Silkie thread!

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MINUS 22????? DEGREES????? OMG HOW CAN ANYTHING LIVE THROUGH THAT????? I was moaning about 20 degrees last night and my fingers were numb and hurting after I cleaned my coops. I live in Florida because I HATE cold weather with a passion. How cold do you let your silkie pens get? I've been worried mine will get chilled and get sick.
 
I put heat lamps in mine and put tarps up all around. It was really more about the wind than the temp. The wind chill here was 11 this morning. I think that's too cold for birds who are accustomed to nightime temps in the 40's and day temps in the 70's.

Our birds just don't have an opportunity to get used to the low temps because they only come when a cold front comes through every couple of weeks.
 
Just got in from doing chores... I was peeling off layers and sweating because it got up to 9 degrees today. Woohoooo. The coldest I saw last year for an actual temp was -37 and if you counted windchills, the weatherman said it was more like -57. The birds actually handle it ok... I think I may have lost only 3-4 due to the cold last year. Lots of deep bedding, heated water pans, cracked corn added to the feed for quick high energy source, etc. When it gets below -25, the heated water pans and stock tank can't handle it anymore and freeze over too. All the water lines to the barn have heat tape and are insulated. On those really cold nights, the lines still freeze and you have to let it run at a drip to keep them open. A space heater is going at all times in the wellhouse.. Plastic sheeting is up on all the coops even in the barn. Our barn is a huge old 50x100' brick dairy barn with huged domed hayloft...absolutely no way to heat it. Have to plug vehicles (including the tractor) in to ensure they might start in the mornings. The cold itself doesn't hurt them....its having water to drink, draft free coops, and enough ventilation to still keep the moisture out. Teehee we also have snow up here.
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Get to see the video of the Metrodome caving in? Lots of peoples barns and houses do the same thing. Wanna move up here yet?

Sonoran...that little smilies was because she was bragging about her 86 degree weather down there.
 
You can padlock, can ziptie, can do any number of things.... The minute you let your guard down, there are still ways around it. The top of the show cages can be flipped up and birds taken out that way. The whole bank of cages can be totally lifted up and birds slid out from there too. I've even heard of someone having glue dumped on their bird's crest to ruin its chances of winning for the rest of the year. Watch your feed, your water, your supplies.... Basically have someone on duty at any given time while those doors to the show hall are open. I thought I'd never experience it either....
 
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On the blacks... I have never seen a blue or splash that has come anywhere near in quality or body type yet. Why cross them in and ruin what you already have if you want to keep a good line of blacks going? If you want to improve your blues, then cross them on your best splash. If you cross blues/blacks, you run into getting alot of really dark blues that you can't distinguish from the blacks too. I've also seen too many people ruin their blacks by crossing to lavendar too.

Oh btw...... big congrats to Connie of Premier Silkies!!!!!!!!!! Just got the results from the National show in Shawnee. Her black hen took best of variety, best of breed, and reserve champion featherleg. It was beat out by a bantam cochin that took overall grand champion. Wowsers..... She also got RV with a black pullet, BV/RB with a white hen, RV with a white pulelt, and BV with a blue pullet.

PS.... 5 pink arrows
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Well, I've seen plenty of outstanding blues and splashes, so that would not be an issue for me, but if you breed black to blue you may loose melanizers. Breeding to a clear lavender should have no affect unless the black is already carrying lavender, in which case you will get some lavenders.

Just to be clear, the cochin beat all 4500 birds entered: all bantams, all largefowl, all landfowl, all waterfowl.
 
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As show cages are made, there is really no way to truly secure them. Never heard of dumping glue on the crest of a competitor's bird; I think if someone were caught doing htat or similar they would be banned from that show and probably from the APA & ABA; that is a WAY serious offense.

I don't know. I've never had ANYTHING taken, and I really do not hover over my stuff. I'm usually around though, and I check on my birds often. I've never understood an exhibitor who would drop off their birds at the beginning of a show and come back when it's time to coop out. Heck, at least half the fun is talking chickens with others who share the passion.
 

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