Silkie thread!

[tiki244]

Cynthia12 can I copy your smiley and put it in my smiley stash?


Lrkel WOW nice birds. What color is the top one?

 

[Cynthia12]

A few of my 10 week olds =) These are also from Catdance.

They are looking pretty good! Pretty!

And oh yes, I think I told you that your partridge looked to be blue..peep is right..on the color..silver...oops.

 

[Lrkel]

Cynthia12 can I copy your smiley and put it in my smiley stash?
Lrkel WOW nice birds. What color is the top one?

It's porcelain. I think that color is my favorite.

Cynthia12- I figured it was probably silver partridge. I remember seeing a post or two before with similar looking babies. I can't wait to see how that one turns out.

 

[Sanna]

Sanna you have some nice silkies there. I tried quoting you twice and my computer locked up. I really love the picture of Stripey riding mom. Stripey is kinda pushing it isn't she?

(gettin kinda big) I really like that partridge cochin. Dod you get her from anyone on BYC?

Thanks.

I guess Stripey must be one of those fresh little children that keep pushing it to see how much they can get away with. lol Funny thing was that mom Lila didn't care. Lila hatched 4 eggs and boy does she love her babies! The other hens are back to sitting on more eggs and left their babies but not Lila.

The Cochin I got from a person through Facebook. Not sure if she's a member at BYC. I also got a blue and a splash hen. They are molting badly and look horrific. lol Can't wait to see what they look like with full feathering.

 

[aoxa]

I was wondering for those that breed silkies when you hatch tons of chicks so that you can select the ones out that look the best to continue breeding with how and where do you put all of the chicks? How long do you keep ahold of them until you know which ones you want to keep? I know waiting until they get older to really see their traits helps but how could you possibly keep all of the growing chickens for that long? I don't know if this makes any sense but I hope it does.  Thanks.

Good question. For those who have a ton of room like me, I keep them in little pens until they are feathered out. If I can - I give all hatched silkies to broodies. I find it gets them properly established in the flock quicker, and I have never raised a silkie by hand until just now. I have 7 in the brooder. I have a hen with a lone silkie egg due to hatch any day, so I will give her the remaining chicks, or at least as many as I can. I find silkies need a heat lamp longer than other chicks, so it works out a lot better to keep them separate from the large fowl at a young age.

If I notice any with a colour I am not really keen on keeping, I will sell them earlier. There is always someone out there looking for silkies.

Plus they hardly eat anything. They are really easy to maintain.

 

[peepblessed]

Her wings are just shreddy and tight and her body is not long. And she is young. These three are special because they may very well be Clyde's babys. He is the one that died of heat stroke a few months ago. Non of my silkies are show quality. I just got them as cast offs from breeders that show. I am going to try and post a picture of Clyde. And maybe my little silkie flock.
PS I looked at that one feather hanging down there and see it is just a part of a feather that got broken/bent. I pulled it off, it was hardly connected.

I actually really like shredding. My flock doesn't have enough. I didn't mean anything negative about your baby. Sorry it came across that way....

I was wondering for those that breed silkies when you hatch tons of chicks so that you can select the ones out that look the best to continue breeding with how and where do you put all of the chicks? How long do you keep ahold of them until you know which ones you want to keep? I know waiting until they get older to really see their traits helps but how could you possibly keep all of the growing chickens for that long? I don't know if this makes any sense but I hope it does.

Thanks.

Oh for more space!! If I had all I wanted, I would hatch a million and keep them all until they were 5 or 6 months old, then sell the rejects. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. I sell everything that hatches with any negative, poor foot feathering, poor foot spacing, etc., then I keep the rest til 6 wks. and evaluate wings and look for straight tails and good crest. I should be seeing some type by then. I cull again because I can sell them before their sex becomes apparent. If I wait, a pet quality cockerel is going to end up in the stew pot (probably does anyway but at least it's not my decision) Now I have about 1/2 a doz. that I have room to keep til they are old enough to really evaluate and wonder about the ones I let go too soon like the one that just took Best of Show at the local fair.

Sorry guys. Time for picture overload again! lol
These are my 8 week old Catdance chicks.


My little grey/silver partridge that came out of a paint egg. Wish it had more foot feathers..






Partridge



My little white chick, probably my favorite. This one and the splash cockerel.

"Hey, why are you eating my food?!"



Buff partridge?? Still much smaller than the other chicks but hopefully she'll(?) catch up.



Quite a pose. lol


My little splash cockerel in the middle. Everything about this little one says cockerel...and I'm hoping that's the case because I want a splash rooster.

He wasn't a very good poser, couldn't get one good picture of him.



This is Stripey, only chick I kept that was hatched from our PQ birds.



Stripey taking a ride on mom's back.

And one non-silkie picture. My new partridge cochin hen.



Ok, that's it!

They are lookin' good!!

Hennyhandler~What a good question. I will be so interested to hear what breeders have to say. I am not a big breeder or shower of silkies but right off the batt you can tell which ones have good feet and toes. Within a month I think you can tell if their wings are good.
Yep peepblessed I think that my chick in first picture does have a weak right wing. I didnt see that at first. good eye!

This could mean that my old roo got in there and bred the hens. Hmm. Well at least I have a son of Clyde's and that more blueish one could be Clydes too.

Good question. For those who have a ton of room like me, I keep them in little pens until they are feathered out. If I can - I give all hatched silkies to broodies. I find it gets them properly established in the flock quicker, and I have never raised a silkie by hand until just now. I have 7 in the brooder. I have a hen with a lone silkie egg due to hatch any day, so I will give her the remaining chicks, or at least as many as I can. I find silkies need a heat lamp longer than other chicks, so it works out a lot better to keep them separate from the large fowl at a young age.
If I notice any with a colour I am not really keen on keeping, I will sell them earlier. There is always someone out there looking for silkies.

Plus they hardly eat anything. They are really easy to maintain.

Did I mention that I'm jealous of your free range situation!

 

[cindersga]

I never get tired of seeing yours and everyone else's pictures, they are wonderful!!! I think this one needs to be a contender in the calender contest, it is excellent!!!

I can't because I already submitted two pictures. I did consider this one though but, I asked my husband which ones I should post and he picked the ones I submitted. I should of gone with my gut feeling. It's okay there were sooooo many good ones submitted that deserve to be on there. Thank you though and I too love looking at everyones pics.

 

[cindersga]

Originally Posted by aoxa

Even poor quality breeder birds are MUCH MUCH better than hatchery. I really don't like hatchery silkies. In my opinion, the silkies from a hatchery are the worst quality of any breed they sell. The crests are just so tiny and they aren't fluffy at all. Lots have problems with silkie chicks from a hatchery missing their extra toe, and cross beak, etc.
Now that I've mentioned that, has anyone ever got a hatchery silkie that was decent quality? If so, which hatchery?


Before I read more, I got some silkie chicks from a feed store. They were from Ideal. In a nut shell, the buff and blue were not good with regard to crests and beards. The blue was the worst in that department but the buff had poor foot feathering. The black has a respectable beard, very nice foot feathering, but a small crest. [However she is the nicest most lovey dearie and I kept her because of that. Just loves to be held and runs up to me. Falls asleep in my arms. She is precious, and very black with a little beetle-sheen in the sun.]

The whites however, and I got two of them two weeks apart so not the same hatch, were really quite nice, oddly enough. The female looked "rattier" as a youngster than the babies I hatched from a breeder, but once she was about 4 months, she was pretty nice.
Here's a few pictures of the white pullet:

She is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[cindersga]

I hatched these from my own birds. They were hatched 9/7/2012. They have vaulted skulls but not much. I like all their wings. The toes are all well placed but each has a fault.
This black one has a tiny lobster claw. I like her shape, very squat.

This blue one had white tip on 2 toes.. She has the largest skull vault of the three. I hope she turns out nice.

This black one was hatched 9/24/2012. She is also squat. She also had a couple of white tips on two toes.

It seems the white tips have since grown into black skin so thats good. Now I just have to wait and see how the crests turn out.

So cute Kris! I love them. The first one looks like it has a good "S" shape.

 

[Cynthia12]

Cynthia12 can I copy your smiley and put it in my smiley stash?
Lrkel WOW nice birds. What color is the top one?

Of course. I have some fun happy ones...here's a few more...








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