Has anyone order silkies from Ideal and were you pleased with what you got? I had my wish list out and was thinking about order some but not real sure what i would get. i know they would not be show quality but would they have 5 toes are 4 ? DK
I haven't bought any Ideal silkies, but I have seen them in my local feed store. They seem to have 5 toes, but not great leg feathering. I've only seen chicks, not adults. I think the would be fine backyard quality birds.
I ordered a few Silkies in with an order last spring and they put them in with the other standard chicks. By the time they got to me (2 days) the Silkies were all dead. If you order them, you may want to do only a shipment of banties. I have only gotten Silkies from breeders so I am not sure what the hatcheries are like but since I am more partial to the bearded, it probably works best for me that way.
I ordered several dual-purposed heavy egg laying breeds and threw in a couple of silkies (I couldn't resist!). I ordered 2 assorted silkie chicks because I couldn't decide on which color I wanted. They sent me a white one and a blue one, the white one is now a beautiful pullet that is about to start laying and the blue one is a gorgeous rooster. They both have 5 toes, although I agree that they don't have the best leg feathering. I am really enjoying them, I wish now that I had ordered a few more! P.S. I raised them with the standard size chickens with no problem. The Sikies hold their own pretty well, especially the rooster.
I didnt order from ideal, but it is common, when ordering from a hatchery, to get silkies with single combs, and 4 toes.
It is common to get silkies with 4 toes period. My eggs came from a reliable breeder of high quality and I still have one 4 toed silkie. I raise them for pets and my wifes loves them, but for that show quality not only do they have to cull ruthlessly so do you. I love my birds from Ideal, and with proper breeding and ruthless culling you might be able to get show quality. Nobody but nobody is going to get show quality on a regular basis without culling. And if you don't know your breeder well who knows what you will get it may be less quality than Ideal. I just wish Ideal had OEG STD. Cackle does but they would not answer their phone and did not respond in a timely manner to my email. Sorry for the repeated use of the phrase "ruthless culling" but I'm hoping to make a point.
My one from a breeder is way worse than the ones from Ideal I have. I can tell you that the buffs from Ideal are not great. They lack in color (lots of black) and they have not crest or top knot - at least so far. Here is a picture of some of ours... And here is my favorite Partridge hen from Ideal... And one little buff hen... We are raising them for a mixed flock pet fun. I will cull the ones with single combs and four toes in the future, but none of my dozen Ideal birds have that. edited to add a pic of our grey from Ideal. Wish I had more of her. More beautiful in person and the best pet.
I got two silkies from Ideal in with my box of 11 BR roos, 6RIR and 6 EE pullets and they are just fine. They are very fluffy and very nice chicks.
We got 6 silkies from ideal in Oct. via the feed store. 2 whites, 1 partridge, 1 gray (to replace the partridge), 1 black and 1 gold. All but the partridge and the gray had 5 toes on each foot. 3 of 6 had crest on their heads baby pictures black at 14 weeks grey and gold at 14 weeks
