Silkie thread!

Light blue youngster (yes blue not lavender)


Flashy red partridge boy



My fave Partridge pullet - Nutmeg - who is from Pennie Urban of Showboat Silkies



Jonah and most of his harem of ladies



And of course that big piece of eye candy Sherbert
 
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Pretty flock!!

I have a question about gold leakage in Whites. At first I was thinking that this leakage was caused by feeding scratch to them in the winter. I call it "Chicken Crack" around here, and have to watch myself at the feed store asking for Crack!
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Anyway, they haven't had any since the end of February, so either it is still in the feathers as they haven't yet had their adult molt, or it is some sort of leakage? It only appears in the hackle area on both the roo and hen, and I have nothing else to go by, as these are my only two adult Whites right now. I'm not sure if my camera will pick the color up, it is very subtle, but I will try later today. Does anyone have a White roo or hen with gold hackles?? The closest thing to a White that I have other than these two, is a Splash, and she does not express the gold at all. This color kind of puts me to mind of a Palamino horse, but in reverse. Any thoughts?
 
After posting in the Partridge silkie thread about the gender of my baby partridge, and the response that I got from SilverSilkie, I am going to guess they are both hens. SilverSilkie stated that roos have a much curvier upper beak than hens. There is also a picture comparison. Very interesting!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/526271/partridge-silkies-nothing-else/2900#post_9053227

Thank you so much, chicknfun! That is really intereting. I have never heard of the beak theory in determining gender. I will be absolutely thrilled if my chick are both hens!
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I will post updates as they grow. Thanks again!!
 
Pretty flock!!

I have a question about gold leakage in Whites. At first I was thinking that this leakage was caused by feeding scratch to them in the winter. I call it "Chicken Crack" around here, and have to watch myself at the feed store asking for Crack!
gig.gif
Anyway, they haven't had any since the end of February, so either it is still in the feathers as they haven't yet had their adult molt, or it is some sort of leakage? It only appears in the hackle area on both the roo and hen, and I have nothing else to go by, as these are my only two adult Whites right now. I'm not sure if my camera will pick the color up, it is very subtle, but I will try later today. Does anyone have a White roo or hen with gold hackles?? The closest thing to a White that I have other than these two, is a Splash, and she does not express the gold at all. This color kind of puts me to mind of a Palamino horse, but in reverse. Any thoughts?

If its YELLOW then it sounds like sun burning or discoloration from the high corn diet

if its an actual goldish-red then its leakage
 
If its YELLOW then it sounds like sun burning or discoloration from the high corn diet

if its an actual goldish-red then its leakage

It is more of a golden yellow, I'm not seeing any reddish coloring to it. Their pen is in the shade for the better part of the day, and the scratch was only fed as a treat, not a main staple, in the winter months. My first thought was it was from the scratch, and the coloring was just still in the feathers, but why would the yellowing only show in the hackle area? Wouldn't the rest of the feathering have a yellowish cast to it too? They are brilliant white, except in the hackles.
idunno.gif
 
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Sigrid van Dort suggests that leakage of the red pigment is quite common in white (dominant and recessive) Silkies. Sometimes the colour knock out feature of the white just isn't strong enough to knock out all the red. She describes it as a "buffish" colour. She says the feathers can appear randomly all over the body or be limited to the breast in hens and wing bow in roosters.
 
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My ramp coop opening is 2 feet off the ground. The ramp is 8 feet long. Yes, really. AND My silkies go up it. The silkie chicks go up it, and I have chicks are a week old and 3 weeks old that climb the ramp. I figured, the longer the ramp the easier for ALL the different breeds I have. It is also 8 inches wide. You could also try a light on a timer... Will he go to the coop and wait? Or not at all?

Well in the evenings he is always in the same place tucked under the ramp against the coop. I'll see about making the ramp longer. He comes down it just fine, it's the going up part he just won't do... siiigh I'll definitely put a light in there which we had intended on doing we just didn't want to put the heat lamp in since some night it's ridiculously hot. I'll just get maybe a lower watt painted bulb for it. He must still be mad about his bath time yesterday because he won't come near me at all today. LOL I had to corner him to get some morning snuggles. LOL

Here is Nugget with 3 of my Pullets.


Nugget strutting his stuff. LOL
 

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