Silkie thread!

[ScaredOfShadows]

Well somebody's crowing I keep trying to catch who's doing it but of course he doesn't do it in front of me. Do you guys still think Penny's a girl?

Just seems like Zeek is to young not even five months yet.

Penny is DEFINITELY a boy thats a boy color, girl partridge can't get that coloring that he has.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

you should hang around more often, Jessie!

So great to have your input again Jessy!! A big welcome back!!

awwwwww I feel so loved!

Glad to be back!

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

He is very out of balance, he has a bum foot

But I thought he looked good coming from the parents he came from. He's being rehomed free of charged because of his little foot issue.

You can see the foot problem here better

His sister has much better feet!

Is the white's out toes curled/ folded up? thats most likely an incubation issue, but possibly genetic...

the partridge girl is GORGEOUS! She has some super foot feathering!

 

[peepblessed]

I don't think so... I'm thinking it might have been the lady that was clerking... She probably didn't even have silkies, so I don't know why I didn't double check that info! Usually I check everything.

I would probably trust a clerk too. Glad it wasn't a judge.

 

[blessedchick]

His sister has much better feet!

WOW! May I please have this girl??? My birthday is coming up....

It looks like I'm going to have to join the ABA. What a wealth of information they seem to have. The ABA combined with this thread...hmmmm...sounds like perfect to me!

 

[aoxa]

[COLOR=800000]Is the white's out toes curled/ folded up? thats most likely an incubation issue, but possibly genetic... [/COLOR]

[COLOR=800000]the partridge girl is GORGEOUS! She has some super foot feathering! [/COLOR]

I'm going to say incubation issue. I corrected one of the silkies the second time around and her/his toes are perfect, but I caught this one too late. It's not curled.. It's hard to explain. I'll have to take a picture.

My humidity was very low during incubation. It stayed under 30% - but I was told time and time again never add water until day 18, so

and thanks! I love this little blue partridge. She is so fluffy and cute <3

 

[chisNchickens]

Medium to coarse sand with food grade DE mixed in would be wonderful.

Folks be careful with the diatomaceous earth. Super harmful to inhale, and birds have sensitive respiratory tracts.

 

[Adoravachick]

I'm going to say incubation issue. I corrected one of the silkies the second time around and her/his toes are perfect, but I caught this one too late. It's not curled.. It's hard to explain. I'll have to take a picture.
My humidity was very low during incubation. It stayed under 30% - but I was told time and time again never add water until day 18, so

and thanks! I love this little blue partridge. She is so fluffy and cute <3

I have heard that some toes issues could be caused during incubation. I am wondering if that was the case for me. The two chicks with the shorter toes were from my little giant incubator and it was very difficult to keep the numbers consistent. I used the Brinsea mini for the other eggs and they turned out great.

 

[Adoravachick]

The only DQ is improper number of toes. You don't want extra toenails, fused toes, web toes, etc....all I try to avoid.

Short outer toes are as Hawkeye stated brachydactyly... as ABA standards its not a DQ, and a very minor fault in the grand scheme of things...I personally cut those birds out last if at all, as it is not a big deal and simple to get rid of. However I won't breed one that has a SUPER short toe and no nail. if it has a decent length toe, or is somewhat short with a nail, I will keep them to use if they are an otherwise nice bird...

The 5th toe is usually longer(and should be) than the 4th toe and SHOULD kick back in a curve, it shouldn't be straight. but its not a big deal in the grand scheme of things really...

The best feet are spaced nicely, with the 4th and 5th should not be too far from the interior long toe (#3 I guess) The 4th and 5th should be close together forming a nice V and not widely spaced apart.

If you are an ASBC member go to the album gallery and look for the feet and toes album, lots of pictures of bad, decent, and good feet/toe pictures for you to look and compare with commentary from some members on many of the pictures.

Thanks for the information. (Hawkeye too) I guess I will stop obsessing now. lol

 

[medawinks]

Let me preface this question by saying that I know next to nothing about chicken breeds and am just enjoying the variety of birds we have found for a backyard flock I am not concerned with breeding, since I cannot have a rooster. We have added various breeds and breed variations just to have an interesting group of calm semi quiet birds as pets, with a varietyof colors and sizes in an egg basket as an extra perk.

My kids have fallen for the Silkies, as have I. We bought a pullet at a farm swap who is a family favorite. She is friendly and comical to boot!

We have a few others which I either picked up in a bantam bin at the feed store or have been given. We know our funky chicken above, Bloom, is a pullet. She is our only laying pullet.

The others, we aren't so sure about. People have said they look girly, I want them to be girls.... But then I read things about the comb being big in pics that makes folks think roo.... Our Bloom is def not a roo, but her comb is huge! She has goofy long wattles too . I can figure out that those prob aren't "show" qualities. We don't care at all. We enjoy her just as she is.

But how on earth do you know if they are male or female??? . Here are some of our sweeties. There are all 4-5 months old. They aren't pretty- misting them to keep them cool

I hope they all look girly here too !!