Silkies 101 - 20 of the most common Silkie questions...

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
No, it is not manufactured. A good quality Silkie should possess a good amount of natural shredding in the wing and tail feathers. And it is possible to make a not so shredded wing look more shredded by using a flea comb or wire slicker brush.

As to whether or not it is considered 'faking', I believe only you can answer that, as it is something that you'll have to decide for yourself. Poultry exhibitors do lots of things to make their birds look better, for instance Vet-Rx on the comb and legs, nail and beak trimming, crest trimmming etc. Some people believe that these things are 'faking' as well. In my opinion, they are only enhancing what the bird already possesses; kinda like waxing a car. The car is already nice, but a fresh coat of wax makes it look nice and shiny. You'll have to decide how honest you want your 'show' to be. Does this make sense?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
That would sound about right to me.

Its kinda like a male dachsund trying to breed a female german shephard. It just dont work (at least not without a step stool). However, the likelihood of a male german shephard, breeding a female dachsund is a little more probable.

 

[racuda]

Quote:
I visit with my Silkies every night when they're on the roost (mine roost via a ladder). They feel just like a plush down comforter. Aren't feathers without barbicels essentially... down? It seems like the air-trapping, insulating properties of down would be great for tolerating extra low temperatures. Also a walnut comb should fare particularly well. Yes?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
It would seem as such, but its not.

 

[onthespot]

Quote:
No, it is not manufactured. A good quality Silkie should possess a good amount of natural shredding in the wing and tail feathers. And it is possible to make a not so shredded wing look more shredded by using a flea comb or wire slicker brush.

As to whether or not it is considered 'faking', I believe only you can answer that, as it is something that you'll have to decide for yourself. Poultry exhibitors do lots of things to make their birds look better, for instance Vet-Rx on the comb and legs, nail and beak trimming, crest trimmming etc. Some people believe that these things are 'faking' as well. In my opinion, they are only enhancing what the bird already possesses; kinda like waxing a car. The car is already nice, but a fresh coat of wax makes it look nice and shiny. You'll have to decide how honest you want your 'show' to be. Does this make sense?

Yes, it makes sense. I have never been to a chicken show, so I don't know what amount of "prep" is allowed. In AKC some breeds forbid the use of baby powder etc... can't even trim a whisker! What is born is how it is supposed to be shown, other than a bath, blow out and brushing. Even the shor coat breeds like German Shorhiared Pointers get QUITE A BIT of prep, trimming, baby powder if they are very light colored, coat conditioner that adds shine, and even spray stuff on the botom of their feet to make them tacky so they don't slip on the turns if it is a smooth floor. All that for a slick, short haired, hunting type dog that should just be wash 'n wear.

Horses, people go to EXTREME lenths to change their looks, including putting needles into the crests of their necks and heating them with a lighter to help melt the fat so it can be removed by rolling it with a rolling pin, sweating their necks for hours, binding them with neck sweats, treadmill workouts, backing the horse up a hill, putting them in a small pen and having them change direction time and time again to build up the haunches, breaking and removing the nerve to the tail so they can't swish it when you put a spur in them, they look better trained and happier than they really are. Also surgically altering the ear shape, tatooing around the eyes, surgically removing white spots that shouldn't be there, adding spots to horses that need them, braces to straighten their teeth, inserting fake testicles for cryptorchids, and ON and on and on... none, or at least most of the above is not legal for horse showing but it is standard practice in NUMEROUS world caliber trainer barns. I wouldn't do it even if I was GUARANTEED never to get caught. What's the point of trimming a stud's ears if all his babies are going to be lop eared anyhow? Not worth it. Get a stud with little ears if that is what you want. I guess same with chickens.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
No, the genetics are entirely different. Blue is the heterozygous state of a single gene. Splash is the homozygous state of the gene. In either one or two copies, the blue gene dilutes all black pigment in the feathers to some degree.

Red, however is the result of a group of genes interacting together, and there are several different recipes for red.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
This is why breeding birds requires advanced knowledge of genetics. I cannot accurately answer your question, and it will probably be better addressed by Suze, but I dont think red to red works the same way. Most probably, a red to red breeding will yield solid red offspring.

Should.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Told you it'd be better addressed by Suze... LOL

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Hard feathers and silkie feathers are NOT antinyms. Feathers are hard or soft, silkied or not silkied. Every bird will be one of each of these. Gamebirds have hard feathers; crossed to a silkie (for at least two generations) they can be hard and silkied. Cochins and brahmas have soft feathers; also crossed to a silkie they can have soft silkied feathers.

One does not manufacture feather structure; that would indeed be faking. One breeds it into the bird; however, the wing feathers for a silkie should not be entirely shredded--there is such a thing as too much.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Actually, breeding black to blue will never get you splash. If it does, your "black" bird is not actually black, but rather a very dark blue.