Silkie thread!

[jajeanpierre]

I have a little Silkie pullet, 7 months old that seems to be quite broody. I hadn't appreciated the implications of being broody before. I never see her out of the nest box anymore. I pick her up several times a day and put her outside beside water and food. Sometimes she eats or drinks, sometimes she just squats their flattened like a pancake. Usually, her crop is empty. I think she is dropping weight. (I'll start weighing her today.) I don't know if she is laying any eggs, but I often find an egg or two under her. They might be other pullets' eggs and she just chooses to sit in the nest box with the most eggs when she goes back after I've lifted her outside.

What do I do with her? Is she likely to always be especially broody? Is she likely to be a very good candidate to hatch eggs or adopt new chicks? I'm a bit worried for her health. I don't care if she is not producing eggs.

I bought these Silkies (hatchery chicks of dubious quality) just because my avian vet told me they were so friendly and adorable. I hadn't thought about using them as a broody, but now I will let them hatch some Americauna eggs next year. I don't think I need seven Silkie pullets for that. What percentage of Silkies will successfully hatch eggs? I would like to use a Silkie to raise some day-old chicks that I've ordered for next year. The chicks will be two days old when they arrive in the mail. Is that feasible? How do I choose which Silkie to try to be the mother for the chicks?

I am thinking of finding homes for a few of my Silkie pullets with one of my husband's co-workers who will make them a combination of egg producer and pet for their children. I'm trying to go through the seven pullets and decide which ones I could make available. I've already decided to keep the Silkie that has protective rooster traits and comes running over to bite me if I mess with her girls--that's not going to be a fun bird for a pet. Another I'll keep because I like the color. I think I should keep this broody one, too, since she is not likely to produce many eggs or be fun for kids. Does that make sense or are the rest just as likely to be as broody as she is? I want to give them two or three pullets that are my best egg layers if I can figure out who they are. Thoughts please.

Thanks.

 

[SilkieMom8875]

Lol is it normal for you to start out with one broody mom then as it is close to hatch time have six !! There are three silkies in one nest box and two in the other. One on her own too ! It is so funny to watch them all try and squeeze together !

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote: Porcelain is not just simply Buff x Lavender. After the initial cross there is a LOT of messing with the genetics and picking what you want to keep and adding in other genetics to get it to look right. Its not really "Porcelain" either - because every other bird's Porcelain requires Mottled - and I doubt anybody is using Mottled because it makes the black skin mottled too. The correct name for this PROJECT color is Self-Blue Creme. Unfortunately it is still a "project color" so Porcelain x Porcelain does not always make Porcelain. From Catdance's birds it might, she has been working with it for a long time. However, that doesn't guarantee correctness. The genetics will be there, and hopefully they are homozygous for Lavender now so you won't loose that - but they can loose things that make the color look right. One person had a hatch from Porcelain eggs and got a rooster without the Lavender. He looked like a grey boy with really bad red leakage...

Lol is it normal for you to start out with one broody mom then as it is close to hatch time have six !! There are three silkies in one nest box and two in the other. One on her own too ! It is so funny to watch them all try and squeeze together !

Broody is contagious. Any female bird around the broody may be triggered to join in. It is not limited to Silkies, although they are the most likely candidate. I have had an EE go broody after being around a broody Polish - and I have had that bird for 5 years and she has NEVER gone broody before!

 

[chickee]

Porcelain is not just simply Buff x Lavender. After the initial cross there is a LOT of messing with the genetics and picking what you want to keep and adding in other genetics to get it to look right. Its not really "Porcelain" either - because every other bird's Porcelain requires Mottled - and I doubt anybody is using Mottled because it makes the black skin mottled too. The correct name for this PROJECT color is Self-Blue Creme. Unfortunately it is still a "project color" so Porcelain x Porcelain does not always make Porcelain. From Catdance's birds it might, she has been working with it for a long time. However, that doesn't guarantee correctness. The genetics will be there, and hopefully they are homozygous for Lavender now so you won't loose that - but they can loose things that make the color look right. One person had a hatch from Porcelain eggs and got a rooster without the Lavender. He looked like a grey boy with really bad red leakage...

Broody is contagious. Any female bird around the broody may be triggered to join in. It is not limited to Silkies, although they are the most likely candidate. I have had an EE go broody after being around a broody Polish - and I have had that bird for 5 years and she has NEVER gone broody before!

Well there certainly is a variety of shades in my porcelain chicks. One chick has faint chipmunk stripes. If the chicks are too light (on the lavender side) can you breed back to buff to get more of the golden color? What is the color they are calling Isabell?

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
I don't know the genetics for Porcelain very well - I am TRYING to stick with Partridge and that is tough enough.

I believe Isabell is another name they tried using for the Porcelain - but it wasn't close to correct genetics either. I think I remember Porcelain needs Mottled, Isabella needs the Pattern gene? Somebody mentioned it could be Lavender over Partridge - I think that would be BEAUTIFUL. However, we can't see the patterning very well in the Silkied feathers, so we have no clue when we get close to correct genetics. Putting Lavender over what I have now will give a washed out bird - I need to find Mahogany...

I suspect some Porcelain is closer to Isabella genetically - but over our current Partridge Silkies instead of the darker Partridge. Its so hard to tell what you actually have...

Its like throwing darts at a dart board, blindfolded. With practice I can imagine you can get good at determining what genetics you need to get the color correct when you can't see what it actually is. I don't have any practice.. yet.

 

[chickee]

I don't know the genetics for Porcelain very well - I am TRYING to stick with Partridge and that is tough enough.

I believe Isabell is another name they tried using for the Porcelain - but it wasn't close to correct genetics either. I think I remember Porcelain needs Mottled, Isabella needs the Pattern gene? Somebody mentioned it could be Lavender over Partridge - I think that would be BEAUTIFUL. However, we can't see the patterning very well in the Silkied feathers, so we have no clue when we get close to correct genetics. Putting Lavender over what I have now will give a washed out bird - I need to find Mahogany...

I suspect some Porcelain is closer to Isabella genetically - but over our current Partridge Silkies instead of the darker Partridge. Its so hard to tell what you actually have...

Its like throwing darts at a dart board, blindfolded. With practice I can imagine you can get good at determining what genetics you need to get the color correct when you can't see what it actually is. I don't have any practice.. yet.

From looking around a little it seems like people are/were calling the porcelains "Isabell Porcelain" and maybe that is because it is not a true porcelain. Like you said, it does not carry the mottling gene that a true porcelain does, so the distinction for the Silkie porcelain color is "Isabell."

I sure like the partridge colored Silkies too. Gorgeous one pictured on Catdance's egg auction. I was disappointed I didn't get any of those.

Looks like 10 chicks is it for this hatch. Ended up with 6 porcelain, 2 white, 1 lavender and 1 blue. All of the chicks have vaulted skulls except one white and the blue.

 

[chicksnthestiks]

...

From looking around a little it seems like people are/were calling the porcelains "Isabell Porcelain" and maybe that is because it is not a true porcelain. Like you said, it does not carry the mottling gene that a true porcelain does, so the distinction for the Silkie porcelain color is "Isabell." 

I sure like the partridge colored Silkies too. Gorgeous one pictured on Catdance's egg auction. I was disappointed I didn't get any of those. 




Congratulations, they are great looking. Can hardly wait to see the rest.

 

[ChickNmamma]

From looking around a little it seems like people are/were calling the porcelains "Isabell Porcelain" and maybe that is because it is not a true porcelain. Like you said, it does not carry the mottling gene that a true porcelain does, so the distinction for the Silkie porcelain color is "Isabell."

I sure like the partridge colored Silkies too. Gorgeous one pictured on Catdance's egg auction. I was disappointed I didn't get any of those.

Looks like 10 chicks is it for this hatch. Ended up with 6 porcelain, 2 white, 1 lavender and 1 blue. All of the chicks have vaulted skulls except one white and the blue.

Are you giving up on the Buff and the Splash? I thought you said yesterday was day 21 - I never give up until day 25.... Did you float test the remainders?

I had forgotten you originally bought 30 eggs.. I thought you hatched the 9 (now 10) out of 15 eggs.. Well - not great for shipped eggs, but you sure got some beautiful chicks!

 

[kabhyper1]

Momma was stir crazy, so we went outside for about 5 minutes. Hopefully I didn't give the kids a chill. It wasn't too bad out today.

I went out to give Snow a drink and make sure the hatch was going, and this little head popped out. Something its screwy with my genetics lol. I don't care, its adorable!

 

[ChickNmamma]

Momma was stir crazy, so we went outside for about 5 minutes. Hopefully I didn't give the kids a chill. It wasn't too bad out today.

I went out to give Snow a drink and make sure the hatch was going, and this little head popped out. Something its screwy with my genetics lol. I don't care, its adorable!

Yup, you have "Partridge" under your Roo and one of the hens. That is normal - for Silkies. They are cute too!