Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

Trying to get a head-count on silkie lovers...

  • ME! - I like silkies!

    Votes: 781 95.9%
  • ^

    Votes: 94 11.5%

  • Total voters
    814
Here's my entry. This is Scumper and she is half Silkie, Half Polish.
She's fantastic and so friendly.

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Hi, I hope you don't mind my late entry! I currently only own 1 little silkie cross that I think is a pullet. I'm planning on getting a few more here soon.
We had a few when I was little and I loved them! So I'm excited to have them again!

Welcome, and good luck getting your new silkie additions! :D

My silkie hens are usually great too! I just love how easy most of my girls are to handle and it sure is cute when they follow me around like puppies. :lol:

If you ever get the chance to post pictures of your little silkie cross I'm sure we'd love seeing them! :)

Here's my entry. This is Scumper and she is half Silkie, Half Polish.
She's fantastic and so friendly.

View attachment 2424837

Aww what a cute girl! :love

From the picture it seems like she gets up to some adventures with you, looks like a lot of fun! :D
 
I've been calling her Chip like a chocolate chip, she's only simysweet.
She is 9 months old and doesn't crow so I'm hoping she a pullet 😅

Aww what a cutie! I'd be pretty sure she was a pullet too at this point, she is looking fairly feminine. :D

No eggs yet? Nine months is pretty late for my girls to start laying though I know silkies can take a long time! If you aren't sure an easy way to check to see if they are laying or close is to feel for the space between the pelvic bones. They are just below the vent (or in some cases my laying girls have them closer to either side of the vent). They are pretty easy to feel as they are quite pokey. There are two and if you can fit two fingers width or more between them it's a good bet they are close to laying or currently laying. If you feel younger pullets and roosters pelvic bones they tend to be closer together. I just went and felt one of my 5 month old cockerels pelvic bones and they were just a little farther than one fingers width apart (my fingers being probably medium width for a female). Anyway it's a useful little trick to check for laying! I use it all the time in pullets I suspect are getting close to laying. :)
 
I have a question for you genetics junkies! I have been fiddling with the "kippen" calculator. It was very intimidating at first, but now I think I got the jist of it anyway.
I have some eggs due to hatch this coming Friday. I just assumed my silkie cockerel was recessive white, so all the chicks should be black (olive egger hen is solid black). But if he is dominant white, could the chicks be paint?
I mixed up my 2 white silkies when they were younger, turns out Zelda is Jane and Jane is Zelda, but I am not changing the names back at this point!😂
So, "Jane" was a yellow chick, thought he would feather in as a buff, but he is solid white, not a feather out of place! Is this meaningful? I understand that makes him "gold" but does that also make him dominant white?
I guess when the chicks hatch we will know, but I like the mental gymnastics this is causing and I have not even had my morning coffee yet!🥰
 
I have a question for you genetics junkies! I have been fiddling with the "kippen" calculator. It was very intimidating at first, but now I think I got the jist of it anyway.
I have some eggs due to hatch this coming Friday. I just assumed my silkie cockerel was recessive white, so all the chicks should be black (olive egger hen is solid black). But if he is dominant white, could the chicks be paint?
I mixed up my 2 white silkies when they were younger, turns out Zelda is Jane and Jane is Zelda, but I am not changing the names back at this point!😂
So, "Jane" was a yellow chick, thought he would feather in as a buff, but he is solid white, not a feather out of place! Is this meaningful? I understand that makes him "gold" but does that also make him dominant white?
I guess when the chicks hatch we will know, but I like the mental gymnastics this is causing and I have not even had my morning coffee yet!🥰
Sorry I can't answer your other questions, but I don't think you'll get a paint regardless of the dominant or recessive. Though I could be wrong.
 
Sorry I can't answer your other questions, but I don't think you'll get a paint regardless of the dominant or recessive. Though I could be wrong.
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it!😊
Well I do know that they were originally created when a mutation appeared when a dominant white silkie was bred to black, though I think it i more complicated then that. @LynnaePB are you around? I know you are focusing your breeding program on paints.
 
What got me thinking about this possibility was the AustraWhite hybrid, which is a leghorn (dominant white) over black australorp. Chicks are essentially paint, white with black flecks.
So, if Jane is dominant white, then there should be a possibility.
Genetics are so cool, and I am still waiting for that coffee to brew!
 

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