Silkie thread!

[Brody's Broodello]

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Polydactyly can have a lot of different expressions. Lobster claw toes are fairly common. I once had a special needs bird (my son fell in love with her in someone else's coop) who literally had a 2nd set of toes growing atop one of her feet. Walking was somewhat difficult for her, so I eventually rehomed her to someone who only had a very few birds and could keep a closer eye on her. Anyways, this was an extreme example opf polydactylism, and is documented by Hutt and others. I've had 10 toes birds who had 4 toes on one foot and 6 on the other.

Thanks for posted this so that the newer breeders will be able to learn more about the silkie's genes.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

But isn't the extra toe thing a recessive gene? If the feathering is nice enough would it be worth it to breed it back into the system to continue the coloring? How hard is it to breed out the extra toe gene?

 

[Brody's Broodello]

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You really don't want to "breed out" the extra toe gene, then you will not have the silkies with 5 toes & not 4. I was told mamy years ago, when I first started to breed silkies by old timers & master breeders, that it was better to have an extra toe bird than one with only 4 toes. That a bird with only 4 toes was did not have the poly gene. Made sense to me then as well as now. So if I had the choice of keeping a chick which an extra toe or nail I would keep that one and not the chick with only 4. JMO here, for what it's worth. And if I wanted a particular "color" bird and it was not as near perfect as I liked, I would just breed it up( ie crossing to better typed birds) to get to my end result. A perfect example is the Lavender Cochins that Tom Roebuck has, he started with a hatchery bird he found at a swap, barely had cochin features, and since he has some of the best cochins to be found, he bred that 1st bird to the best he had, then took the resulting chicks to another better Q bird. And wala! 3 gens and he has Lavender Cochins to rival the standard color ones in type & in the Lav color.

 

[phasianidae]

I have 13 silkies, 12 with non vaulted skulls and 1 hen with a vaulted skull. I've been told that silkies with vaulted skulls generally have better crests, so should I breed for vaulted skulls or not?

 

[Brody's Broodello]

Both vaulted & non can have big crests. There really is not a difference. If you want big crests in your birds, grow them out & keep only the one's that have the larger versions. But remember that the Standard Of Perfection states that a silkie should have a medium crest, not the softballs that have become vogue, and there are a lot of judge's who will mark down a bird with an oversize crest because it is handicaped. Then there are some who aren't to familar with silkies that get caught up in the crest & forget the rest of the bird. The real issue with vaulted skulls is the birds who have them, are VERY easily injured, not enough covering to protect the brain. That is the true question behind having vaulted birds or not.

 

[phasianidae]

Brody's Broodello :

Both vaulted & non can have big crests. There really is not a difference. If you want big crests in your birds, grow them out & keep only the one's that have the larger versions. But remember that the Standard Of Perfection states that a silkie should have a medium crest, not the softballs that have become vogue, and there are a lot of judge's who will mark down a bird with an oversize crest because it is handicaped. Then there are some who aren't to familar with silkies that get caught up in the crest & forget the rest of the bird. The real issue with vaulted skulls is the birds who have them, are VERY easily injured, not enough covering to protect the brain. That is the true question behind having vaulted birds or not.

Ok thanks, how big is oversized?​

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
There are two polydactyly genes; the more common one is incompletely dominant, not recessive. There IS a recessive polydactyly gene, but it is semi-lethal. Polydactyly causes extra toes, there is not a separate gene that causes 6 toes, it is just a different expression of the polydactyly genes.

http://books.google.com/books?id=VM...Q#v=onepage&q=polydactyly in chickens&f=false is one reference. http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi...m=frameset;view=image;seq=58;page=root;size=s is a more detailed, albeit older, discussion.

 

[Brody's Broodello]

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Ok thanks, how big is oversized?

That is exactly the question? The standard is written "medium" but your medium might differ from mine. Do you see the point here. But Having talked to other breeders from all over at shows, I would say that if the bird looks like it has a softball instead of a head, and there is "no way" it could see on it's own without having to wear a head band, miles of duck tape, and a full set of pink sponge rollers then I would say the crest is to big. The Silkie should be fluffy, but is should be a balanced picture. If it looks like a giraffe hanging from a hot air balloon, we'll that is not a balanced picture of round curves.

My suggestion to anyone who wants to breed anything is buy a copy of the Standard Of Perfection from the governing body, ie the American Poultry Association. There is more than just the Breed Standard in there, they have a while section on correct coloring, feathering, and what is allowable in all the feather legs, etc. that you will not know if you only look at the "silkie" breed standard. ie It is allowable for a featherleg breed, silkie,cochin etc to have an incomplete outer toe. It is not the perfect foot for any bird, but the gene that causes the feathering on the legs will sometimes cause the outer toe to not completely form.(missing the toe nail and last digital section) Called a Rudamentory Outer Toe, and the standard tells the judge that the bird is not to be discrimanated for this trait. If you only read the breed standard you will not see this in it, it is in the section that refers to "featherleg" breeds. Now is it the ideal silkie foot, no! but would you not breed this bird, your decision, but if you breed silkies enough, you will see this pop out. And if you breed that bird on, you may never see it in the offspring.

 

[phasianidae]

Can I make Partrige Silkies from Buff and Black Silkies?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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*possibly*---but I would not try it. You will likely get mis-coloured birds that are too yellow, with inadequate, if any, penciling.