Silkie Questions

[E.M. Silkies]

I am new to the Silkie breed and so far I'm absolutely in love. My goal is to produce really nice line of Silkies and show them and avoid inbreeding(I've been told this is a big issue with show quality Silkies) at all costs. However, the Silkies I have are far from show birds. I was going to get rid of all that I have and start over but I've been advised to keep the decent ones and just get a really nice roo. Any thoughts or suggestions? Also, any suggestions of people with nice show ready birds for sale? I have found some breeders online but I'm sure there are tons that I'm overlooking. Any input or ideas from the Silkie lovers out there would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Do you have any pictures of the birds you have now, and the roo you might want to keep? Also, what colors are you looking to breed? Also, breeding 2 SQ birds can produce nothing but cruddy offspring.

 

[featherbaby]

Where are you located? How should you proceed? It depends on how quickly you want to have SQ birds. The quicker method is to buy the best you can afford and save yourself several generations of breeding and culling. However, a good SQ roo and some BQ hens will give you some better quality offspring and you can sell the rest. From there you just keep breeding the best to the best. Good luck to you.

 

[E.M. Silkies]

I can get pictures soon. I am looking at buying a roo from somewhere else, not keeping my own. I'm thinking it would be much easier to get decent birds from SQ. I know not all of them will be nice but my odds just seem much better. Any recommendations for where to buy nice Silkies? Which are the best lines?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Hattrick has wonderful silkies, but they are pricey and hard to get it seems like. Sassy Silkies has wonderful birds also. I have a pair of buffs listed on ovabid. http://www.ovabid.com/detail.asp?id=41346 Harvest Breeze Farm also has wonderful silkies, and ChickEDee Farm also Laura Beardsley at http://www.seriouslysilkie.com . There are some more, but im having a mind block right now.

If you are really interested in breeding quality birds, I would suggest joining the American Silkie Bantam Club. http://americansilkiebantamclub.com/ You will get a yearbook with all the breeders and contact info listed in it.

 

[averytds]

The club yearbook as mentioned is handy. BYC's list might help https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=246596 There are several BYC members with really nice stock. The ASBC club rep for your state would be another good resource to start even if you're not ready to join the club yet. http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/state_reps.asp Your APA district director http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/distdirectors.htm. Your ABA district director. http://www.bantamclub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=61

BYC Member's I've owned birds from and/or seen stock first hand that I can think of would be Crested Horizon https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/profile.php?id=49488, PremierSilkies https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/profile.php?id=46654, jenlynn4 aka SassySilkies https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/profile.php?id=78.

There's a few in OK, but I can't think of all their screen names off the top of my head. OKCarla, GracefulBantams https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/profile.php?id=4382 ..... shoot, I know there are a couple of others.

There's Silver Pullet Poultry in CO. Sorry, I can never remember her screen name on here, she's nice and I would like to have some of her birds someday. http://www.silverpulletpoultry.net/whitebeardedsilkies.htm

We decided it was well worth the investment to start with better stock vs trying to improve on what we had, but we also had a really long way to go.

 

[featherbaby]

Thanks for the information, I had been wondering about the silkie bantam club.

 

[joe17]

I also recommend Bobbi Porto of indigoegg! She is really awesome and here is her site. http://indigoegg.us/silkies.html Also Amy Piehl and Brenda Gambil. Here is Amy's site http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d196/destiny_56085/
and here is Brenda's site http://www.brensbirdsofparadise.com/ They are awesome to deal with!

 

[racuda]

Quote:
Please explain!

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
Please explain!

I think she means just breeding 2 SQ birds together without compensating for both bird's faults can produce not up-to-par birds. If both birds have the same minor fault, breeding those two together doubles the chance of the offspring having that fault. Also, genetics play a key role. The pair themselves might be SQ, but the sets of both genes in the offspring could produce pet quality birds. This sometimes happens when you introduce new blood (a different line but the bird is SQ). For example, you can have two clear SQ Buff Silkies and mate them together. The offspring could have lots of smut, light skin, and red combs/wattles.