Silkie thread!

[sheeshshe]

I still say probably boy for peppermint

, could you get a face shot of boy george? Also, he has silver leakage in his hackles. I have heard it is okay for breeding for hen's, but if your blue hen also has hidden silver leakage the males from the breeding would end up with silver leakage which is a defect. So careful who you would breed him to. BUT, if he has a twisted beak like it looks (take a straight on face shot if possible) I wouldn't breed him.

I show, I wouldn't use show sheen on silkies, they are not supposed to be as shiny as regular feathered birds. I DO use a shine for my polish roo though. What show are you going to?
I LOVE grooming my birds

The silkies are great about it and really enjoy it. What I do is file down their nails and beak first (watch for the quicks, and only file off the tips of the beak where the color is different that the rest of the beak). Then I bathe them in the sink, a lot of people like to just use dawn dish soap and an ACV/downy fabric softener rinse. But I like to use baby/dog shampoos! Baby shampoo first. then Whitener for white and light colored birds birds, darkener for dark/black birds, or just a good smelling or volumizing shampoo. Make sure you rinse ALL of the shampoo out. Careful not to get water up their noses, you can usually hold their wattles and they will automatically pull their head back so you can rinse it. After, I blowdry the silkies most of teh way, then put them in a dog crate with deep bedding and a heat lamp on top to keep them warm. Once dry I put vaseline or VetRx on their legs and combs. You can use a wire slicker brush(for dogs) to fluff them up. There is a silkie breeding, genetics, and showing thread as well, and I started a showing silkies thread.

boy george and Lucia are from one breeder and snowcone and peppermint are from another, one I REALLY trust. I don't trust the boy george breeder, something was fishy about him. THey were my friends chickens, but she gave them to me when she left. I"ll try and get a shot of boy george tomorrow

thank you!!

 

[ChicksNherps]

boy george and Lucia are from one breeder and snowcone and peppermint are from another, one I REALLY trust. I don't trust the boy george breeder, something was fishy about him. THey were my friends chickens, but she gave them to me when she left. I"ll try and get a shot of boy george tomorrow

thank you!!

 

[littlecritters]

In the above photo, Boy George does look like he may have a crooked beak. It would be worth checking.

 

[Sanna]

I show, I wouldn't use show sheen on silkies, they are not supposed to be as shiny as regular feathered birds. I DO use a shine for my polish roo though. What show are you going to?
I LOVE grooming my birds

The silkies are great about it and really enjoy it. What I do is file down their nails and beak first (watch for the quicks, and only file off the tips of the beak where the color is different that the rest of the beak). Then I bathe them in the sink, a lot of people like to just use dawn dish soap and an ACV/downy fabric softener rinse. But I like to use baby/dog shampoos! Baby shampoo first. then Whitener for white and light colored birds birds, darkener for dark/black birds, or just a good smelling or volumizing shampoo. Make sure you rinse ALL of the shampoo out. Careful not to get water up their noses, you can usually hold their wattles and they will automatically pull their head back so you can rinse it. After, I blowdry the silkies most of teh way, then put them in a dog crate with deep bedding and a heat lamp on top to keep them warm. Once dry I put vaseline or VetRx on their legs and combs. You can use a wire slicker brush(for dogs) to fluff them up. There is a silkie breeding, genetics, and showing thread as well, and I started a showing silkies thread.

Shining up your silkie didn't necessarily sound like a good idea.

I have a bunch of horse shampoos etc, especially the ones for lighter and darker hair. Maybe those will come in handy for my black, partridge and white pullet.

I'm planning on going to the show in Haddam Neck, CT. Sometime in April, can't remember the exact date. I'm so excited because I live 15-20 minutes away from the fairgrounds.

 

[ChicksNherps]

Shining up your silkie didn't necessarily sound like a good idea.

I have a bunch of horse shampoos etc, especially the ones for lighter and darker hair. Maybe those will come in handy for my black, partridge and white pullet.

I'm planning on going to the show in Haddam Neck, CT. Sometime in April, can't remember the exact date. I'm so excited because I live 15-20 minutes away from the fairgrounds.

There is a HUGE show that will be in west springfield MA January 19th-20th. I will be there with my 3 sweeties, you should come! Unfortunately the deadline to enter the show was the 27th but visitors are welcome and there will be vendors and sales. Also, over 2000 birds! You could learn a lot by asking competitors what they did to groom their silkies.

Also, I have vetrolin bright N' white, works great for white feathers but you have to make sure you scrub it in well or it will stain them purple

 

[Sanna]

There is a HUGE show that will be in west springfield MA January 19th-20th. I will be there with my 3 sweeties, you should come! Unfortunately the deadline to enter the show was the 27th but visitors are welcome and there will be vendors and sales. Also, over 2000 birds! You could learn a lot by asking competitors what they did to groom their silkies.

Also, I have vetrolin bright N' white, works great for white feathers but you have to make sure you scrub it in well or it will stain them purple

That show is on my calendar, I'll be there to watch and learn things for sure.

I just couldn't get my birds in shape in time for this show....besides, my little silkies are barely 6 months old at the moment. lol I'll give them a few more months before I take them 'out to public'.

They sell birds at these shows, right? I might have to go with an empty wallet so I don't bring anything home.

 

[Daisy9696]

I wish I was closer! I want to go to that show!!

 

[ChicksNherps]

That show is on my calendar, I'll be there to watch and learn things for sure.

I just couldn't get my birds in shape in time for this show....besides, my little silkies are barely 6 months old at the moment. lol I'll give them a few more months before I take them 'out to public'.

They sell birds at these shows, right? I might have to go with an empty wallet so I don't bring anything home.

Yes they do, my friend will be there selling some silkie chicks. Her stock is gorgeous! Ice is from her BBS pen, she is only going to be 5 months when we go. Make sure to check out the northeast poultry congress thread to find out how we are all going to find one another.

 

[heirloomorps]

I would love to go to the show in MA - but living in TN means the drive is too long for us. Maybe one year we will get there!

Our late Xmas present to ourselves was two blue hens and a gorgeous dark splash roo. They are soooo pretty! I am going to try and get some photos of them tomorrow to show off. Can't wait to get some babies from them.

 

[peepblessed]

Just to entice you, here are my babies born in the past 2 days (there is one older one that is about 10 days old)

Adorable!!

What would I get if i bred a blue partridge to porcelain?

I recently did a similar cross. Dark porcelain crossed with a blue hen carrying the partridge genes. Here's a photo of the chicks.

Well....that was the last picture I ever got of him. I found him dead this morning in the wyandotte pen. I don't know how or why he got in there, but it looks like the wyandotte rooster attacked him and managed to peck the soft spot on his head, killing him, based on the little bloody spot there. He was such a beautiful boy, still a baby. I'm going to miss him so much

Just awful! So sorry!!

thank you everyone for the condolences. I'm still pretty upset about it, but life goes on here at the farm. The turkeys were gobbling at absolutely everything today, and those crazy birds helped cheer me up. My silkies have cheered me up today as well. My 4 m/o Macho, 'heart boy' has really been filling out, and his heart shape is much fatter.







And a hen which I had just about given up on as pet quality (approaching 8 months) has really started to fill out in the tail and crest. She had the skimpiest little tail and teeny crest for the longest time, but now she's looking quite beautiful. Nothing like my best hens, but still a looker. I still don't like her crest, but her body is looking nice and 'fat'.

Looking awesome!!

Anybody got Silkie or Shiwgirl chicks or juveniles?

Where do you live Daisy?

I would love to go to the show in MA - but living in TN means the drive is too long for us. Maybe one year we will get there!
Our late Xmas present to ourselves was two blue hens and a gorgeous dark splash roo. They are soooo pretty! I am going to try and get some photos of them tomorrow to show off. Can't wait to get some babies from them.

Look forward to photos!!