Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

One of my weird colored birds that are hard to sex. I thought this was a cockerel, but it's looking more like a pullet now.

Pretty bird! Can't even see a comb on this one -- don't the boys usually get considerably larger combs at this stage?

 

[Hinotori]

I had some sort of mutation pop up in a cockerel last year. He's just over 4 pounds. I'm currently running an experiment with him over a few hens. I want to know if he passes the size along. One of his chicks from my new years hatch has been noticeably larger than the others since it was a week old.

I remember the photo of your big guy.  Have you a photo of his large offspring chick next to its hatchmates?

I gave up. They won't sit still. Best I could get was just two together. I bred him back to his grandmother. Her chicks are always lighter in color. The other chicks from her are all bigger in this breeding.

Chick on right is one in question and over an ounce heavier. Other is average sized.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:

These are weird in how they develop. If they are this color, they stay mostly the same until between 3-4 months. I can usually only tell for sure when the boys start getting the red on the wing bows. That will start to come in before the combs get bigger. As I said, this line cross has weird stuff happen.

 

[Hinotori]

Ah ha! Found a picture of the last male like that. This was around 17 weeks and he still looked like a girl. You can see the red coming in. Can't see it here, but his comb had started to get bigger at this point. The girls have almost nothing comb wise.

 

[Sylvester017]

I gave up. They won't sit still. Best I could get was just two together. I bred him back to his grandmother. Her chicks are always lighter in color. The other chicks from her are all bigger in this breeding.

Chick on right is one in question and over an ounce heavier. Other is average sized.

That IS a sizeable difference! How lucky you have these genetics going through your stock! Odd that there wasn't more than one significantly larger chick from the breeding pair? Another interesting experiment is to see if the large chick turns out a boy or if females come out of the genetics too? What size were the eggs that hatched -- did some happen to be larger than others too? I notice one of my Silkies can lay various sizes of eggs while the other is always a consistent egg size. Must be somewhere in your line of Silkies a large fowl was cross-bred to them generations ago and larger Silkies are just now starting to show up without losing the perfect Silkie standard. This isn't the breeding pair that had fused fifth toes, are they?

 

[Sylvester017]

These are weird in how they develop. If they are this color, they stay mostly the same until between 3-4 months. I can usually only tell for sure when the boys start getting the red on the wing bows. That will start to come in before the combs get bigger. As I said, this line cross has weird stuff happen.

I picked two day-old Partridge Silkies only about an hour after they hatched. My friend took them home for me with other large fowl day-old chicks she chose and raised them all in the same brooder and I got to visit them often. I didn't bring my Partridge home until they were 6 months old. At about 2 months old I kept noticing one Partridge bolder in temperament and more colorful than the other. I kept saying he's a male. No, he doesn't look male everyone said. Well, can't fool me with Partridge -- those boys are easy to identify early. It's the other colors or weird varieties that I can't identify. I'm not zoned for roos but he was such a sweetheart we brought him home. Had to give him back very soon though because he mounted his timid sister way too much and crowing is not allowed in our zone. I never got to see anything but his young feathering but he had promise to have colorful adult plumage. Feather-footed chickens really show wear on their toes from foraging -- I have a Black Silkie that lost two outer toes from OCD foraging!!!

6-MONTHS sister and brother

 

[Hinotori]

That IS a sizeable difference!  How lucky you have these genetics going through your stock!  Odd that there wasn't more than one significantly larger chick from the breeding pair?  Another interesting experiment is to see if the large chick turns out a boy or if females come out of the genetics too?  What size were the eggs that hatched -- did some happen to be larger than others too?  I notice one of my Silkies can lay various sizes of eggs while the other is always a consistent egg size.  Must be somewhere in your line of Silkies a large fowl was cross-bred to them generations ago and larger Silkies are just now starting to show up without losing the perfect Silkie standard.  This isn't the breeding pair that had fused fifth toes, are they?

It's something to do with that one hen's line. Birds only from the other are normal (except the occasional extra toe or nail). It's odd because she's on the smaller side for a hen.

All eggs are very close in size. I can only tell the one hen's apart because they are a slightly lighter color. Every other hens look the same.

I'll see if one of these chicks from her ends up a girl. I can't tell with the attitude because she passes on her calm stoic manner.

I'm just having fun with this breeding because curiosity was getting to me. I'm thinking of adding two more pens to the silkie compound this spring

 

[Goosegrrl]

How many of you trim (or something) your pullets/hens so that they can see better.
I have some young ladies with really full cheeks/beards and crests... one of them is so fluffy I can't see her eyes at all without digging for them by pulling cheek fluff down and crest fluff up. I honestly think that she is pecking blind most of the time. But she is beautiful.
So, time to tape? I'm not going to show them, so is trimming the better route?

 

[Hinotori]

I've done trimming before. The hens loved it after.

I don't bother anymore only because all of mine have figured out how to slick the crest back with dew or water

 

[Goosegrrl]

Well... I guess I'm going to give it a try. One of my fluff heads is a bit thin, and I think it's because she misses food when pecking too often. Even when I hold some wet feed clumps in my hand she tends to miss abut 4/5 tries. I've started feeding a moist mash in a tray for them and that seems to really help.
One of my boys needs a trim too.
I sure do adore all that fluff though.

And they are so sweet.