Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Thanks!
You'll have to post baby photos, too!
Yes, can be hard to sell if you do not have somebody in mind already. Though in my area silkies sell pretty easily.
I have a wait list for about half the chicks (eggs?), hopefully I can sell any others or I may have to keep some.

Bring on the baby photos

I love seeing how the colours combinations turn out!
Hopefully my Smokey X Biscuit babies will hatch tomorrow!

@LadiesAndJane your so lucky you already have half sold before they even hatch! That easily! .. I plan to keep any girls out of this year's hatches if they are good quality, but that takes months to work out!!

 

[LynnaePB]

I've gotta a Silkie question...

So hubby and I went on a mini vacation to a B&B out here on the Northern California coast. The owner had a whole mess of Silkies in a really cute run behind the inn.

Comparing them to my 2, they looked huuuuge! Now I'm wondering if mine are just e tra small or hers were extra large. Those are the only other Silkies I'd seen in person. And they were not crosses.

How big are your Silkies? Like, how tall are they? How much do they weigh? Mine are just over a lb and stand about 7-8 in tall.

They can definitely vary in size from my experience. The standard calls for hens to be around 32 oz, pullets to be around 28 oz, cockerels to be around 32 oz, and cocks to be around 36 oz. The standard didn't say how tall they should be as far as I know but they are supposed to be fairly short and stout so I'd say probably not much more than a foot or so? I could be way off though.

I've hatched silkies from a handful of breeders and have had a few that turned out to be much larger than the standard calls for. I've had a few fairly small ones as well though probably not quite as small as your little guys. It does sound to me like yours are fairly well on the small side, are they still young or fully grown?

I find the males especially do not often match up with the target weight and tend to be substantially larger than the females. I read somewhere from someone who shows (though I can't recall where) that weight isn't too much of an issue as long as it is within 20% of the target weight. Most of my females are within that 20% range but the males are often more than 20% over.

 

[Aunt Angus]

They can definitely vary in size from my experience. The standard calls for hens to be around 32 oz, pullets to be around 28 oz, cockerels to be around 32 oz, and cocks to be around 36 oz. The standard didn't say how tall they should be as far as I know but they are supposed to be fairly short and stout so I'd say probably not much more than a foot or so? I could be way off though.

I've hatched silkies from a handful of breeders and have had a few that turned out to be much larger than the standard calls for. I've had a few fairly small ones as well though probably not quite as small as your little guys. It does sound to me like yours are fairly well on the small side, are they still young or fully grown?

I find the males especially do not often match up with the target weight and tend to be substantially larger than the females. I read somewhere from someone who shows (though I can't recall where) that weight isn't too much of an issue as long as it is within 20% of the target weight. Most of my females are within that 20% range but the males are often more than 20% over.

Mine are just hatchery birds. But they are 2 years old now.

 

[LynnaePB]

Mine are just hatchery birds. But they are 2 years old now.

At 2 years that is pretty small for a silkie I'd say! They must be cute little guys!

 

[Aunt Angus]

At 2 years that is pretty small for a silkie I'd say! They must be cute little guys!

They're pretty doofy looking as far as Silkies go! Haha!

Here's Violet:

And here's Dandelion:

 

[Aunt Angus]

I should try to get a pic of them next to one of my standard sized birds.

Violet just raised 3 chicks for me: a Turken, a lavender Orpington, and a silver Appenzeller Spitzhauben. They are 10 weeks old and dwarf her!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Bring on the baby photos

I love seeing how the colours combinations turn out!
Hopefully my Smokey X Biscuit babies will hatch tomorrow!

@LadiesAndJane your so lucky you already have half sold before they even hatch! That easily! .. I plan to keep any girls out of this year's hatches if they are good quality, but that takes months to work out!!

Can't wait to see Smokey and Biscuits chicks!

 

[Hinotori]

We had an argument over the matching hat. He won. I did get some good shots with the DSLR as well as the cell pictures like this.

 

[Hinotori]

This boy had a crop full of hawthorn berries before I gave up on getting him to sit still.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I hear Cheeeeeping! One egg zipping early! Smokey got off for a quick drink - I haven't seen a broody get off their eggs at this stage in a hatch! Hopefully she will look after them! ..I haven't candled the 2 eggs she had out of the nest, but they aren't green rotten smelling so I'm guessing they may still be ok!