Silkie thread!

[CALI CHICK]

Any guesses on this one's sex? She/he is 3 months old. However, it's probably still too early.

Raven: (Black) This could very possibly be a pullet. The comb looks small and I don't see wattles. Also, the crest doesn't look like streamers coming out of the back. My pictures below show the size difference in the 2 black (hatchery) silkies I got. Good luck.

OK, so I have an Ideal hatchery blue silkie, about 3 months old, who is not so attractive, but is of course the sweetest hatchery silkie I have. He just loves people and loves to be held.

Being a hatchery chick, he obviously does not have good breeding at all so his crest [amongst other things] is rather pitiful. He also still has some pin feathers on his neck and such, so all of his feathering is still coming in.

My question is this: Is he a pitiful bearded or is he non-bearded?
I am confused as to what non-bearded is --> does it have feathers under the beak and sticking out on the cheeks? He has these, tho not full and fluffy like a good quality chick. Or do non-beardeds have feathering in these places too?

Just curious. I don't really care, just wondering how to label him. I have some wonderful bearded silkies that I hatched from two great breeders so I am not worried about this blue [except for trying to find him a good pet home].
I think it is just partially bearded. One of mine looked like yours and the other was completely non-bearded (the rooster that crowed at 2 months old.)

Notice how you can see his skin all around his "chin", "cheeks" and neck.



Below, when he was younger and cuter....

I bought a couple of hatchery silkies @ the feed store. They looked very similar to ShadowRabbit and Basel's. They were really cute when small (I'll post a pic), but they grew up kind of "not very attractive". Below are some comparisons showing at a week old and then about 3 months old. The non-bearded was definately a boy since it was crowing. I was never sure about the smaller one. I gave them both away and lost contact.

 

[CALI CHICK]

Your broody splash hen is just adorable.

And, so is the cute baby peeking out from under her!

you ordered from a hatchery. Black are VERY hard to breed good blacks. Blues are so much easier! Some blues look black-- like mine. Hatcheries outsource their eggs from other local chicken breeders. They can't be sure that those breeders aren't using dark blue birds (like mine) and thinking they are black. Any number of things could happen there.

oh no! So sorry! I'd put some tape over that hole fast! Candle it and see if it's still alive. If it is, be sure there is tape that covers all the cracks. When I used a broody (and I have an incubator...) but figured it would be fun to use a broody, I put her in a kennel all by herself. I didn't want to risk another bird coming in and messing with her nest.

I just put her and her nest/eggs in a wire dog kennel all by herself.... safe and sound!! No one to mess with her. And easier that way, I think, too.

Oh--- but I did tape up the sides with newspaper so the chicks could not climb out or fall out of the cage.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I bought a couple of hatchery silkies @ the feed store. They looked very similar to ShadowRabbit and Basel's. They were really cute when small (I'll post a pic), but they grew up kind of "not very attractive". Below are some comparisons showing at a week old and then about 3 months old. The non-bearded was definately a boy since it was crowing. I was never sure about the smaller one. I gave them both away and lost contact.

Wow! Mine is small!

 

[Sanna]

you ordered from a hatchery. Black are VERY hard to breed good blacks. Blues are so much easier! Some blues look black-- like mine. Hatcheries outsource their eggs from other local chicken breeders. They can't be sure that those breeders aren't using dark blue birds (like mine) and thinking they are black. Any number of things could happen there.

oh no! So sorry! I'd put some tape over that hole fast! Candle it and see if it's still alive. If it is, be sure there is tape that covers all the cracks. When I used a broody (and I have an incubator...) but figured it would be fun to use a broody, I put her in a kennel all by herself. I didn't want to risk another bird coming in and messing with her nest.

I just put her and her nest/eggs in a wire dog kennel all by herself.... safe and sound!! No one to mess with her. And easier that way, I think, too.

Oh--- but I did tape up the sides with newspaper so the chicks could not climb out or fall out of the cage.

You know that the funny thing is that I had an exact same setup as you the first time I let my first Silkie hatch eggs. lol All but the wooden box. They were in a kennel with soda boxes taped to the kennel so the chicks can't fall out or get in trouble. lol I only owned 3 hens and a rooster at this time. My black hen was the only one that went broody. She had 9 eggs, 7 hatched, one chick died. That was pretty good for a first timer, I think. lol

I decided, the next time I order eggs, I will use an incubator. First I just have to buy one! lol Then again, I'm pretty sure the farm owns one and I could borrow it. Live and learn, right? I'm going to run in the barn and see if the porcelain chick is still alive. Probably not, it's been a few hours since I found it.

Thank you!

 

[peepblessed]

My one and only, the single porcelain egg I got from Catdance, has a crack in it!!!!!

More like a hole of 4 millimeters wide. I found five hens trying to sit on the eggs...looked like an awful lot of hens. I'm thinking they were all trying to fight over who gets to sit and someone probably punctured a hole in the egg. There's no way of saving this chick, is there? I have no idea how long ago this happened, so the chances are probably slim to none, right? I really, really, really, REALLY wanted a porcelain and just about died of happines when I got this egg with all the other colors! I'm so sad..

I went and took three of the hens with the eggs and put them in the barn. Those three girls are getting along so nicely, and I believe they have enough eggs for everyone, so they won't have to fight. Of course they try to steal all eggs available if someone gets up. lol But the girls did such a fine job hatching our first batch of eggs this year that I felt comfortable leaving the three together.

I never knew hatching was so stressful! lol Especially now that I have some money invested in good eggs. Before, I used to just let the hens hatch a random number of eggs and I was excited with any chick we got. We have PQ birds, so it was no big deal. Now I'm DYING to see these what comes out of my Catdance eggs! lol
8 more days to go.

I sure hope you can save it!!

 

[peepblessed]

You know that the funny thing is that I had an exact same setup as you the first time I let my first Silkie hatch eggs. lol All but the wooden box. They were in a kennel with soda boxes taped to the kennel so the chicks can't fall out or get in trouble. lol I only owned 3 hens and a rooster at this time. My black hen was the only one that went broody. She had 9 eggs, 7 hatched, one chick died. That was pretty good for a first timer, I think. lol

I decided, the next time I order eggs, I will use an incubator. First I just have to buy one! lol Then again, I'm pretty sure the farm owns one and I could borrow it. Live and learn, right? I'm going to run in the barn and see if the porcelain chick is still alive. Probably not, it's been a few hours since I found it.

Thank you!

Don't give up on it if you don't see it move. I think they sleep a lot.

 

[Sanna]

I sure hope you can save it!!

Don't give up on it if you don't see it move. I think they sleep a lot.

I have no idea if the chick is alive or not. I'm still trying to figure out all this candling stuff. lol I know there's a chick in there, though. I taped the hole and I'll keep all my toes and fingers crossed and hope for a miracle.

 

[Sanna]

It's me again with more questions! lol

I have this little black cockerel, at least I thought it was black, but I think it's starting to look blue? Am I right? It's the little guy on the left. And he is only 2 weeks younger than the blue cockerel on the right. He looks awfully small.

And just out of curiosity, what do you guys think of this little guy? I'm trying to get better at identifying what's good and what's not by using my own birds. lol
He's non-bearded, not a plus in my opinion, but I think he has some pretty decent things going on for him? Especially his foot feathering! I think he has ok type too? Lacking some poof on his head/neck area, but that might fill in ok as he gets older, correct? He is only 3 months old.

Gosh, the quality of picture REALLY suffered uploading it here by being shrinked so much. Makes the wings look waaay worse than what they really are. And I promise, there are no split wings. Just some shredded feathers. I'm guessing someone has been picking on him. There are more feathers growing in also.



And just to get a better opinion on his feet, here is a bigger picture:

And of course I forgot to take pictures of the bottom of his feet. He does have 5 toes and spacing seems good etc.
This chick probably has the best foot feathering out of all our silkies! lol I have no idea where he got it from?! Our birds are pretty much all pet quality. Too bad he is non-bearded, otherwise I might keep him around just to see what he'll look like as he gets older.

So please pick this bird apart! Any advice on what I might not be seeing would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Adoravachick]

you ordered from a hatchery. Black are VERY hard to breed good blacks. Blues are so much easier! Some blues look black-- like mine. Hatcheries outsource their eggs from other local chicken breeders. They can't be sure that those breeders aren't using dark blue birds (like mine) and thinking they are black. Any number of things could happen there.

oh no! So sorry! I'd put some tape over that hole fast! Candle it and see if it's still alive. If it is, be sure there is tape that covers all the cracks. When I used a broody (and I have an incubator...) but figured it would be fun to use a broody, I put her in a kennel all by herself. I didn't want to risk another bird coming in and messing with her nest.

I just put her and her nest/eggs in a wire dog kennel all by herself.... safe and sound!! No one to mess with her. And easier that way, I think, too.

Oh--- but I did tape up the sides with newspaper so the chicks could not climb out or fall out of the cage.

I love this girl! She's a beauty and I love good mommas.

 

[peepblessed]

It's me again with more questions! lol

I have this little black cockerel, at least I thought it was black, but I think it's starting to look blue? Am I right? It's the little guy on the left. And he is only 2 weeks younger than the blue cockerel on the right. He looks awfully small.

And just out of curiosity, what do you guys think of this little guy? I'm trying to get better at identifying what's good and what's not by using my own birds. lol
He's non-bearded, not a plus in my opinion, but I think he has some pretty decent things going on for him? Especially his foot feathering! I think he has ok type too? Lacking some poof on his head/neck area, but that might fill in ok as he gets older, correct? He is only 3 months old.

Gosh, the quality of picture REALLY suffered uploading it here by being shrinked so much. Makes the wings look waaay worse than what they really are. And I promise, there are no split wings. Just some shredded feathers. I'm guessing someone has been picking on him. There are more feathers growing in also.



And just to get a better opinion on his feet, here is a bigger picture:

And of course I forgot to take pictures of the bottom of his feet. He does have 5 toes and spacing seems good etc.
This chick probably has the best foot feathering out of all our silkies! lol I have no idea where he got it from?! Our birds are pretty much all pet quality. Too bad he is non-bearded, otherwise I might keep him around just to see what he'll look like as he gets older.

So please pick this bird apart! Any advice on what I might not be seeing would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, I love the foot feathering and I think you are right, the smaller chick looks blue. You don't say how old the beardless guy is. Are you sure it's a he?