Silkie Thread! Talk about your Silkies and post pics of your Silkies

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
I was looking at my one porcelain pullet and she has hardly any to none buff on her. She is lavender in color, but her crest and hackle is a deeper lavender. She also has the same dark lavender splashes throughout her body. She's very neat looking.

What do you start culling for at 16-17 weeks? My cockerels seem to have longer backs but I'm thinking I should hold onto them to fill out 2-3 more months yet. No leakage on any of them and I managed to get a nice clear buff pullet that is just precious. Out of the blues and blacks I think only 3-4are blue... and they look almost black. Is there any way to distinguish between them better?

 

[destiny_56085]

Quote:
At hatching I first look at feet. I pull out any with double toenails, 6th claws, 4 toers,etc. I get rid of anything with sparse feathering to mid-toe. At about 2-3 months I start watching wings and if they don't tighten up by 4 months, I've been selling them too. At about 2-3 months you can already be checking for crooked keels, wry tails, wrong skin color, beaks, eye color etc. At about 4 months, you will start to see any off colors showing in the hackles usually. They will be in that gawky stage for a while. The pullets are generally 6-9 months and cockerels 8-12 months before they really blossom. That's when you go back and make your decisions on overall body type, combs, cushions, hard feathering, etc. When you get down to the real nitpicky then go back to the smaller details like toe spacing to make your final decisions.

As for the black/dark blue...take them outside in the sunlight. When you put the 2 birds next to each other you can usually see the difference then. The dark blues are more of a coal black and the blacks have that inky appearance with the green sheen. To absolutely be sure, do a couple test breedings on them. If you breed to a splash hen, a black cock will produce all blue chicks with her. With that same hen, a genetically blue cock will produce some blues, but also some splashes.
Amy

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
At hatching I first look at feet. I pull out any with double toenails, 6th claws, 4 toers,etc. I get rid of anything with sparse feathering to mid-toe. At about 2-3 months I start watching wings and if they don't tighten up by 4 months, I've been selling them too. At about 2-3 months you can already be checking for crooked keels, wry tails, wrong skin color, beaks, eye color etc. At about 4 months, you will start to see any off colors showing in the hackles usually. They will be in that gawky stage for a while. The pullets are generally 6-9 months and cockerels 8-12 months before they really blossom. That's when you go back and make your decisions on overall body type, combs, cushions, hard feathering, etc. When you get down to the real nitpicky then go back to the smaller details like toe spacing to make your final decisions.

As for the black/dark blue...take them outside in the sunlight. When you put the 2 birds next to each other you can usually see the difference then. The dark blues are more of a coal black and the blacks have that inky appearance with the green sheen. To absolutely be sure, do a couple test breedings on them. If you breed to a splash hen, a black cock will produce all blue chicks with her. With that same hen, a genetically blue cock will produce some blues, but also some splashes.
Amy

Now THAT is the kind of info I want to hear!!!

 

[destiny_56085]

Blaundee.... Nothing beats getting your hands on actual birds. I have mentors too and it takes the experience just to learn what to look for. Now I am often the harshest critic of my own birds. I need them to knock me upside the head sometimes and tell me to quit being so OCD about every minor detail. You have to learn what traits you can work with and which ones you should eliminate from your program. Often times what makes your best show bird is not what you need in your breeding pen. I know I'm not a mulitmillionaire and can't afford every perfect bird. Learn to work with what you have and pair up birds accordingly. Do the positives outwiegh the negatives? Get a copy of the standard of perfection and keep going back to it til you can almost recite it.

Most years I hatch about 500 silkie chicks and grow out at least 150 of them. This year was closer to 800 chicks. sigh.... Not every single bird is perfect and those faults just make me learn more. Watch pairings and do test breedings.... Being a true breeder also means that you can't keep every cute miscolored cull because its so sweet. If the son or daughter of a particular favorite bird is better, you have to know which one to keep around. Can't play favorites... It means very little mercy on cockerels that don't make the grade. I sell alot to the Asians for eating or they hit the burn barrel. Pullets that are sub-par are easy to find pet homes for. Click on my photobucket site and I just added about 130 pics yesterday. It will give you an idea of what kind of stock I raise.

If you want to get into breeding, and it doesn't matter what breed, buy the absolute best stock you can afford and go from there. Quality over quantity..... Once you have your traits established then you can go for numbers.

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
Are Silkies any good for eating, as in worth the trouble of butchering/plucking/etc?

I understand the concepts of culling, only breeding those with the traits you are looking for, and breeding to better the breed, not just to get MORE birds.

I also understand pairing animals that compliment each others traits- for instance, I know horses, so if I were breeding a mare whose toes were turned in, I would NOT breed her to a stallion whose feet were turned OUT to hope for a resulting foal to have feet in the middle- I would find the flaws I wanted to work on (turned in toes) and find a stallion with PERFECT feet.

What are common methods of culling at certain ages? I realize it could be a touchy subject, but I'm not squeamish, and need to know... I'm wondering about the young chicks in particular, since older birds you could give to people to eat or to join their little laying flocks...but chicks- kill them, give them away, keep feeding them then get rid of them, what? Is there a "most common" culling method?

 

[blaundee]

For instance, at this time I have 7 hatchery Silkies that I ordered along with a bunch of layers pullets, and intend to keep them as pets and layers. One of them has a crooked beak that doesn't affect her eating, but definately would not be a bird Id breed. This did not show up until a week ago, they are 2 months old now- all beaks were straight before. I have no problem keeping her for life, but say I had 200 chicks, and didnt have room in the pet/layer pen- what would be "accepable" way to cull this chick at 2 months of age?

eta- I am asking because I want to know what others do.

 

[destiny_56085]

There is a huge Asian community up here. Black skinned chickens (especially silkies) are a delicacy for them. They make a special medicinal soup. Put anything in the $5-10 range at swaps and they will snatch them up.

On the younger chicks, I will ask people if they want those culls for free if they are already buying from me. Red skin, single combs, 4 toers, 6th claws are all traits you don't want to stick back in anyone's breeding program. If they want them for free yard pets, its fine as long as they know they will not be suitable for breeding. If I can't get rid of them by 1-2 weeks old, they are humanely euthanized. Its not worth the feed, bedding, and space in the brooders for those. Even if you feed them for 6 months because you feel sorry for them, they will still never amount to more than a $5 cull...

 

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
At hatching I first look at feet. I pull out any with double toenails, 6th claws, 4 toers,etc. I get rid of anything with sparse feathering to mid-toe. At about 2-3 months I start watching wings and if they don't tighten up by 4 months, I've been selling them too. At about 2-3 months you can already be checking for crooked keels, wry tails, wrong skin color, beaks, eye color etc. At about 4 months, you will start to see any off colors showing in the hackles usually. They will be in that gawky stage for a while. The pullets are generally 6-9 months and cockerels 8-12 months before they really blossom. That's when you go back and make your decisions on overall body type, combs, cushions, hard feathering, etc. When you get down to the real nitpicky then go back to the smaller details like toe spacing to make your final decisions.

As for the black/dark blue...take them outside in the sunlight. When you put the 2 birds next to each other you can usually see the difference then. The dark blues are more of a coal black and the blacks have that inky appearance with the green sheen. To absolutely be sure, do a couple test breedings on them. If you breed to a splash hen, a black cock will produce all blue chicks with her. With that same hen, a genetically blue cock will produce some blues, but also some splashes.
Amy

Ok, thankyou so much Amy!

I will take pictures and post them shortly. Can you pick out holding wings low at 17 weeks? Or to you wait until a couple months or two yet to decide?

 

[destiny_56085]

If they are really loose on the wings now, I'd sell those off now. Go out there and watch them on a day when its nice and cool and you haven't been chasing them around for a while. A hot bird will also hold their wings out to try and cool themselves down. At 4 months, they have gotten most of their 1st real set of feathers in already and the quills shouldn't be heavy with blood anymore. Start thinning down especially on the cockerels now already. If a bird is slightly questionable but nice in every other way, then cut them a break for another month. Its getting cool enough to ship again soon too.

 

[blaundee]

Quote:
Thanks!