But it has been so consistent in my smooth feathered fowl. After hearing how hard it is to sex silkies, I was surprised to see the same feather pattern growth in my two silkies. And to see that it was not present in the other chicks that were hatched from the same batch of eggs. And then seeing the corresponding behavioral differences.... I really wonder if I have 2 roos and she got 4 pullets. Well, I'll be interested if anyone else has noticed this, and if it has been true with roos vs pullets.Partridge Silkies are a beautiful colorful variety. The purple glint on your girl's tail feathers may be what color is showing in the light. My Partridge girl always looks different to me depending on a cloudy or sunny or rainy day. Partridge have gold, blue, black feathers in an array of hues and patterns. The purple you speak of is probably a collection of deep blue and maybe a smattering of some black feathers. From my understanding, blue is a diluted black.
The following photos are all the same Partridge Silkie - depending on light or weather conditions, her body looks different to me every time I look at her and so does her coloring.
The 11 week picture of my little pullet. She looks like a little adult now. Her crest isn't fully in yet, though
I have a question for silkie breeders! I've noticed a trend in my non-silkies at about 10 days to 3 weeks when their wings are feathering. They go through a phase when everyone develops feathers on the wingtips (though the pullets TEND to have rounded wingtips and the roos TEND to have L shaped wingtips). In the next phase shoulder feathers appear. Girls' wings then feather up from the tips to the shoulders. Males tend to keep a little bare spot right under the shoulder feathers. Usually by 5 weeks the male wings are almost filled in also. But that 10 day to 3 week corridor.... the boys almost always have the bare spot under the shoulder feathers on the wing. In fact, all my boys have had the bare spot - and I've only seen two pullets with that pattern during that time period (there always has to be an exception LOL) .
So, I have my first two silkie babies. A friend has 4 others from the same hatch. Hers are very laid back now (at 5 weeks), and all by 5 weeks have wings completely covered by feathers. No fighting (the kind where they square off with low heads, then leap in the air at each other and kick at each other - boy play). My two, on the other hand, have still got a tiny bare patch on their shoulders under the shoulder fluff. And both of mine are quite feisty - this week they started sparring with two standard 5 week old chicks that I know are roos. One is extremely upright.
So, has anyone else noticed this wing trend at 10-21 days? Just curious - thought if anyone else has some chicks, maybe it would be an interesting experiment. Here are some comparison photos:
First is a non-silkie (easier to see the bare spot on the wing)
3 weeks (the buff boy in the rear):
Same roo at 5 weeks - bare spot between shoulder feathers and wingtip now filling in - still scruffy looking compared to the hens:
Now my two silkies in a very upright position:
And, although it's not as easy to see, the small bare spot still present at 5 weeks between shoulder and wing feathers:
It's much easier to see in person.
Anyway, perhaps I'm just crazy
