Silkie Tail & Comb questions

[SundownWaterfowl]

In the Standard for the silkies tail it says this :

§ Tail: Male - short, very shredded at ends, well spread at base, filled underneath with an abundance of soft feathers which are overlapped by coverts and lesser sickles, the whole forming a duplex curve with back and saddle. Sickles, lesser sickles, and coverts - abundant, soft, well curved, without hard quills, concealing main tail feathers. Female - short, very shredded at ends, well spread at base, filled underneath with an abundance of soft feathers which are overlapped by cushion and coverts, the whole forming a duplex curve with back and cushion.

What are the coverts? And do you have a picture of them?

Also, about the combs. Can somebody please post a picture of a proper silkie comb? In the standard it says the comb should look like a walnut. I have seen silkies with combs shaped like bubblegum with an indentation going across the comb. Also, the standard says that the comb should have "a number of small prominences over it". What do those prominences look like?

Thanks

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

That's what I was wondering earlier today. Here's the thread I posted with a pic of my splash silkie cockerel's comb:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=262558

 

[muddyhorse]

walnut, bubblegum same thing. to late tonight to get a picture.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Here is a fairly well-shaped comb, although it is a silkie cross, and a bit light in colour.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

"COMB: Walnut--set firmly and evenly on head, almost circular in shape, preferably broader than longer, with a number of small prominences over it, a slight indentation of furrow, transversely across the middle, rising at a point just forward of the nostrils and extending backwards to a point parallel with the front of eyes." For females it adds "very small, well formed" before the "set firmly..."

If you have the Bantam Standard, page 11 has a diagram of the different parts of a male chicken; page 12 of the female. Anyways, the tail coverts are essentially the feathers between the saddle and the sickles.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
Yes, but in that comb I dont see "a number of small prominences over it". ?

 

[briarpatchfarms]

Quote:
What are the coverts? And do you have a picture of them?

Also, about the combs. Can somebody please post a picture of a proper silkie comb? In the standard it says the comb should look like a walnut. I have seen silkies with combs shaped like bubblegum with an indentation going across the comb. Also, the standard says that the comb should have "a number of small prominences over it". What do those prominences look like?

Thanks

Isn't the coverts the larger sickles that are more round even on a roo and closer to the pin feathers in the tail and run along the pins. I think that's it but I could be wrong.

 

[SunshineSilkies]

I've always had questions about the "prominences over it" statement for the comb and many different opinions on what that means. It depends on how the judge interprets it I think. I had a rooster DQ'd at one show because of his comb(2 little prongs at the top of the comb) and not at another show.....as long as mine are mulberry and not red, and look walnut shape..I'll take the chance. If a judge tells me to absolutely not use him for breeding, then that's a different story...

 

[iluvmychicks]

What are the coverts? And do you have a picture of them?

You can see where they are in this diagram.

 

[iluvmychicks]

I had a rooster DQ'd at one show because of his comb(2 little prongs at the top of the comb)

Those are called horns, it's not a DQ but a defect, with that said....your bird shouldn't have been DQ'd. Iv'e heard those horns came from breeding Polish into silkies to improve crest size, Polish have V-shaped combs. I have no idea if that's true however it may explain where the horns in silkie originated from.

Shari​