Silkie thread!

[Hawkeye95]

Curious about looking for a different size beak to help determine male vs. female? Where can I find some information on this?

We had a great lesson on this a while back from SilverSilkie and though it doesn't always follow true (just one of many indicators) it's the shape of the beak. The girl beak is commonly gently arched and the boy beak is commonly begins straighter and then curves more sharply. I call it the eagle look. This is definitely not a sure indication. My best girl has a boy beak! These photos are the best I could find from my chick photos. They're about 10 weeks.

OH, I have one too!!

See how the beak on the chick to your left has that eagle look? The beak has a hook at the end, and that is mostly indicative of a male. Like Peep said, not always. But the chick on your right-- that has no hook and is indicative of a female! It's so amazing to see these two beaks together like this, because it's so obvious the two different looks of the beaks for "male" and "female". Now, I'll have to see what these two grow up to be and see if this holds true for them.

 

[RawrOsaur200]

Wow! I never knew that! Haha...Thank you AGAIN for the helpful info peep!!!!

 

[peepblessed]

Okay, all of these boys are mine, so I don't mind tearing them apart! The top two white boys are from Ideal Hatchery. This is before I got into the nicer lines of birds. But to point out why they are a Pet Quality--- Their comb is red and not mulberry. They have little to no crest, they have very little feathering down their legs and toes. They also have a lot of hard feathers in their tails. Especially on males, there should be a VERY limited amount of hard feathers in the tail. These guys-- you can see how their tails aren't fluffy and soft and the hard feathers stick straight out. Also, it's hard to see here, but the texture of their combs is not correct either. They should have a smoother comb without all the pointy horns that are on these two whites. They are also a non bearded, which is not a fault at all, but even for a non-bearded, their wattles are red and they are overly large. They are lacking type-- which is that nice S shape you see in really nice birds.. The "type" is where their chests bump out, heads back a bit, and hackle feathers and cushion/tail touch each other. These white roosters are obviously lacking in all areas.

Then you have a breeder/show quality rooster (mine) below them. He is a splash, but ignore his color for now. The comb is the right color and texture. It is a tiny bit on the large side, but a lot of people do like that, and it's not a DQ. You can see his crest is much larger in comparison to his white rooster counter parts. Also, he has the "type" I was talking about earlier-- where he has that nice S shape and his hackles and cushion/tail touch. More so now that he has filled in better. He has a nice wide chest-- it's not rangy and thin like the roosters above him. You want the chest to look like that. He has better leg and toe feathering. The list goes on and on. Basically all the opposite of the two white birds above. The same can be said for a hen-- they should be nice and round and full looking, with good type, nice crest, nice tight wings-- no loose or dropping wings. There should be no splits in the wings when you fan them out.

I hope this give you a good start in identifying the difference in quality. I also have pictures of good toes and bad toes, etc... if there is anything you want to see specifically, please ask and I'm sure we can all come up with something!

Let me add to this great info from Hawkeye. Split wings are getting to be very common and they can look perfect until you spread them out. Here is a page on this thread that shows some good pictures of split wing. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/297632/silkie-thread/17700 Another fault not mentioned is light eyes.

 

[RawrOsaur200]

Wait but if they do get split wing what are you suppose to do? is this bad?

 

[marquisella]

Ok guys. Can you tell me if this is a sneeze or some other strange noise this black hen is making? I'm starting to think it's not a sneeze...? She's been doing it for about 2 months not, it's not going away. I tried the VetRX and all that. Didn't do a thing. I also had her on a new antibiotic feed for the 14 days it says to feed right on the back. This feed cleared our a runny nose and raspy breathing in a different hen, so I know it works.

What is this hen doing?? lol I don't know if I should be worried or not? She's not laying any eggs yet. I'm pretty sure she's somewhere between 10-12 months now. So she probably should have started laying by now, or at least sometime soon.
I must be missing something? Or this hen is perfectly fine and I'm imagining things? I've tried trimming the feathers around her face to make sure that's not the issue.


I don't know how to make this video work so that it'd be posted right on the topic. Here's a link.

Does she do it after eating? Sometimes mine make that sound after eating mash, I think they try to swallow or it goes down funny & they are trying to dislodge it. Or just the dust...its a guess.

 

[chitown chicks]

I don't plan to breed silkies so maybe a split wing might be a good starter for us?

 

[RawrOsaur200]

What exactly is it though? is it bad or good?And do we do it or does it happen naturally?

 

[chitown chicks]

I am under the impression that split wing is a natural occurrence but is not considered good if you plan to show?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Wait but if they do get split wing what are you suppose to do? is this bad?

Definitely bad and it would be a DQ. Once you breed a bird in that has this fault, it is HARD to breed away from it. This happens to be one of those genes that sticks around, as it's unlikely offspring will have good wings. So then you've started another line of birds with faults that can't be shown or that follow the standard. A bird with split wing would not be a breeder or show-- but simply a Pet quality, which means NO breeding.

And when selling these birds, be honest and up front with what you are selling. I am listing all faults on my culls before anyone buys them. I don't want anyone to feel taken.

 

[peepblessed]

OH, I have one too!!

See how the beak on the chick to your left has that eagle look? The beak has a hook at the end, and that is mostly indicative of a male. Like Peep said, not always. But the chick on your right-- that has no hook and is indicative of a female! It's so amazing to see these two beaks together like this, because it's so obvious the two different looks of the beaks for "male" and "female". Now, I'll have to see what these two grow up to be and see if this holds true for them.

I have not noticed the hook to be indicative at least not the overlapping point part.