Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[PioneerChicks]

@LynnaePB can I ask where you got your silkies from? They are simply gorgeous and I love seeing pics of them!

 

[Silkie2005]

Some of my birds

 

[Orpingtonsarecool]

Some of my birds

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How do they pose like that

 

[LynnaePB]

Congratulations on your hatch!
Your birds are so gorgeous! They all look like show birds!
Do the partridge chicks from this pairing feather out more of a light silver Partridge? Or is this the first time you’ve made this cross? I like the way they look as chicks anyway! Did the chicks that hatched from your other pairing give you any more information on the genetics of your hen? Wouldn’t you have to breed her to a black rooster and if you got paint chicks from that wouldn’t that prove that she was dominant white?
Sorry for all the questions I’m just super curious about the genetics!

Thank you!!! The parents are from other breeders and I'm so happy they shared their lines, the white girl is from a show line!

This is the first time I've hatched from these pairs. I'll be happy to post some pictures of how the little partridge chicks feather out as they grow though.

Right now I don't feel like I've got much better insight into what my white girl has hiding. I've got another 3 eggs of hers incubating though so maybe that will tell me something. I'm leaning more in the direction of her being recessive white at this point (some breeders have added recessive whites for type into paint lines). She hatched out looking like a silver based recessive white.

Breeding her to a black is a good way to see if she is homozygous dominant white. I did a small test hatch before with her over a black male and got 3 black looking chicks. At the very least that tells me she isn't homozygous for dominant white (she could still be a very poorly marked paint, she has one or two tiny black feathers that aren't noticeable). One of her black looking chicks is looking more like a blue now too. It's probably going to take a bit and multiple partners to suss out everything she is hiding.

So Eko is definitely a paint!

Hatched on her own around midnight. Few photos attached with her little brooder buddy bear in the background! Trying to find a few chicks to keep her company but I think she may have to wait until the little red bantam cochin pullet chicks show up around the 21st.
Has a lot of black flecks on her back as well as on her legs. Excited to see how she feathers out. Since paint silkies are not available here and I am not doing shipped eggs anytime soon, would be best to find a good black silkie for her to pair with? Am I correct about that?
Course hoping she’s a she, I’m sending the eggshell out on Monday for DNA testing. Doesn’t matter either way, she’s a keeper after the financial and emotional investment involved.View attachment 2609147View attachment 2609148

Congratulations!!! I'm so happy Eko made it and is an adorable little paint too!!!

You are correct about pairing her to a nice black. That would definitely be the easiest way to start a paint line. Blue could work too but complicates things as you'd have some blue paints and blues besides paint and black. Blue would be able to be bred out but would likely require test breeding since sometimes blue and black can look the same.

View attachment 2609153Here are my silkies! Peaches is the white hen, Persimmon is the cuckoo boy (who recently passed away) and I have a black rooster named Fumiko but no pictures of him. View attachment 2609140

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Aww they are both lovely!

Sorry to hear you lost the little cuckoo though.

8 silkie eggs in the incubator due to hatch on Monday! I made tiny holes in the top (or is it considered the bottom?) of all the eggs because I'm sick of healthy eggs not hatching.

@LynnaePB can I ask where you got your silkies from? They are simply gorgeous and I love seeing pics of them!

So exciting, I hope they hatch out really well! The safety holes sound like a good idea if you've been having some DIS babies, I hope you won't have any this time!

I got my silkies from quite a few different breeders. Three of the ones I just hatched chicks from were from Glamorous Chickens Hobby Farm (the page is on facebook). The little white hen I posted was from Willowpond silkies but that breeder unfortunately doesn't sell silkies anymore.

These breeders are all on facebook and I think still sell hatching eggs that I also got some of my founding stock from.

Twin Maple Ranch Silkies

Snobby Silkies and Faverolles

Happy Chicken Farm

I'd be happy to give you links to their facebook pages in a PM if you are interested.

Some of my birds

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They are just gorgeous!

I don't often see really nice quality non bearded, yours look lovely!

 

[Silkie2005]

How do they pose like that

I show them so I train them at a young age. Most of it is luck though to be honest. If the bird isnt in the right mood on the day it's not going to stay still!

 

[Silkie2005]

Thank you!!! The parents are from other breeders and I'm so happy they shared their lines, the white girl is from a show line!

This is the first time I've hatched from these pairs. I'll be happy to post some pictures of how the little partridge chicks feather out as they grow though.

Right now I don't feel like I've got much better insight into what my white girl has hiding. I've got another 3 eggs of hers incubating though so maybe that will tell me something. I'm leaning more in the direction of her being recessive white at this point (some breeders have added recessive whites for type into paint lines). She hatched out looking like a silver based recessive white.

Breeding her to a black is a good way to see if she is homozygous dominant white. I did a small test hatch before with her over a black male and got 3 black looking chicks. At the very least that tells me she isn't homozygous for dominant white (she could still be a very poorly marked paint, she has one or two tiny black feathers that aren't noticeable). One of her black looking chicks is looking more like a blue now too. It's probably going to take a bit and multiple partners to suss out everything she is hiding.





Congratulations!!! I'm so happy Eko made it and is an adorable little paint too!!!

You are correct about pairing her to a nice black. That would definitely be the easiest way to start a paint line. Blue could work too but complicates things as you'd have some blue paints and blues besides paint and black. Blue would be able to be bred out but would likely require test breeding since sometimes blue and black can look the same.








Aww they are both lovely!

Sorry to hear you lost the little cuckoo though.





So exciting, I hope they hatch out really well! The safety holes sound like a good idea if you've been having some DIS babies, I hope you won't have any this time!

I got my silkies from quite a few different breeders. Three of the ones I just hatched chicks from were from Glamorous Chickens Hobby Farm (the page is on facebook). The little white hen I posted was from Willowpond silkies but that breeder unfortunately doesn't sell silkies anymore.

These breeders are all on facebook and I think still sell hatching eggs that I also got some of my founding stock from.

Twin Maple Ranch Silkies

Snobby Silkies and Faverolles

Happy Chicken Farm

I'd be happy to give you links to their facebook pages in a PM if you are interested.


They are just gorgeous!

I don't often see really nice quality non bearded, yours look lovely!

Thank you very much! I try to keep them the best possible quality in regards to the UK standard as I show them.

Bird in the first picture won 1st in class, best bantam silkie, best silkie, best soft feather light and went on to win Supreme Champion against over 800 other birds. Bird in the second photo has won a soft feather light before and best of breed. So they've done well. Proud of them all. Struggling to hatch any at the moment as my main male is only giving me 25% fertility rate...

 

[LynnaePB]

Thank you very much! I try to keep them the best possible quality in regards to the UK standard as I show them.

Bird in the first picture won 1st in class, best bantam silkie, best silkie, best soft feather light and went on to win Supreme Champion against over 800 other birds. Bird in the second photo has won a soft feather light before and best of breed. So they've done well. Proud of them all. Struggling to hatch any at the moment as my main male is only giving me 25% fertility rate...

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Wow what an accomplishment! Congratulations to you and your girls!!!

Sorry to hear your boy is having fertility issues, I hope you get some lovely chicks from them anyway!

 

[Mutchi]

I don't have a silkie but I'll support them! They are my dream chickens!

 

[Chickeria]

So Eko is definitely a paint!

Hatched on her own around midnight. Few photos attached with her little brooder buddy bear in the background! Trying to find a few chicks to keep her company but I think she may have to wait until the little red bantam cochin pullet chicks show up around the 21st.
Has a lot of black flecks on her back as well as on her legs. Excited to see how she feathers out. Since paint silkies are not available here and I am not doing shipped eggs anytime soon, would be best to find a good black silkie for her to pair with? Am I correct about that?
Course hoping she’s a she, I’m sending the eggshell out on Monday for DNA testing. Doesn’t matter either way, she’s a keeper after the financial and emotional investment involved.View attachment 2609147View attachment 2609148

YAY! CONGRATS on little Eko
What a darling
So glad she (!) hatched so well

I'm so sorry the little replacement egg developed a blood ring

Hopefully Eko's little friends will arrive well

 

[Chickeria]

Here are some pictures of the 5 little silkie chicks hatched the other day.

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The three circled in red are from this red pyle project pair (sorry old pictures I've probably posted before). I think dad is silver based and from how the partridge chicks are hatching so far it's seeming more likely.

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The other two little yellow chicks are from the pair below. I'm trying to figure out more about the moms genetics. She is from a paint breeding but I'm not so sure she is dominant white.

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What sweet little babies
I love them and their parents!