish I had better pics of her flock. Here's the pic she advertised them with. It's hard to judge their size. I was amazed how big they were when I got there to pick up my eggs.I know they weigh more than the standard 32 ounces. I hatched 5 chicks. The white & blues are much larger than the 2 black chicks I hatched. Nearly twice the size. Standards?

 

[walkswithdog]

Peeps if not standards certainly a great start to building them! And very pretty birds too.