Silkie thread!

[Debbi]

Quote:
Thanks
The girls seem to fill out well........
He is my most drastic changer.......usually the splashing gets darker.

He is a big baby.........loves to be held. Always has.

he is just a pet

- too many hard feathers in his tail to me......although his brother is prettier

Is there a certain ratio of hard versus silky feathers that is allowed/preferred? I really like his stance, and look at that breast! Do some of the hard feathers molt out with the adult molt?

 

[LaBaze]

I posted this as a normal topic but I didnt get any good replies can you help me?

Im looking to breed and possibly show silkies and have some questions on them and their coop and run.

Im looking to get 1 or 2 different colored roosters who will need seperate pens and about 2 hens per roo to breed. My questions are,

How big of a run do I need for 1 rooster and 2 hens?

How big of a coop do I need for them?

I also have a smaller partridge cochin that I'm keeping because she is a runt and she needs special care so I don't want to give her to just anybody so will I have to worry about a silkie rooster

mounting a tiny cochin? She's small enough without being squashed by a full grown silkie rooster....

I have two hens, one splash and one black that are absolutley beautiful but are still pet quality, if I breed them with a show quality rooster could I keep them to breed with show quality or would I get a bunch of pet quality silkies?
I'm new to breeding for certain traits, I want to learn a little more on genetics and breeding so I figured my main source of information would be here.

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
Thanks
The girls seem to fill out well........
He is my most drastic changer.......usually the splashing gets darker.

He is a big baby.........loves to be held. Always has.

he is just a pet

- too many hard feathers in his tail to me......although his brother is prettier

Is there a certain ratio of hard versus silky feathers that is allowed/preferred? I really like his stance, and look at that breast! Do some of the hard feathers molt out with the adult molt?

His didn't come out.

He is 15months now.

I just know I don't like them, much. I think the roosters have more hard than the female, in the tail. Mine seem to anyway.
I would have been happier with his tail if it had stayed like it was in the younger pics

Standard states in a short version, not including shape etc, the tail should be abundant, soft, well curved, without hard quills

ETA: I do not like his comb either

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
Personally I would try for 3-4 hens per rooster. Silkies do not often lay every day. And not many eggs per year. 2 per rooster is a good start though!

My hens are more aggressive to other chickens than my roosters are. But, yes, the rooster will try to mount the cochin. Silkie roosters, full grown, should only weigh about 3lbs.

You can get anything from silkie pairings. You can have a show quality rooster in with 3 show quality hens......and hatch out eggs, and still not get but a couple of , or maybe none at all, show quality birds.

I am no help on coop & run size sorry

ETA: There is a difference in pet quality & hatchery stock.....in silkies at least. If you start with hatchery stock, you are looking at a long time with breeding to standards. Hatchery silkies do not meet the standards. If you can start with good breeder quality birds, it would be best. You can always buy what you can afford then build up from there.

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
Just keep in mind while building a coop/run for them, to allow enough room for all. 4 square feet per bird is the minimum I would go, even with bantams. Then when you think you have just the right size, DOUBLE IT! Once you get started with chickens, there are ALWAYS more coming!

Things to think about are: laying pens, breeding pens, chick pens, bachelor pens, cull pens, etc., etc. Seems like a never ending process. Good luck.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

7 sq ft per bird. My silkies lay daily unless broody or molting. They also do not lay as much in extreme summer heat. Although despite a VERY hot summer, this year there has not been much reduction in eggs laid.

Yes, a rooster will mount a smaller bird (larger, too), and if htere is a large size disparity, the small hen can indeed be injured.

The quality of the offspring from your pet quality birds when bred to a show quality bird depends on the specific faults they have, as well as how well the cock counters the faults. Yes, you can improve the offspring, but some traits are easy to deal with and others difficult.

 

[ChickyChickyBaby]

Quote:
Wish mine laid daily! I have one hen that does.....my other girls lay about every other day - or about every other day. Drops off when it is hot & when it is cold here.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Quote:
Size of coop and roost...

Coop 4sq ft, also for silkies the coop doesnt need to be tall (doghouses work great for them) - silkies don't tend to roost high, most typically roost on the floor. Run - 10 sq ft. so a trio would need say 3X4 or 4X4 coop (12-16 sq ft ), and a 5X6 run (30sq ft)

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Personally, for ease of cleaning, I like coops that are tall enough for me to stand up in. So I build all coops 6 ft tall. That does give me the ability to add in additional "stories" (shelves), along the side or end giving extra flooring space within the same footprint. Just make sure they can easily move from one story to the next.

Gail Damerov recommends combined coop and pen of 10 sq ft for large fowl, 4 sq ft for bantams and 7 sq ft for intermediates & large bantams. Depending on your climate, teh coop my need to be as small as reasonable (based upon numbers of birds) to hold in heat in the winter, or as large, shady and ventilated as possible to keep the birds cool in hot weather. Here in Arizona, most, or at least many of the coops I see are what many folks would call a pen. I have just enough siding on them to give a bit of shade and structural strength. Other than that, you could call them screen houses or wire pens.

 

[joe17]

Sonoran, what is the result of breeding brother X sister? Just curious because I hatched a few blacks and some had this tumor that grew, one has a bent toe, and the other has a completely curved beak. I now just have one black chick along with my 2 paints. I started off with 7. I wonder why this is happening? All my other silkies are fine. Maybe I am accidentally breeding brothers and sisters. Will also take pics of the tumor that a few had.