Silkie thread!

[peepblessed]

I just got my first silky chickens yesterday! They are so cute. They are half grown pullets - one rooster and one hen. Mine don't have any feathers on their feet, and only very few on their legs. Should they have feathery feet and legs or can then have bare legs? I don't care as they are very cute - just wondering. Also how big to they grow compared to my Japanese Bantams?

Silkies have several unusual traits: black skin, five toes, feathered feet and of course silkie feathers. If your juveniles don't have these traits they are likely not silkies or are possibly silkie cross which are very popular. If you want to post pictures we can help you further. Occasionally silkies have only four toes but I've never heard of one without foot feathering.

 

[jak2002003]

Here are some pics of my silky chickens. Do you think they are mix breed?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Not mixed breed, but very much pet quality. The one in front might actually turn into a quite nice bird--just clean legged.

Here are some pics of my silky chickens. Do you think they are mix breed?

 

[Hawkeye95]

OH wow, that makes an awful lot of sense! I understand that might not always work out the way we hope, but it sure makes sense. Okay, the bird I was actually talking about is Splash (I should have said so to begin with)-- could she be bred to splash-- or would that leakage come out? That is a gorgeous cockerel you have!

Leakage can be used in certain instances. If you have a great typey black pullet with just a touch of gold leakage I would pair her up with a very brassy partridge boy.
He's a very pretty boy and very typey but, he lacks the black in him. Therefore a black girl with gold leakage could help. But if the Black girl had Silver leakage I would say try her with a Grey Boy.

In other words I would never breed her to black b/c this leakage will only crop out later and worse in the boys. But, b/c you like her and feel she has type down I would use her in a way like I explained above.

Good Luck

 

[Lady Chickadee]

Are you sure it's not splash?

She/he could be. I always thought that she/he looked lavender though. Here are some better pictures:

Here she/he is as a chick(the one on the left):

If that chick is splash than is this one splash or blue? It came out of a splash labeled egg but doesn't look like the chick above if that one is splash.

Here she/he is as a chick:

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Lady Chickadee :

The one you thought was Lavender is a Splash
The other chick is blue

Very cute chicks and GREAT pictures!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Splash chicks (as well as splash adults) can vary greatly in appearance. Background colouring can vary from pure white to a medium slate. Splashing can vary from very few to abundant. Some chicks develop the splashing from their first feathers; others do not develop it until much later. My first splash chick did not show any splashes until she was several months old, and then there were only a few, smaller splashings. If I went out to my coop right now, I could see several different amounts of splashings in my pullets and in my cocks (no splash babies at the moment).

 

[TheRookie]

If I was gonna shop around for a good SQ pullet, how much would be a good price? I want either partridge or black if that helps. Also, is splash an accepted color for showing?

 

[stoopid]

Yes, splash is an approved color.
Prices depend on a lot of factors..

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Splash was recognised for silkies in 2001...