Silkie thread!

[muddyhorse]

Quote:
these eggs were not bought from me. However I do breed Cuckoo silkies. It is like pushing a boulder up a hill with your nose to get a good one. cuckoos lack melanizers in their skin so we cross to black birds to darken skin and improve type. I also use some blues because I was lucky enough to get some extremely typey ones
hens

this is my main roo

he has mottled skin so sometimes he throws darker skined babies

and sometimes ( so far I've had 3 out of 50 ) chicks that are solid colored feathers with MOTTLED SKIN
which gives you this

these do not go back in the breeding pen.
silkie eggs can be hard to hatch especially when shipped.

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

I seldom comment anymore, but this one I can't resist....

When breeding/raising Silkies, you need to keep in mind that their appearance is going to change drastically throughout their first year. They're born appearing one color....that changes when they get their real "feathers" in.....color changes again when they reach sexual maturity, then changes again with first moult....

Yes, you should be able to identify the color of a chick, just keep in mind it's going to change---before you get upset and cull. I wouldn't have half of my flock if I culled (for color alone ) before the age of 1 yr

No---I'm not the seller....I don't sell eggs (but I'm thankful many good breeders do)

 

[SunshineSilkies]

Quote:

 

[emvickrey]

I have a question. Hopefully somebody will have an idea of what the answer is. Colors are hard to figure out sometimes or most of the time. Silkies have so many different colors. Anyway, I have a blue cockereal that is moulting right now. I suppose he will be able to breed when he's done, just a guess. Anyway, I have 2 splash hens. They aren't the blue splash but more of a lav splash. What do you think I may get color wise if I put the 3 together to breed? I was told if I put the hens with a lav roo I could get lav chicks. Would using a blue roo produce blue splash chicks? Or would it be possible to get lav chicks?

 

[robin416]

Quote:
Did whoever you got the birds from say they had a lavender parent?

No, you will not get lavender chicks. You need two copies of the lavender gene to see it.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Quote:
Can't say amen to this enough. I've made the "selling too soon" mistake many times...hopefully I've learned by now!

Also, not all chicks look like you think they should at hatch. Give them time before jumping to conclusions.

 

[Gordonhillfarm]

Muddyhorse your boy and mine look a lot alike . I decided awhile back not to go any futher in the cuckoo adventure . I sold my hens but haven't parted with my roo yet ( TAZ ) I just couldn't decide -- I've brought him too a couple of swaps but couldn't let him go . He has a very nice personality - but here is a couple of pics

He has all of his toes and very nice feathering -- forgive the dirt please he loves to dig around

Here is a pic of his wing pattern ( thought it might help as your chicks grow out - for comparison )

It is very hard to tell at this stage if they will bar out or not - They are still a project bird although they have been around for a very long time . I never sold any eggs -- I tried to breed them for my self but I don't have the barn space at this time to grow out project birds . ( someday ) Well if nothing else I hope this give you a couple of pictures you can reference back too as your chicks grow . ~~~~ Tammy

 

[Teresaann24]

It's was not a BYC member who I bought them from it was a ebayer but they had gotten their eggs from a BYC member which was the parent stock they are now selling eggs from.

Anyways I am getting ready to go check my e-mail to see if they send me one back.


Also I got my blue/splash and self blue-Lav babies this morning!!!!!!!!! Pictures soon.


ETA: No e-mail yet & Pictures!

I am having a hard time telling the splash from the lavender babies. All have correct toes and even some are very vaulted. (In our order of 25 all chicks arrived in good health and none dead) I got 4 lav 3 blue & 3 splash.

 

[Debbienmousey]

Hi all. I'm fairly new to raising Silkies, my 8 are turning one year old in a few days. I got them from a hatchery, and knowing what I know now if I could I'd probably go back in time and give the hatchery their chicks back and buy some from a quality breeder instead..but I have my hatchery chickies now and I love them, but I can see the huge difference between hatchery Silkies and Silkies from a good breeder. Anyway, the colors I'm interested in are white, blue, splash, and partridge. I recently posted a thread asking some stuff about genetics and a very nice guy helped me out quite a bit. I've decided that I might breed the Silkies I currently have a little this year (3 out of 4 hens are broody atm though), but overall I'll probably just keep them as pets. And I really want to find someone to buy quality Silkie hatching eggs from, so that I'll have good stock to breed next year.

Basically what I'm asking is, could y'all point me towards some quality breeders? Or do any of you have eggs for sale right now? I want white, b/b/s, and partridge. The only thing is I would prefer two dozenish eggs in a variety of those colors, and most people only sell one color at a time. I'd really like to get them fairly soon also.

 

[Teresaann24]

So let me see if I get this right...


Lavender babies?

Splash babies?