I have a gorgeous buff silkie roo and he is definitely mating with the hens in the flock. My hens are various non-silkie, standard size breeds. As far as the feather type - what will a silkie over standard feathered birds give you? Will the resulting offspring be anything at all pleasing to look at? Anyone have pics?
I had some Silkie X Easter Eggers until I sold everything recently (preparing for a cross-country move). I thought they were beautiful birds. Yes, they were normal feathered. The hens were good layers when they weren't broody, and were also very good mothers. I had six hens and they all laid green eggs, probably medium in size. A couple had minor leg feathering, and some had bits of crest or muff or beard -- none had all, and none had it to any major degree. No two looked the same, which was kind of neat as I could tell them apart.
One of the roosters -- if this posts, I'll add a few more pictures.
