Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[AllenK RGV]

Whelp the first Bantan Cochin/SilkieX chick entered the world today a day early. 21 days is set for the 19th and 20th. With those eggs peeping we found ourselves with 5 broodies this am so we culled the broodies down to the 2 most dominant hens who have also been our longest sitters then locked up the coop so those 3 can't get back in. They sure are distraught and trying. I'll up some photos when we have most of the hatch complete.

 

[HookLineSilkie]

One of my Silkie chicks hatched out white but I noticed some dark feathers on the top of her head from the start. Now, after 4 weeks, she has blue penciled wings and tail and the spots on head are prominent and Dalmatian-like. Almost like a cross between a splash and paint. Excited to see how her colors develop. I love her. Anyone have any input on this? Her parents are partridge hen and blue rooster. I ended up getting an assortment of colors from the chicks I hatched. A partridge with a lot of blue, a blue and a black. A genetic smorgasbord. I’ll get better pics.

 

[PioneerChicks]

One of my Silkie chicks hatched out white but I noticed some dark feathers on the top of her head from the start. Now, after 4 weeks, she has blue penciled wings and tail and the spots on head are prominent and Dalmatian-like. Almost like a cross between a splash and paint. Excited to see how her colors develop. I love her. Anyone have any input on this? Her parents are partridge hen and blue rooster. I ended up getting an assortment of colors from the chicks I hatched. A partridge with a lot of blue, a blue and a black. A genetic smorgasbord. I’ll get better pics.

So sweet! I'm glad your hatch went well.

 

[HookLineSilkie]

So sweet! I'm glad your hatch went well.

Well, for my first time, it went ok. I lost two after hatch which is heartbreaking but happy with my healthy survivors.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I've noticed that hatches during winter throw more females and hatches during summer throw more males

I know some others have seen different correlations etc and it's probably just coincidence but it's a strange one!

 

[Aunt Angus]

One of my Silkie chicks hatched out white but I noticed some dark feathers on the top of her head from the start. Now, after 4 weeks, she has blue penciled wings and tail and the spots on head are prominent and Dalmatian-like. Almost like a cross between a splash and paint. Excited to see how her colors develop. I love her. Anyone have any input on this? Her parents are partridge hen and blue rooster. I ended up getting an assortment of colors from the chicks I hatched. A partridge with a lot of blue, a blue and a black. A genetic smorgasbord. I’ll get better pics.

Omigish - precious!!!!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Guess what? The Silkie I thought was a boy started laying eggs. Now she's gone BROODY! She's so tiny and so crazy!

I am trying to break her now. Boy is she angry! I tried using the dig crate I use for my big girls, but she's too tiny! I have her in an old file crate turned upside down on the bare coop floor (no bedding). It's the perfect size. I'll have to come up with a way to get her up off the floor, but this will have to work for now...

Silly little chicken....

 

[HookLineSilkie]

This is Nike, my bluish partridge. She’s so beautiful. My first chick. I helped her hatch when she was stuck in shell after pip for over 29 hours. She has over-folded wings perhaps because her feathers jut upward along her back but it makes her look even cooler in my opinion. Both her pinkie toes are extremely short as well, making me think that that is why she was having trouble zipping... Anyone have experience with that “issue”.

 

[LynnaePB]

View attachment 1984224 This is Nike, my bluish partridge. She’s so beautiful. My first chick. I helped her hatch when she was stuck in shell after pip for over 29 hours. She has over-folded wings perhaps because her feathers jut upward along her back but it makes her look even cooler in my opinion. Both her pinkie toes are extremely short as well, making me think that that is why she was having trouble zipping... Anyone have experience with that “issue”.

Aww what cute babies you've got! It'll be interesting to see how the little one with the spots on the head turns out color wise. Definitely looks partridge like to me though much lighter than most, very pretty!

The short outer toe I think isn't too uncommon in feather legged breeds (sometimes the toenail won't even be there). I've hatched some babies with short outer toes (I can't remember if they had trouble hatching, they were from shipped eggs and I had to end up helping a lot of the babies since shipping really made them harder to incubate and hatch).

I got 2 little porcelain d'uccles from a feed store once and both had a very short outer toe with no nail, I guess they must have hatched alright on their own since I doubt a big hatchery would have helped them out.

 

[Hinotori]

Ive had chicks with missing outer toenails and short toes. It's a feather footed issue. No problems hatching. Or walking as chicks or adults. I don't breed from them.