Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[ChloeSilkie08]

Hmmmm the tail, stance, and crest are kind of looking cockerel like to me. It looks like there might be streamers but I can't see the back of the crest well enough to tell. Comb isn't big but not that small either. Just from this picture I'd guess Muffin was a little male but I'd like to see the back of the crest to feel more confident about it.

I'll try to address your previous question in a moment, trying to find some chick pictures.

Okay thanks! Sadly my camera is dead so I can't get more photos at the moment of Muffin.

 

[LynnaePB]

Hello everyone! I have been trying to find pics of silkie chicks with crests and beards but I can't. What does a chick look like that you won't be able to see their eyes when they are older? I'm trying to figure these things out because I have started hobby breeding silkies and selling them as chicks. I would love to be able to tell my buyers what the chick may look like when older. Thanks so much and addicted to this thread!

It's really tough to be able to tell what they might mature into when they are chicks. All should be crested whether they have vaults or not (depending on how they are bred the crests may be smaller or larger). In the past I heard a lot of people saying the vaulted chicks would have bigger crests. With good breeding the non vaulted can have crests just as large though. I actually prefer the non vaulted as the vaulted ones have much less skull protecting their brains and can be more injury prone. I have found in my own stock the females are more likely to be vaulted than the males.

Seeing how the parents crests are can give you a little insight to how the chicks crests might turn out.

Silkies do come in bearded and non bearded and you can tell pretty well from how they look as chicks if they will have a beard or not. They'll have cute puffy little cheeks if they are going to be bearded. If you don't have any non bearded or partially bearded parents than all the chicks should have beards.

If you cross a bearded with a non bearded the offspring will get partial beards. If you cross partially bearded birds you can get bearded, partially bearded, and non bearded offspring. Non bearded to non bearded should give you all non bearded offspring.

Here is a non bearded chick. Hopefully you can see there isn't much fluff under the chin or on the cheeks.

Here is a vaulted and bearded chick (this one is especially puffy)

And here is a non vaulted bearded chick.

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

It's really tough to be able to tell what they might mature into when they are chicks. All should be crested whether they have vaults or not (depending on how they are bred the crests may be smaller or larger). In the past I heard a lot of people saying the vaulted chicks would have bigger crests. With good breeding the non vaulted can have crests just as large though. I actually prefer the non vaulted as the vaulted ones have much less skull protecting their brains and can be more injury prone. I have found in my own stock the females are more likely to be vaulted than the males.

Seeing how the parents crests are can give you a little insight to how the chicks crests might turn out.

Silkies do come in bearded and non bearded and you can tell pretty well from how they look as chicks if they will have a beard or not. They'll have cute puffy little cheeks if they are going to be bearded. If you don't have any non bearded or partially bearded parents than all the chicks should have beards.

If you cross a bearded with a non bearded the offspring will get partial beards. If you cross partially bearded birds you can get bearded, partially bearded, and non bearded offspring. Non bearded to non bearded should give you all non bearded offspring.

Here is a non bearded chick. Hopefully you can see there isn't much fluff under the chin or on the cheeks.

View attachment 2340313

Here is a vaulted and bearded chick (this one is especially puffy)

View attachment 2340320

And here is a non vaulted bearded chick.

View attachment 2340324

Thank you so much! I have a lady right now who has a goal of having 200 silkies and I am breeding ALL of those for her! LOL

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Thank you so much! I have a lady right now who has a goal of having 200 silkies and I am breeding ALL of those for her! LOL

Wow that’s going to take a while! Looks like you have a long-term customer on your hands

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

Wow that’s going to take a while! Looks like you have a long-term customer on your hands

Especially since I only have a 10 egg incubator and 5 laying hens.

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

What color is the front chick? Lavender, porcelain, self blue? Her dad is splash and her mom is a buff, black, or white. Her dad I also got from a hobby breeder and isn't show quality.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

It looks like a splash in the photo. Any possibility of getting some better close-ups?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Just as an FYI if you’re going to be breeding: You can only get lavender (Self blue) from two lavender parents or from a black bird that is carrying the lavender gene (Black split to lavender).

 

[ChloeSilkie08]

It looks like a splash in the photo. Any possibility of getting some better close-ups?

Not at the moment no. My camera is dead sadly. But she has no spots whatsoever.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Splash can have more or less splash colored marking some look almost completely gray and just have a darker head. Sometimes the markings show up a bit later. When they are hatched they often look like a self blue. And self blue and lavender are the same just two different names for the same thing.
if the father was a splash the mom could’ve been the black one or possibly the white one. White covers other genetics. Unlikely it was the buff.