SILKIES - pullet or cockerel??

[Shayna]

Quote:
Thank you, yes that hen in the background (also my avatar) does have nice color. Maybe I'm using the term "paint gene" a little too loosely. I am sure the black one may throw other colors, especially since even the paint colored silkies are very unstable in breeding true. I just mean that the black one came from the same batch as the other two paint ones, or so I was told when I bought them all together, therefore it should have paint in it's bloodlines. Only time will tell what color of chicks I'll get! I do plan to breed her with a paint eventually to increase the odds of paint chicks.

 

[Elite Silkies]

It would nice if we could ever get them to breed true

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Thank you, I cannot wait until I have eggs!!! I'm so excited to find out what colors I'll get. Here are my older hen (background) and roo (front) so I'm hoping I'll have eggs soon!
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/shaynablizard/The new home/silkiesandguineas.jpg

Goodness... the one in the back is absolutely beautiful! How cool....where did you get them? I have never heard of "painted" silkies

 

[Shayna]

Quote:
Thank you for the info. I am hopeful that it will work since the older rooster and hen seem to have paired up. The hen won't go anywhere without him and they ignore the others. I'm not sure if this will change as the cockerel matures or not, but I'll add a couple more hens later most likely.

Quote:
Thank you! She definitely has the best color of the group, unfortunately she's also the only one that isn't bearded! She's a great looking hen though and I'm hoping to get some beautiful chicks from her someday. Paint silkies are relatively new, and there's a great "American Paint Silkie" thread around here that gives some details on the history of them. I bought this group from another backyard chicken hobbyist in the midwest. I did drive 4 hours each way to get them but am happy I did. There are others here on BYC I've seen have them for sale or hatching eggs, typically located on the east coast. I just wanted to have a small flock of chickens and breed them in small numbers as a hobby, and I LOVE silkies, so I decided I wanted to work with the paints, crossing with black later to hopefully strengthen the quality. These are actually my first chickens.

 

[fshinggrl]

Very pretty birds.. makes me want some silkies!

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Thank you for the info. I am hopeful that it will work since the older rooster and hen seem to have paired up. The hen won't go anywhere without him and they ignore the others. I'm not sure if this will change as the cockerel matures or not, but I'll add a couple more hens later most likely.

Quote:
Thank you! She definitely has the best color of the group, unfortunately she's also the only one that isn't bearded! She's a great looking hen though and I'm hoping to get some beautiful chicks from her someday. Paint silkies are relatively new, and there's a great "American Paint Silkie" thread around here that gives some details on the history of them. I bought this group from another backyard chicken hobbyist in the midwest. I did drive 4 hours each way to get them but am happy I did. There are others here on BYC I've seen have them for sale or hatching eggs, typically located on the east coast. I just wanted to have a small flock of chickens and breed them in small numbers as a hobby, and I LOVE silkies, so I decided I wanted to work with the paints, crossing with black later to hopefully strengthen the quality. These are actually my first chickens.

Thanks for the info...they are gorgeous! Hope you get the colors you want with breeding