Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[LadiesAndJane]

Guys I got some new hats View attachment 2929329View attachment 2929331View attachment 2929334View attachment 2929338

I love these photos.
I did see some santa hats for chickens on Amazon, actually. They do not look as nice as yours though!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Ok.. here are some of my new chicks.. still 2 more to take pics of, but my back hurts and the brooder is on the floor

They are 9 days old today.

First is the silkie... this is the smaller of the 2. The other has prominent black specks, so hopefully this one will show some as well. BUT... look at those wing feathers.. one of the hatchmates (that i didn't get) had super frizzle little wing tips.. i think i see some on this one

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Here is the silkie mix. My guess is cochin/silkie, since they were breeding in the frizzle gene. This one looks smooth though. I was thinking female based on wing length and tail coming in, but the comb has me thinking male. Elsa could really use a bff.

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ANDDD here are 2 out of 3 of the tolbunts..

White cap girl (lets pretend they are all girls):
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And brown cap girl:
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There's a possibility for frizzle on these tolbunts as well. What do you think about brown cap girl's wings?

Your new chicks are beautiful! Tolbunt is my favorite Polish coloring.
The others are just precious as well!
Can't wait to see them all feathered out!
Paint chicks generally will develop more spots as they develop, though it can be a surprise how much.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Some new pictures of Houdini. I had to use a pipe cleaner for the hobble since he escaped the hair tie. I can't wait to see what he's going to look like as an adult....
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Houdini is adorable! So much foot feathering already!

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Your new chicks are beautiful! Tolbunt is my favorite Polish coloring.
The others are just precious as well!
Can't wait to see them all feathered out!
Paint chicks generally will develop more spots as they develop, though it can be a surprise how much.

Do you think the wing feathers look like they could be frizzle? Or sizzle.. whatever a silkie feather frizzled is called

The other silkie has a few soft black spots and is bigger.. ill take pics of the remaining 2 chicks this afternoon.

You just can't imagine my super loud gasp that made me start choking when i read PAINTS AND TOLBUNTS. Still feel so lucky.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

So I ended up keeping two of my paint chicks after all! One was left over from the last batch of chicks. She is practically all white I just see one little black spot over the wing. We’ll see if she develops more coloring as she gets older. The other one I ended up keeping is the one with the black leg. I had actually sold her, along with 4 others. I asked the buyer if I could keep this one after all and she was fine with it. Also have the three little black chicks that were left over from previous hatches. So five silkie grow outs in all. I’m going to do my best to hold onto these five until I can see which ones would be good to keep.
Recent photo of the chick with the black leg, which my daughter has named Nico.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

So I ended up keeping two of my paint chicks after all! One was left over from the last batch of chicks. She is practically all white I just see one little black spot over the wing. We’ll see if she develops more coloring as she gets older. The other one I ended up keeping is the one with the black leg. I had actually sold her, along with 4 others. I asked the buyer if I could keep this one after all and she was fine with it. Also have the three little black chicks that were left over from previous hatches. So five silkie grow outs in all. I’m going to do my best to hold onto these five until I can see which ones would be good to keep.
Recent photo of the chick with the black leg, which my daughter has named Nico.View attachment 2930016

I like the solid black spot.. exotic looking!! So i see a good vaulted skull there.. are you feeling this might end up being female?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Do you think the wing feathers look like they could be frizzle? Or sizzle.. whatever a silkie feather frizzled is called

The other silkie has a few soft black spots and is bigger.. ill take pics of the remaining 2 chicks this afternoon.

You just can't imagine my super loud gasp that made me start choking when i read PAINTS AND TOLBUNTS. Still feel so lucky.

As far as their feathering,I think it’s too early to be certain. I don’t see any obvious frizzle or “sizzle” as it’s called with Silkies.
It is harder to see with the silkie feathers. You will know either way in a few weeks!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I like the solid black spot.. exotic looking!! So i see a good vaulted skull there.. are you feeling this might end up being female?

Yes this one has a very slight vaulted skull.
The other one I’m keeping has an obvious vaulted skull. I’m counting on them both being female!
Niko here is very shy and prefers to hide under the heat than come out and explore. So by behavior I would guess she is female. But I’ve been fooled before by Silkies!

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Yes this one has a very slight vaulted skull.
The other one I’m keeping has an obvious vaulted skull. I’m counting on them both being female!
Niko here is very shy and prefers to hide under the heat than come out and explore. So by behavior I would guess she is female. But I’ve been fooled before by Silkies!

Ive decided not to stress so much this round. Plus i CAN keep a rooster.. but really like quiet too.. but i do think about possibly having paint and tolbunt chicks. That black one is from the paint batch too.. so i wonder if it carries the paint gene?

The lady i got the chicks from had a pretty large enclosure. Probably 40x40.. surprisingly none of her roosters made any noise. She said only her polish crows when hes scared (but nothing is actually there), and runs to her to hold him. She had some pretty massive roosters too. And a MEAN BLACK COCHIN ROO Go figure!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Ive decided not to stress so much this round. Plus i CAN keep a rooster.. but really like quiet too.. but i do think about possibly having paint and tolbunt chicks. That black one is from the paint batch too.. so i wonder if it carries the paint gene?

The lady i got the chicks from had a pretty large enclosure. Probably 40x40.. surprisingly none of her roosters made any noise. She said only her polish crows when hes scared (but nothing is actually there), and runs to her to hold him. She had some pretty massive roosters too. And a MEAN BLACK COCHIN ROO Go figure!

Blacks from paint breeding do not carry the paint gene. Paint is either expressed or it is not. I thought so at first too, but after extensive research and a fantastic explanation from @LynnaePB as usual, any blacks can be used to produce paint. It is the dominant white that is important. So if your paints end up being female, you just need a nice black rooster to breed more paints (or vice-a-versa of course). You can also breed paint to paint.
My paint boy is so good. He crows 4-5 times when the sun comes out and that's it. I have had one that crowed ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT, he moved on to someone who had a bigger property and no neighbors!