Silkie thread!

[1chicken fan]

I have horrible news. A coon got in my silkie coop last night. I lost all of my silkies except my roo roger... the one that got scalped by a hawk a month or so ago, and 3 wyandotte chicks that Leila was fostering. It managed to get in by going in between the dog run and the coop, pulling the fencing off on that side of the coop tractor. I put that side against the dog run cuz I knew it was a weak side until I could buy the last of my trim wood to sandwiche the last section of fencing. I am so mad at myself. I just ran out of money and still needed about $30 in wood, and was getting that on tuesday when I get paid again. I can see on the fencing where it tried to get in at other places as couldn't, so I know I did a good job there, but I thought that putting the tractor up against the dog run on its weak spot wouldnt give room for anything to get through.


Lesson learned. I am so mad I am in tears.

I am so sorry, we too are on a budget and know what that is like to jury rig something up. I hope your heart heals and you get some more silkies, sometimes new babies is just what you need after a devistating loss.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: This year I am parting with some birds earlier, but I have also hatched a lot more. I would normally hold on to a bird until I see how it grows out, toe issues or not. This year I am getting rid of birds with the wrong number or spacing, but only because I have so many others without the issue. Exception for some of my project birds. Then they only go if there is a significant problem that is genetic, and something I want to make sure does not get perpetuated: such as my roachback/wrytailed chocolate who is otherwise almost perfect

 

[peepblessed]

To me, this looks like a medium blue, not light. Any yes, a beautiful bird !

Thanks, I would love to get some lighter blue!

 

[1chicken fan]

I felt the same way KMH. Don't have any room for him right now. Then I also remembered that roosters are illegal here. Oops.

KM, I could take him I go to Tacoma to visit my grandsons......I live closer to salem so I don't have an exact date but sometime in the newxt two weeks

 

[peepblessed]

Some backgrounds are really white. I was convinced I had gotten a rare white chick from my two blues until it started getting almost blacck feathers around 4 weeks!

Sigrid Van Dort (Genetics of Chicken Colours) says that Splash birds (Bl/Bl) are white or nearly white with blue and/or black splashes. Thus my confusion with Silkies.

These are 3 of mine (on the left) - clearly splash (I would call this white or nearly white), with my white Silkie bent over beside them for comparison.



This is the chick that confuses me (between the two dark ones.) But it seems in the realm of Silkies, this one may be splash as well and not just a light blue? (Another clear splash top, right.)

 

[ValleyPoultryFarms]

So many gorgeous silkies

 

[peepblessed]

This year I am parting with some birds earlier, but I have also hatched a lot more. I would normally hold on to a bird until I see how it grows out, toe issues or not. This year I am getting rid of birds with the wrong number or spacing, but only because I have so many others without the issue. Exception for some of my project birds. Then they only go if there is a significant problem that is genetic, and something I want to make sure does not get perpetuated: such as my roachback/wrytailed chocolate who is otherwise almost perfect

That is really awful!! What do you do with your paints that don't color? I gave up on paints because of the off color chicks.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Sigrid Van Dort (Genetics of Chicken Colours) says that Splash birds (Bl/Bl) are white or nearly white with blue and/or black splashes. Thus my confusion with Silkies.

These are 3 of mine (on the left) - clearly splash (I would call this white or nearly white), with my white Silkie bent over beside them for comparison.



This is the chick that confuses me (between the two dark ones.) But it seems in the realm of Silkies, this one may be splash as well and not just a light blue? (Another clear splash top, right.)

Those really light splash look like the barely there color. This is the color that I've heard a lot of people talk about that need to be bred back to black. But they are beautiful! They are sporting some really nice crests on them! Your darker bird looks to be a splash, and not a blue. It could be a blue, though! Considering your other birds are very light and maybe this one is a very light blue. But it looks like it has a dark spot on it's neck and it might just be a matter of time before the spots come out. If it turns into a splash-- it will be the same color splash I have, since a lot of mine are that dark, too.

This year I am parting with some birds earlier, but I have also hatched a lot more. I would normally hold on to a bird until I see how it grows out, toe issues or not. This year I am getting rid of birds with the wrong number or spacing, but only because I have so many others without the issue. Exception for some of my project birds. Then they only go if there is a significant problem that is genetic, and something I want to make sure does not get perpetuated: such as my roachback/wrytailed chocolate who is otherwise almost perfect

Ahhh, I don't have that many babies-- only about 18 or so. I didn't want to get out of hand with the hatching. I could have kept going, but this being my first go at this, I wanted to maintain control over my new found love of hatching!

I do have a good selection to choose from, though. Even if I get rid of half, that is fine by me. I just want to keep the best is all. What a bummer about your project chocolate bird who is just "nearly" perfect!

Doesn't that figure??

 

[henney penny]

I knew my cuckoo was a rooster,was so sure the three blues that were in with him were pullets,but today I really had dh ;pick them up and I really looked at them and I think they are all boys to!!Wondered why I was not getting any eggs,they will 6 months old the end of this month.Really want some cuckoo eggs,all my girls either have babies or are on eggs,will have to wait now.

 

[henney penny]

I knew my cuckoo was a rooster,was so sure the three blues that were in with him were pullets,but today I had dh pick them up and I really looked at them and I think they are all boys to!!Wondered why I was not getting any eggs,they will 6 months old the end of this month.Really want some cuckoo eggs,all my girls either have babies or are on eggs,will have to wait now.