Silkie thread!

[rilly10]

I was just being smart lol! I can wait for spring! I would still love some blacks and maybe a few blues and splashes if you have enough! I am really wanting to focus on my blacks. I had a lot hatch out but none were BLACK. I want beetle green blacks! I have a pair from Premeir coming in the spring if all goes well and I am growing one out I hatched in the summer from Bobbi Porto eggs out. To go with the Premeir pair. Other than Lavender real blacks are my favorite color.

When breeding blacks is it best to keep a strictly black pen? I heard breeding them to blues and splashes will was them out. I am planning on seperating my BBS into 2 pens, an all black and a blue/splash pen. Is this the best way to get BLACK silkies? Of course starting with some awesome stock helps too!

 

[5pinkarrows]

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This is soooo mean of me, but I just can't help it. Yeterday, I was shopping at the Costco in Tucson. It was such a beautiful day that I had to take a picture. It was 86* and the humidity was so low that there was not a single cloud in the sky. I really, honestly felt so sorry for all of you that don't live in Arizona.

 

[rilly10]

Nice! Just rub it in why don't you!

 

[destiny_56085]

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On the blacks... I have never seen a blue or splash that has come anywhere near in quality or body type yet. Why cross them in and ruin what you already have if you want to keep a good line of blacks going? If you want to improve your blues, then cross them on your best splash. If you cross blues/blacks, you run into getting alot of really dark blues that you can't distinguish from the blacks too. I've also seen too many people ruin their blacks by crossing to lavendar too.

Oh btw...... big congrats to Connie of Premier Silkies!!!!!!!!!! Just got the results from the National show in Shawnee. Her black hen took best of variety, best of breed, and reserve champion featherleg. It was beat out by a bantam cochin that took overall grand champion. Wowsers..... She also got RV with a black pullet, BV/RB with a white hen, RV with a white pulelt, and BV with a blue pullet.

PS.... 5 pink arrows

 

[jen5680]

On this black info, so you are saying you think it's best to breed black to black then???

 

[rilly10]

Quote:
On the blacks... I have never seen a blue or splash that has come anywhere near in quality or body type yet. Why cross them in and ruin what you already have if you want to keep a good line of blacks going? If you want to improve your blues, then cross them on your best splash. If you cross blues/blacks, you run into getting alot of really dark blues that you can't distinguish from the blacks too. I've also seen too many people ruin their blacks by crossing to lavendar too.

Oh btw...... big congrats to Connie of Premier Silkies!!!!!!!!!! Just got the results from the National show in Shawnee. Her black hen took best of variety, best of breed, and reserve champion featherleg. It was beat out by a bantam cochin that took overall grand champion. Wowsers..... She also got RV with a black pullet, BV/RB with a white hen, RV with a white pulelt, and BV with a blue pullet.

PS.... 5 pink arrows

AWESOME info! Thanks so much! I will keep only the best blacks together I can afford and then my blues and splashes in a seperate pen.

 

[destiny_56085]

Well Jen.... there are blacks out there that are as good, if not better than the whites that we always see on champ row. How often do you see a blue, splash, buff, grey, or partridge up there at any major show? Why compromise quality? Use those blacks to cross in and get good blues. Down the road, cross them on your splash and other blues to get the body type. Eventually, and thats the key word, those colors will be up to par too.

Black only pens still have their share of challenges. Getting the correct green sheen, dealing with off colors in the hackles, the feather quality, the body type, etc. Age and testosterone levels also play a role in the color... Some of those nice clear blacks stay that way for years and start to get the gold/silver showing up at 2-5 years of age. When you cross to the blues, you often get those smoky blacks that are technically blues. I don't even want to get into the lavendar split blacks.... some can be good, but are still technically 'mutts' for a good black breeding pen.

In my breeding pens, I have 27 birds in the black only pens. Later on in spring, I will split them up for individual pairings or certain trios for test matings. I had Bobbi Porto's old line from back in 2006/2007 (before she started crossing in lavendars). To improve on body type and feathering, I crossed in 4 black pullets from Premier in the fall of 2008. I kept back only the babies out of those crosses and the original 4 Premier birds. In the fall of 2009, I added a black cockerel from Premier's show string and got a few babies out of him. He ended up dying on me over that winter, so I bought another awesome black cockerel from Premier this spring. The quality just keeps getting better and better every year. Few little inconsistencies to work on yet, but I love them. This year I will hopefully save back enough pullets to totally pull out all those older hens from the breeding program.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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You really need to get the ABA's Bantam Standard or the APA's Standard of Perfection.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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huh?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Congrats!