Silkie thread!

[Sonoran Silkies]

Sager, the bird has a lot of potential, but is not of an age to evaluate exactly how good it will/won't end up. For example, back looks long, but I've seen ones that I would have said that that ended up fine. Wings certainly look nice. The one photo where it is lying down does look like she may have wry tail; hope it was just that she was stuffed into the corner.

 

[JEH1984]

Sonoran, at what age could you evaluate them? I have a few and I would like to know how mine will rank. Mine are 13 weeks and 4 days old.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Jeh, you can knock off for DQ's as chicks, - toes and cross beak for example. Then as they get some age on them - things such as wry tail, middle toe feathering, start being more apparent and middle toe feathering isn't a DQ - shouldn't even big a huge deal on an otherwise good bird - but wry tail is bad and thought to be genetic.

To get an idea of an overall good bird (no DQ's) to start evaluating for show potential a bird has I am told by breeders - 5 months old at the least to seriously start critiquing if a good bird is BQ or SQ. This is when most are filling out really well, the 'long' look has potentially (not always) gone away because their fluff and tail has filled in and they're getting their big girl carriage. boys hit that 'awesome' stage around 9-12 months, as they seem take longer to fully fill in.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Wildaboutchickens-- cute chicks! You did a great job capturing them!

Sagersilkie-- I'm definitely a newbie in trying to guess potential or quality-- but I thought the toe spacing was really great!

Sonoran, I'm going to have to try to get a good picture of my black pullet for you to look over! I've tried taking her photos in the past, but her coloring blends in really well. So I've never posted her. Thinking i need to do something with good natural lighting on her so she doesn't end up looking like a black blob.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Jeh, you can knock off for DQ's as chicks, - toes and cross beak for example. Then as they get some age on them - things such as wry tail, middle toe feathering, start being more apparent and middle toe feathering isn't a DQ - shouldn't even big a huge deal on an otherwise good bird - but wry tail is bad and thought to be genetic.

To get an idea of an overall good bird (no DQ's) to start evaluating for show potential a bird has I am told by breeders - 5 months old at the least to seriously start critiquing if a good bird is BQ or SQ. This is when most are filling out really well, the 'long' look has potentially (not always) gone away because their fluff and tail has filled in and they're getting their big girl carriage. boys hit that 'awesome' stage around 9-12 months, as they seem take longer to fully fill in.

Agreed about the boys! Mine just started looking a LOT better at 9 months and I can feel more pin feathers coming in on his neck, crest and chest! His back keeps getting shorter with his new tail and hackle feathers-- and I thought he started off not too bad in that area to begin with. (IMO) This is definitely SO fun!!! ha!

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Hawkeye, morning or evening light out of direct sunlight is better for a 'warm' texture, green grass or a green cloth in a chair. too light of a color makes the black turn into a blob.

 

[Beth G.]

I snuck my babies in the Office yesterday because I gave them bathes and I didn't want them to catch cold. So I brought them in with me to completely dry. Mainly b/c the DH does not allow any chickens in the house

But, My boss loves them so I'm golden!!! I didn't even think I had some nice splashes in the bunch. But, I'm kinda liking these two! The boy is from Pam B. and the girl is from my Blue Pen. She is much more diluted than Pam's boy! Hey Pam does he remind you of Speck?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Sonoran, at what age could you evaluate them? I have a few and I would like to know how mine will rank. Mine are 13 weeks and 4 days old.

Some birds look great from day one and some improve dramatically over time; some that look good early on continue to look good, and some never live up to the potential you thought.. Last year I did some early evaluations, marking birds with different coloured zip ties. It was surprising the number of birds marked for not keeping later turned out quite nice. And a few (smaller percentage) that I marked as keepers later had some fault that caused me to not want to keep them.

Some lines mature more slowly than others, so giving you a timeline may not be very accurate. How about I say that by the time they have their final molt and appear to be adults? FWIW, my avatar, stunning as she was, had a poor comb. But oh did she have everything else!

 

[NewToFarming]

I think every office should have a silkie or two in them!!! Lucky you! Gorgeous silkies!

I snuck my babies in the Office yesterday because I gave them bathes and I didn't want them to catch cold. So I brought them in with me to completely dry. Mainly b/c the DH does not allow any chickens in the house

But, My boss loves them so I'm golden!!! I didn't even think I had some nice splashes in the bunch. But, I'm kinda liking these two! The boy is from Pam B. and the girl is from my Blue Pen. She is much more diluted than Pam's boy! Hey Pam does he remind you of Speck?

 

[peepblessed]

Hawkeye, morning or evening light out of direct sunlight is better for a 'warm' texture, green grass or a green cloth in a chair. too light of a color makes the black turn into a blob.