Silkie thread!

[tommysgirl]

Chickens are "flock" birds. I always try to have at least 2 of every breed. I have 2 Silkies and 2 LF in my 4 hen flock. They take turns who they buddy-up with but usually the Silkies are always foraging side-by-side when not in their hormonal broody moods.

Thanks that has always been my policy too. Do you think keeping a pullet from her clutch would be OK since broodies are so chick involved anyway or do you think I should pick up another of the older available girls?

 

[Aerielle]

X2

 

[Sylvester017]

What does SOP mean? I am going to breed the BCM"s 1 cause they are hard to find here, and 2 someday when I get lucky enough to have an Ameraucan I want to breed the 2 to get my own OE's love the egg color. Just a hobby project I want to do. the only chicks I have right now that I have experience with is the Lt. B and a little bit with the EE's, only ever had 3 in the last 2 years, one was old didn't lay but was an awesome adoptive mom!! Which is why we kept her around, other then I just liked her... lol and the other 2 I maybe got 6 eggs total from them before they got sick and died.
I used to have more than I do now but my husband died of Cancer in 2002 so I lost his income and had to downsize when I lost our big farm.
I breed goats mostly for 4-h milkers and 1 meat/milk cross. Also for 4-h.
My animals are my kids, it's hard to keep Money in mind when it comes time to sell any of them. BUT need feed money....

SOP means Standard of Perfection for the breed - it's the standards show breeders use to get the best looking birds.

BCMs are very popular and a couple years ago were so rare NOBODY had quality except one or two expensive breeders. Now a lot of people have them but are trying to SOP perfect them and get them entered into the APA (American Poultry Association) list of accepted breeds. I personally wouldn't want the heartache of trying to breed the darkest chocolate egg layer. But a lot of people absolutely LOVE the challenge and the fun. Since you are going for OEs than Marans would do well for that. There is a website I saw where someone is breeding for "Avocado" egg color - very interesting dark color egg.

My friend sells eggs so she has seriously reconsidered the breeds in her flock. The dual purpose like Marans, Orps, 'Lorps, Sexlinks won't be replaced again. I gave her a Buff Leg and White Leg plus she got another White Leg, and she has 4 EEs and Ameraucana and she loves how regularly they lay. Her dual purpose birds are just eating up her feed costs and not leaving her enough eggs left for her own family so she's slowly replacing the dual purpose birds. She's processed a few cockerels already. My folks used to eat White Legs on the farm for dinner - they weren't turkey portions but tasty should you need to use them for the table.

I had a hard time eating farm animals because I got so attached to them. One self-sufficient homesteader put it in good perspective for me - she said it's nice to have pets but when you run a self-sufficient homestead it's better to raise your own livestock/poultry for food - and when their egg laying winds down, rather than losing the animal to old age or suffering use them for food. At least her own birds are organic, she knows what she fed them and what their health history is, and had a lot of years of eggs from them, then uses them for meat before they are lost to disease or death. Doesn't make sense to just give them away either because you've invested a lot of money in their raising, care and feed. She processes most of her fowl by their 2nd and 3rd year then replenishes with her own incubated chicks. We let her know how broody Silkies get after their first year so she's working to get a pen just for them to brood her fertile eggs. She actively sells eggs, chickens, and turkeys. She uses duck eggs for baking and chicken eggs for selling. She has a few Naked Neck Turken chickens to make plucking easier at processing time. Apparently she mixes her various breeds for food and eggs so gets some strange looking chicks sometimes. She only sells eggs and processed birds - they're not for purebred breeding projects.

The Silkies are nice to have around as broodies for the egg laying breeds that don't normally brood their own young (like Legs and EEs). Silkies will hatch and mother ANYthing. I bet they'd hatch snake eggs if it was under them LOL !

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks that has always been my policy too. Do you think keeping a pullet from her clutch would be OK since broodies are so chick involved anyway or do you think I should pick up another of the older available girls?

Just pick another Silkie similar in age to your current pullet. They look old enough to take from the momma now. Usually by 2-month-old-chicks the momma has had enough of mothering.

 

[Sylvester017]

One of my lavender (self blue) chicks. And "Chai" Porcelain (blue cream) chick. 12 days old. Pam

Chai's mom is the hen in my avatar. -Pam Pittman

GORGEOUS! Nice photography poses.

 

[JenBoughtHens]

I want a pair of silkies! I am going to search the bantam bin tomorrow. Wish me luck!

 

[chick rookie]

SOP means Standard of Perfection for the breed - it's the standards show breeders use to get the best looking birds.

BCMs are very popular and a couple years ago were so rare NOBODY had quality except one or two expensive breeders. Now a lot of people have them but are trying to SOP perfect them and get them entered into the APA (American Poultry Association) list of accepted breeds. I personally wouldn't want the heartache of trying to breed the darkest chocolate egg layer. But a lot of people absolutely LOVE the challenge and the fun. Since you are going for OEs than Marans would do well for that. There is a website I saw where someone is breeding for "Avocado" egg color - very interesting dark color egg.

My friend sells eggs so she has seriously reconsidered the breeds in her flock. The dual purpose like Marans, Orps, 'Lorps, Sexlinks won't be replaced again. I gave her a Buff Leg and White Leg plus she got another White Leg, and she has 4 EEs and Ameraucana and she loves how regularly they lay. Her dual purpose birds are just eating up her feed costs and not leaving her enough eggs left for her own family so she's slowly replacing the dual purpose birds. She's processed a few cockerels already. My folks used to eat White Legs on the farm for dinner - they weren't turkey portions but tasty should you need to use them for the table.

I had a hard time eating farm animals because I got so attached to them. One self-sufficient homesteader put it in good perspective for me - she said it's nice to have pets but when you run a self-sufficient homestead it's better to raise your own livestock/poultry for food - and when their egg laying winds down, rather than losing the animal to old age or suffering use them for food. At least her own birds are organic, she knows what she fed them and what their health history is, and had a lot of years of eggs from them, then uses them for meat before they are lost to disease or death. Doesn't make sense to just give them away either because you've invested a lot of money in their raising, care and feed. She processes most of her fowl by their 2nd and 3rd year then replenishes with her own incubated chicks. We let her know how broody Silkies get after their first year so she's working to get a pen just for them to brood her fertile eggs. She actively sells eggs, chickens, and turkeys. She uses duck eggs for baking and chicken eggs for selling. She has a few Naked Neck Turken chickens to make plucking easier at processing time. Apparently she mixes her various breeds for food and eggs so gets some strange looking chicks sometimes. She only sells eggs and processed birds - they're not for purebred breeding projects.

The Silkies are nice to have around as broodies for the egg laying breeds that don't normally brood their own young (like Legs and EEs). Silkies will hatch and mother ANYthing. I bet they'd hatch snake eggs if it was under them LOL !

you are a fountain of Information, Thanks, I have been reading all kinds of stuff and didn't find the info you just told me.


This is my Ameraucana/EE I put it that way cause the store had them listed as Ameraucanas, but we all know they don't get purebred chicks from a hatchery. I wish!! As you can see here her legs are yellow, but now that she is older they are Slate Grey. Will try and get pic's latter today, no reason just cause I think it is strange. never knew a chicks legs to change color before, and she has started feathering out white as you can see, but now she has some pretty strange colors coming in with the white... I just hope she is a she. I have been told that most white EE's turn out to be Roo's. I hope not and I was really hoping for an all white hen too but oh well!!!
Something else I have noticed, the hatchery information, most time don't match other info I find online. I was thinking about getting some chicks from a hatchery, till I started hearing all the terrible stories about lost and or missing chicks, dead chicks and the like... knock on wood I have never lost a chick before, and hope I never do. I really do think part of the reason is I let chicks and chickens be what they are, and lets face it they are not the cleanest birds in the world. Now I'm not saying that I let them sit in their own poo or anything like that, but all the brooder changes every day, the vit, and supplements, this and that.... they wouldn't be getting that in the wild or in the hen house if a broody was raising them, well they would be it would be all natural. So I give meal worms and crickets and anything I can, veg, fruit, all the stuff I would give to my hens and they would then feed to their chicks I give. I clan a brooder with 10 chicks 1x a week, 1 week it will be hay, the next pine shavings. I bring in dirt from outside and let them dust bath in it. I believe it brings the immune system up.
Don't know what got me on this subject???? Sorry I went way off target...
I sell eggs too ( well I did, and will again ) but I want to try the breeding thing and see what that gets me to, just as a hobby, I don't plan on getting rich with it, but hey wouldn't that be nice.... my biggest thing right now is having a nice colorful egg basket, and NOT EATING THOSE NASTY STORE EGGS anymore!! YUK!!!

My old customers keep calling and e-mailing wanting eggs, they are waiting on me they say... well gonna be a wait!!
Don't know if I could kill my own birds for food, I did it when they got sick but that's just cause treatments were slim to none to work, and if it did they would still be carriers, but that was to keep them from suffering, and I don't think my egg people would like it much if they found out about it.
DH keeps talking about doing that but I just don't see him doing it either, he hated helping me cull.
I have 2 Silkie Roo's right now am looking for some hens, but don't want chicks cause they may turn out to be Roo's, so I want grown but young hen's. I have a partridge and a buff. they are 10 weeks old yesterday and crowing already!!! My ISA Browns are only 6 weeks old and as big as the Silkies. so they are going to be small, didn't realize they were so tiny. lol

 

[cutipatooti]

I'm looking to get some silkies. Where can I get the best quality birds from. I don't want from a hatchety but my boys do want chicks. I'm hoping to try and get show quality as my boys are in the 4-H. Really we want good quality silkies. Anyone here sell and ship to NY or know a place that does?

 

[BelleFarm]

I'm looking to get some silkies. Where can I get the best quality birds from. I don't want from a hatchety but my boys do want chicks. I'm hoping to try and get show quality as my boys are in the 4-H. Really we want good quality silkies. Anyone here sell and ship to NY or know a place that does?

You might want to check out this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/690632/silkie-breeding-genetics-showing

 

[KV Silkies]

question.... i am hatching silkie eggs, day 7 last night, one of the eggs is completely clear in half of it and shows development in the other half... never seen this before..... any ideas? I will know more saturday on day 10, but just thought it odd.