Silkie thread!

[TheRookie]

in NC to show you can coop the bird (bring there and 'set up' in cage) the night before (leaving the bird there) or early in the AM (usually before 9 am) - most NC shows have testers.

However the easiest way if you plan to show regularly is to just contact the state ag department and have them come out and test and certify the whole flock, they will put a permanent band on the legs of each bird (they only test those over 16 weeks) and then new birds and eggs that come into your flock their after should be from NPIP tested flocks as well, and you're re tested every year (or if you are still building your flock you can wait 6 months and have them re-test the whole flock) . When you are certified you will be given an NPIP #

Thank you. That was exactly what I needed to know. Thank you all for being so patient with me as a newbie, especially with my ID skills lol

 

[Country Chickens]

Yep, looks like the one trying to hatch is light colored! Woohoo! Unfortunately, I won't get to inspect til morning cause he's really taking his time. Cross your fingers that he makes it out okay!

Oh you are bound to get some paints out of that many!! Hang in there! Guess I'm going to have make dinner.

And now I have a delicate question for you guys...really not sure how to handle this one. As I pulled the first two silkie chicks from the bator I noticed something funny about the black chick that hatched out of a paint egg. On looking closer...he has a single comb. Quite marked. Not great toe feathering or head feathering, either, so at least no great loss there. But, I'm concerned because this means that if I use her blacks or the paint that's hatching to start my paint line--as was my plan--I'll have a recessive for single comb running around in there. Which is exactly what I've worked so hard to avoid! I guess my question is, how much of a no-no is it to have a recessive single comb in a paint line? I would never consider it for any other color, but paints are so hard to get....idk. Would you guys buy from a line that had a history of single combs, no matter how rare? And, second question, do I let the breeder know? I confess I'm a little extra disappointed because I specifically asked if she'd ever had any single combs anywhere in her lines and the answer was a definite no. Maybe this is a new thing, in her paints, and I just got unlucky? Would she want to know about this chick, or will I just be stirring up mud?

Any and all advice is welcome. I am trying to start the best possible lines I can, and have been very selective. When I discovered some previous birds might have carried single comb, I sold them all--being upfront about my concerns--and started fresh in those colors. It's the reason I don't have any nice blacks, in fact. So, am I being too hyper about this and it's more common than I think, or do I just have really bad luck?

 

[2hot2chicken]

My DD and me are getting her silkie pullet ready for showing and I have some concern about her wing feathers. They have good placement but this winter I have been letting the flock free range when ever possible and her normal hard wing feathers are a little bit tattered and shredded. What would be the best way to get her wing feathers into condition? I don't want to pluck these main feathers on the wing and I really wouldn't pluck so many either, maybe 1 or 2 but we are talking about most of the hard feathers. Any advice appreciated, shows are coming up in a month or so an I would like her to be able to enter and this is our best option right now. I do have her in with a roo and he is breeding her now so I am wondering if him breeding her could be causing it? He a little um inexperienced, is fertilizing the girls but his technique needs some work. I will be separating the roos from the hens in a couple days.
Her best hen went broody (of course

) and refused to quit after 25 days and was getting really thin so we got her some chicks and she is far from show-able right now. Like any mommy shes a little bedraggled

at the moment.

 

[2hot2chicken]

Yep, looks like the one trying to hatch is light colored! Woohoo! Unfortunately, I won't get to inspect til morning cause he's really taking his time. Cross your fingers that he makes it out okay!




And now I have a delicate question for you guys...really not sure how to handle this one. As I pulled the first two silkie chicks from the bator I noticed something funny about the black chick that hatched out of a paint egg. On looking closer...he has a single comb. Quite marked. Not great toe feathering or head feathering, either, so at least no great loss there. But, I'm concerned because this means that if I use her blacks or the paint that's hatching to start my paint line--as was my plan--I'll have a recessive for single comb running around in there. Which is exactly what I've worked so hard to avoid! I guess my question is, how much of a no-no is it to have a recessive single comb in a paint line? I would never consider it for any other color, but paints are so hard to get....idk. Would you guys buy from a line that had a history of single combs, no matter how rare? And, second question, do I let the breeder know? I confess I'm a little extra disappointed because I specifically asked if she'd ever had any single combs anywhere in her lines and the answer was a definite no. Maybe this is a new thing, in her paints, and I just got unlucky? Would she want to know about this chick, or will I just be stirring up mud?

Any and all advice is welcome. I am trying to start the best possible lines I can, and have been very selective. When I discovered some previous birds might have carried single comb, I sold them all--being upfront about my concerns--and started fresh in those colors. It's the reason I don't have any nice blacks, in fact. So, am I being too hyper about this and it's more common than I think, or do I just have really bad luck?

I don't have any experience with this issue yet as I am just getting into breeding and showing silkies but I would definatly tactfully contact the breeder and nicely let them know about the issue. If they have not had their breeding birds long they may not have come accross this issue yet and this maybe very important for them to know. I have delt with both good and bad breeders here on BYC and when having issues I find it helpful to always contact the breeder for their knowledge and suggestions. It could be that maybe this was passed from a certain hen and that may not mean that all of their eggs will carrie this gene? Or it could be the roo passing it on and then all of your eggs could possible carrie the gene. If they are reputable then they will be honest with you and tell you the truth. If not at leased you tried right?
Someone else will have to pipe in about the comb issue itself, sorry I just don't know enough about it yet to feel comfertable offering advice on that part. : )

 

[2hot2chicken]

I posted on here a few weeks ago about a chick that came from 2 white parents and it had a chipmonk pattern so I was wondering what color it could be. Well its feathering in now and I will try to get a picture tomorrow of it but it really appears to be a cuckoo.
Anyone who has cuckoos or has had cuckoo chicks do they typically have a chipmonk pattern as chicks?

 

[blessedchick]

I posted on here a few weeks ago about a chick that came from 2 white parents and it had a chipmonk pattern so I was wondering what color it could be. Well its feathering in now and I will try to get a picture tomorrow of it but it really appears to be a cuckoo.
Anyone who has cuckoos or has had cuckoo chicks do they typically have a chipmonk pattern as chicks?

I had 2 cuckoos from my last batch and they were hatched out solid black. I was all excited to FINALLY get some black silkies, but I do love my cuckoos, too!

 

[Suzierd]

What is a Chuckoo?

 

[Country Chickens]

Yeah, I think she needs to know about the single comb--I would want to know, and it does happen. The good news is, I got TWO paint chicks! And there's still one last paint egg that has pipped but not hatched! Woohoo!! Soo excited to see these adorable little chicks dry out and show their full color! I want to see spots!!!

I don't have any experience with this issue yet as I am just getting into breeding and showing silkies but I would definatly tactfully contact the breeder and nicely let them know about the issue. If they have not had their breeding birds long they may not have come accross this issue yet and this maybe very important for them to know. I have delt with both good and bad breeders here on BYC and when having issues I find it helpful to always contact the breeder for their knowledge and suggestions. It could be that maybe this was passed from a certain hen and that may not mean that all of their eggs will carrie this gene? Or it could be the roo passing it on and then all of your eggs could possible carrie the gene. If they are reputable then they will be honest with you and tell you the truth. If not at leased you tried right?
Someone else will have to pipe in about the comb issue itself, sorry I just don't know enough about it yet to feel comfertable offering advice on that part. : )

 

[chisNchickens]

Lovely! The porcelain are growing on me.
I will post pics of my hatch soon...had four hatch out of three dozen shipped eggs.

I am in love with my little porcelain chicks. They are just starting to get their blue feathers! One week old now.

 

[chisNchickens]

BTW, in my search for whites I found a breeder - Fleece and Feathers in Indiana. They only breed whites. Anyone ever heard
of them? Says show quality. I haven't been able to contact them yet.