Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Now remind me again... If I use a single comb hen for breeding she won't give off a single comb to her offspring?

One of my 5 month old pullets has a single comb but she's cute so I want to keep her!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Oh that is wonderful they are both girls!



Aww that is too bad. I have a terrible time finding boys homes too. It can take months sometimes. Grayson is the columbian colored boy? He really is pretty and a harder to find color too! To the right person I'd think he'd be quite valued. If you haven't had him posted for too long yet maybe someone will come along soon that can recognize he is a nice find.



Aww they are lovely! Good luck finding some homes for them if you do decide to sell.

He's the lighter columbian yeah.
These r the pics I'm using...any suggestions? Or u think they r good?

 

[chickengr]

At the moment prices just keep going up on everything fuel drives everything so everything goes up

the same here and everywhere. I don't know what food we shall have without production - no fertilizers, no agriculture.

 

[chickengr]

Now remind me again... If I use a single comb hen for breeding she won't give off a single comb to her offspring?

One of my 5 month old pullets has a single comb but she's cute so I want to keep her!

not an expert but I think that non-single-combs are dominant. btw, as someone mentioned chinese silkies can have any type of comb. as silkies are originally a chinese breed I wouldn't mind single combs. of course I do not show silkies, I just love them.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

So I sent DNA testing out 8 days ago on the little Hanabi baby as well as the fluffiest, lightest blue Silkie chick which is my daughter’s favorite.
Used the eggshell for the Cochin cross as I was able to see it hatch and tried for the first time using blood from a clipped toenail on the Silkie. This one hatched early in the morning and I did not witness the hatch, so I wasn’t sure which eggshell it came out of.
Both are female! So happy and of course we are keeping them now!


I really love IQ Bird Testing if anybody wants to do DNA testing at some point.
I have now tried all three methods; feathers, eggshell and now blood. They have a fairly quick turnaround time and excellent customer service. They did raise their prices recently, so only really worth it to do on birds you are planning to keep.View attachment 3041654

Oh this is good to know!
And congrats in the girlees!!!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

So I sent DNA testing out 8 days ago on the little Hanabi baby as well as the fluffiest, lightest blue Silkie chick which is my daughter’s favorite.
Used the eggshell for the Cochin cross as I was able to see it hatch and tried for the first time using blood from a clipped toenail on the Silkie. This one hatched early in the morning and I did not witness the hatch, so I wasn’t sure which eggshell it came out of.
Both are female! So happy and of course we are keeping them now!


I really love IQ Bird Testing if anybody wants to do DNA testing at some point.
I have now tried all three methods; feathers, eggshell and now blood. They have a fairly quick turnaround time and excellent customer service. They did raise their prices recently, so only really worth it to do on birds you are planning to keep.View attachment 3041654

Oh meant to ask on the 2 u sent in for seeing did you have an idea as to what they were and just wanted confirmation or were they that hard to tell?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

3 of my 5 week olds are looking very orange! just the colours I'm going for! Biscuit has done well with Smokey giving me quite a few partridge/ red leakage ones!
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They look great!
So awesome when they come out they way you want!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Now remind me again... If I use a single comb hen for breeding she won't give off a single comb to her offspring?

One of my 5 month old pullets has a single comb but she's cute so I want to keep her!

Then keep her!
The single comb is common in Silkies.
The single comb is recessive, so both of her parents must be carriers of the gene.
You can still use her for breeding, but best to a rooster that does not carry the gene for the single comb, or many of the resulting chicks will have the single comb. It also depends on what your goals are for breeding.

 

[Silkie Princess]

Noodles!

Johnny my Silkie mix

Pumpkin

Brookie

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh meant to ask on the 2 u sent in for seeing did you have an idea as to what they were and just wanted confirmation or were they that hard to tell?

I suspected they were female. It was more for confirmation. I have been recording data on my chicks to see if certain indicators early on can help me determine gender. Weight at hatch seems to be a factor, everything else being equal (same parents for example). Behavior can be an indicator, but I do not find it to be reliable. The little Hanabi baby (this chick needs a name...), has the exact personality of her mother, which in any other chick would have me thinking male, but Hanabi was just like this as a chick personality wise.

If either had ended up being male, I would have to sell it as such.

I feel as a breeder, once you know the gender of your chicks, you can no longer sell them as "straight run". Integrity is important for your reputation, especially in a small community like mine. There are breeders on the mainland who sell "DNA guaranteed pullets" for quite a bit of money, upwards of $100 or more, and then give the males away for free or for very little. I have thought about doing this, though it would not really be cost effective and then you end up with a lot of extra boys. There are also only a handful of people I know of that would pay $100 for a chicken.