Silkie thread!

[Fancychooklady]

[COLOR=333333][COLOR=B22222]** I Previously posted this in a separate thread, but I don't know if it was more appropriate in this thread and read somewhere that Silkie related questions may get answered better here. I appreciate any responses.**[/COLOR][/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]I recently picked up eight chicks: 2 Black Frizzle Cochins, 1 Splash Silkie, 3 White Silkies, and 2 Blue! I am loving them to pieces, but had some questions regarding breed aesthetics.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]The two Cochins are from Ideal Poultry, and are approximately 2 weeks old. My question is: should they both be showing the frizzled feathers by this age? I have been trying to read through the forums, as well as information from other websites, and all that I have been able to find is people stating it can show anywhere from hatching to one week of age. One chick is already showing the frizzle feathering. The other chick has already grown in a significant amount of feathers on its wings, but they are completely straight. I called the hatchery to see if all of their Frizzles are guaranteed to show the trait, and they stated yes and to keep an eye on it; if it does not start curling, they told me to take photos and send it to them and they will refund me. How long is long enough to wait, or is two weeks adequate time to determine that they are not going to curl?[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Also, will Silkies that have a nice round crest as hatchlings most likely grow to have nice round crests, and can Silkie chicks that don't show much of a poof at 1-2 week of age grow to have a nice crest?[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Here is the Frizzle I am speaking of compared to its brother/sister (first is straight feathered, second is frizzled):[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]The closer I look at the wings, the more I'm thinking they might be slightly "messier" than a typical Cochin's feathers, so perhaps he's just a late curler? The second chicks is very obviously frizzled.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]And here are the Silkies I'm wondering about:[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]1) This chick has almost a bald ring around where its puff should be in front of, but the puff isn't quite discernible. The feathering around its neck is very puffy though.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]2) This chick has no real crown definition and the feathers on its head are about the same length as his neck/body.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]3 &4) These chicks looks like they have a cotton ball on their heads, and have been this way since the first day they hatched. Think it will stay this way?[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]I'm really new to chickens, so I don't quite know what is "normal" for chicks and how they develop aesthetically. I know that you can tell a dog's structural soundness and coat when they are puppies, but I didn't know if chickens were the same. Any help at all would be appreciated.[/COLOR]

We will do our best to help you. The silkies with the poof heads are what's known as ' vaulted skulls, nothing to worry about, just something that occurs in the breed. Your other silkies will develop nice round crests too. I would wait it out on the frizzle, some will be more frizzles than others. Very cute chicks.

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

** I Previously posted this in a separate thread, but I don't know if it was more appropriate in this thread and read somewhere that Silkie related questions may get answered better here. I appreciate any responses.**

I recently picked up eight chicks: 2 Black Frizzle Cochins, 1 Splash Silkie, 3 White Silkies, and 2 Blue! I am loving them to pieces, but had some questions regarding breed aesthetics.

The two Cochins are from Ideal Poultry, and are approximately 2 weeks old. My question is: should they both be showing the frizzled feathers by this age? I have been trying to read through the forums, as well as information from other websites, and all that I have been able to find is people stating it can show anywhere from hatching to one week of age. One chick is already showing the frizzle feathering. The other chick has already grown in a significant amount of feathers on its wings, but they are completely straight. I called the hatchery to see if all of their Frizzles are guaranteed to show the trait, and they stated yes and to keep an eye on it; if it does not start curling, they told me to take photos and send it to them and they will refund me. How long is long enough to wait, or is two weeks adequate time to determine that they are not going to curl?

Also, will Silkies that have a nice round crest as hatchlings most likely grow to have nice round crests, and can Silkie chicks that don't show much of a poof at 1-2 week of age grow to have a nice crest?

Here is the Frizzle I am speaking of compared to its brother/sister (first is straight feathered, second is frizzled):



The closer I look at the wings, the more I'm thinking they might be slightly "messier" than a typical Cochin's feathers, so perhaps he's just a late curler? The second chicks is very obviously frizzled.

And here are the Silkies I'm wondering about:

1) This chick has almost a bald ring around where its puff should be in front of, but the puff isn't quite discernible. The feathering around its neck is very puffy though.


2) This chick has no real crown definition and the feathers on its head are about the same length as his neck/body.


3 &4) These chicks looks like they have a cotton ball on their heads, and have been this way since the first day they hatched. Think it will stay this way?


I'm really new to chickens, so I don't quite know what is "normal" for chicks and how they develop aesthetically. I know that you can tell a dog's structural soundness and coat when they are puppies, but I didn't know if chickens were the same. Any help at all would be appreciated.

I love your babies with the vaulted skulls, they are my fav The one without one should get a nice crest to. Im surprised you got a splash from Ideal poultry. Last I emailed them asking if they carried splash, they told me they didnt, that they had blue who would sometimes throw splash but that they didnt specifically carry that color. :s I have a few partridge from Ideal but they dont look nearly this nice. You have some great looking babies

 

[Cels]

I love your babies with the vaulted skulls, they are my fav The one without one should get a nice crest to. Im surprised you got a splash from Ideal poultry. Last I emailed them asking if they carried splash, they told me they didnt, that they had blue who would sometimes throw splash but that they didnt specifically carry that color. :s I have a few partridge from Ideal but they dont look nearly this nice. You have some great looking babies

Thank you both for the responses!

Iluvmysilkies: Sorry for the miscommunication! I actually only got the two Frizzle Cochins from Ideal. All of my Silkies were from local breeders in Austin. I loved the vaulted skulls as well (although I actually just thought it was a larger crown/more feathering), but was too impatient to wait for more and ended up just picking up the two along with a few siblings! I just started researching "vaulted skulls," and now I'm a little worried, haha. I think two my Silks may be splashes, but I'm not really sure yet.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the Silkies that didn't have the "poof," or vaulted skulls, so thank you for clarifying! I've seen some pictures of silkies with almost no feathering on the head, and was unsure if that's how they would end up.

I also purchased another silkie that is interesting color wise, at least to me. It was sold to me as blue, but it has a lot of white on its chest and head, and I noticed it's primary feathers were quite a bit larger than my other Silkies!

I'm excited to see how they all come out! I'll also wait a couple more weeks before sending in photos of the Frizzle chick to Ideal. His sibling's wings look crazy!

 

[CrazyChookLady5]

Oh my goodness, it's a boy! A very handsome boy.

haha thanks! I think he it too! my other tow roos (who are both X silkies) pick on him a lot and at the moment he's lost a few feathers, so he's not looks so good, but you can't really tel in this picture.

 

[TOOCLOSE]

Man OH Man! Y'all have been burning this thread UP! LOL I should have smelled the smoke from my computer in my bedroom while I was fast asleep! I have lots of comments on lots of the posts. I'll have to work on getting it all down in a post! Until then? Hug those Silkies and give them sugars!

TC

 

[Brunsy26]

Ok so my girl Lucy(white silkie)which is 8 almost 9 months finally laid me the first egg! I put a golf ball in her coop just for kicks and grins to see if it would work and what do you know it did! I'm super excited. My other hen that's black that I just recently got has been laying since 6 months but is still in quarantine. My boys has been trying to mate Lucy a lot. Do you thing the egg is fertile? I know nothing about all the but really want to incubate a few sometime or another. Let me know a little about the process if you can and your thoughts on my situation! Thanksn

 

[lightchick]

My little black silkie any guesses on gender? Having a hard time naming him/her . Iv noticed its wings curl up by its tail and my other black silkie doesn't ? Does that mean something?

Pullet? How does she/he act? I'm having a hard time naming my own Silkie!

 

[lightchick]

I love your babies with the vaulted skulls, they are my fav The one without one should get a nice crest to. Im surprised you got a splash from Ideal poultry. Last I emailed them asking if they carried splash, they told me they didnt, that they had blue who would sometimes throw splash but that they didnt specifically carry that color. :s I have a few partridge from Ideal but they dont look nearly this nice. You have some great looking babies

I got a partridge from IDEAL!

 

[daniellecm]

Hi all

Can anyone tell me what kind of silkies I have?
They will be a week today

 

[citygoincountry]

Probably still to young to sex. I sit on the ground and sprinkle feed close to my legs from the first week. They eventually become accustomed to you . When silkies are in a mixed flock they can be a bit skittish . Treats are the universal language. Scrambled egg, sardines or meal worms will win you favour.

Thanks!! Right now they're still in a smaller confined space. Moving them to a larger free range this weekend hopefully. Weather has been crazy here and I've been concerned about it still being too cold at night (just a couple weeks ago it was getting down in the 30's) for such young chicks. Now they're way old enough and it's warm enough that we can get them outside. Hopefully the extra range area will help. She calms down if there's no movement or other chicks around. I tried hand feeding her and sprinkling feed around my legs, and she wanted nothing to do with it. I'll keep everyone posted!!