Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[chickengr]

I have some & love them. Be careful-- they're addicting! They're no different than my other Silkies-- one is a big boss in the coop and the other is sweet & submissive. Both are friendly toward humans and just a joy to have around. I can't get over their beauty! I live in upstate NY and winters are cold here. I didn't own them this winter, but they must have done fine in their normal coop, cuz there are no signs of frost bite on either one. I'm sure they just tuck in and snuggle up when it's below freezing.

I love pure silkies with all of their fluffy feathers. but it seems they do not like heat. I am thinking about showgirls, they would be much happier in my climate.

 

[LynnaePB]

Some version of this might get entered. I did 3 birds. Pictures with phone and camera. There are better ones on the sd card, this was a phone. I had to plan this picture out beforehand for Christmas because the hawthorn berries are only the perfect redness at the end of August, beginning of September and bright, cloudy days make it look best.View attachment 3170711

I'm mediocre on my pictures but have a good instinct for making them pleasing usually. I follow the rule of thirds without thinking about it. If there is ground and sky visible, one of them should only take up 1/3 of the background. Try and pic a spot you want as the center. Sometimes with birds it's an eye. Get your camera on level with your subject. I lay on the ground if I have to. Make sure you have good lighting. Indoor lighting usually sucks so a flash is required. Daylight is best and even then, sometimes a flash can make it better. Take it both ways if you want to see the difference. Take lots of pictures, not just one or two. Keep the sun behind you if you can. There are exceptions on that for artistic purposes. Unless you're taking a picture of a person, or an up and down front body shot of a bird, keep your phone sideways in landscape mode. It makes better pictures because of how we actually view the world. It also is needed if you're entering photos in a contest so they can actually use them on say the calendar. Change your phone camera settings to the best quality possible. They do make flash drives that are double ended and will plug into a phone or computer so you can remove pictures that way if needed.

Everyone just needs to take more pictures to practice. Practice is everything. Even if all you have is a phone, it's quite possible to get very good pictures. Take pictures of your silkies and flood the calendar entries this year.

Oh and silkies take the best pictures if they are off the ground, can't see their coops, and are a good distance away from where they know the coop is.


ETA: don't use digital zoom if you can help it. It makes for graininess in pictures, especially the farther zoomed in it is. Physical lenses don't cause that problem. You're better off just cropping the picture closer if needed, but getting closer is best.

I just love your pictures.

I definitely need to practice. I usually just get pictures with ugly backdrops (in the pens and definitely not Calendar worthy) since they pose better for me when they are comfortable with their surroundings. I'm going to have to give taking them further away from their coop a try. Usually they just deflate and look awkward when I try.

It's not a fancy set up. More redneck chicken tarp town. I can move the whole thing. It used to be in a different configuration and 40 feet west. There is hardware cloth around the bottom 2 feet.

Took these when the grass wasnt 4-5 foot tall last year

Backside of silkie pens, open for summer.
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Front from the side
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Can just see the little house in the pen.
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Inside end pen looking down
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I love your set up, it's a lot more spacious than a lot of breeding pen set ups I've seen.

Idk if yall are like me or not...so tired of NO rain....always in forecast yet never delivered! My spine implant is hitting a nerve n causing more pain than normal so I need a distraction!
@LadiesAndJane and I are both stumped on Bluey...here's a video of her. She acts nothing like any roo I've ever had. She's 11 weeks old Satin blue mottled.
I know the comb is big but no other signs of roo - needs yalls professional advice!
Boy or girl?!

I wish I could give you some of East TNs rain. We've had plenty of little bouts of it here and there and some pretty heavy short bursts over the last week or two. The humidity was so bad the other day from it I couldn't even get pictures of the silkies outside when I tried. The lens just stayed too fogged up.

Bluey still has me going back and forth. Right now the look is closer to that of a little pullet but the comb and a bit of the stance reminds me of a little cockerel. At just 11 weeks I really wouldn't rule the possibility of a late blooming cockerel out. If by 15-16 weeks there still aren't any obvious streamers and pointed hackle and saddle feathers I'd feel more confident guessing pullet.

Thoughts on the sex of my 10-12 week old Silkies? These are the 3 I am still unsure of for various reasons: 1st one has a messy crest, 2nd has some golden brown leakage around neck, 3rd has some red showing when crest is pulled back

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These little ones are all looking more pullet like to me at this point. It may take several more weeks to really give a good guess though. They are all such cuties!

What does everyone think about Showgirl Silkies ?
Temperament : are they like silkies in temperments
Care : do they have special care needs
I want to raise some or purchase some in the spring
Any advice or thoughts are welcome .

My showgirls act just the same as the regular non NN silkies.

Mine do just as well in the heat as the non NN silkies as well. It doesn't get terribly cold here so I can't speak to that.

It sounds like you'll be doing a showgirl project? It may take several generations of breeding back to silkies to lock in the silkie temperament. The showgirls that have been bred back to silkie standard are pretty much all silkie but retain the naked neck gene originally bred in from naked necks/turkens. Bearded white naked neck silkies have actually been accepted as a silkie variety and can be shown as such. Other colors will hopefully be added to the standard as breeders work on getting enough high quality ones and showing them.

The term showgirl is not an official term but a widely used nickname for a silkie with one copy of the naked neck gene (heterozygous for the naked neck gene). They'll have what is called a bow tie and overall a bit more feathers than a silkie that has two copies of the naked neck gene or is homozygous for the naked neck gene. Stripper is the unofficial nickname for silkies with two copies.

Here is a young paint showgirl that has only one copy of the naked neck gene.

And here is a young paint stripper that has two copies.

If you don't like the more naked look of the strippers it is easy to avoid getting any by just avoiding breeding any naked neck silkie to another naked neck silkie. If you put a showgirl silkie (with one copy of the naked neck gene) over non naked neck silkies you'll get 50% showgirl offspring and the other 50% will be regular non naked neck silkies. If you put a stripper (two copies of the naked neck gene) over non naked neck silkies you'll get 100% showgirls.

 

[lacychappell4]

I love pure silkies with all of their fluffy feathers. but it seems they do not like heat. I am thinking about showgirls, they would be much happier in my climate.

I have pure pullets and 2 pure cockerels and live in TXs . I have to change the water 2 a day and provide lots of shade . I also have shallow pans they can step in . Mine do pretty good . my hen house has window with hardware cloth on both sides because of predators . I lost 1 this year but Chihuahuas breached my coop and she died from stress related issues

 

[lacychappell4]

I just love your pictures.

I definitely need to practice. I usually just get pictures with ugly backdrops (in the pens and definitely not Calendar worthy) since they pose better for me when they are comfortable with their surroundings. I'm going to have to give taking them further away from their coop a try. Usually they just deflate and look awkward when I try.



I love your set up, it's a lot more spacious than a lot of breeding pen set ups I've seen.



I wish I could give you some of East TNs rain. We've had plenty of little bouts of it here and there and some pretty heavy short bursts over the last week or two. The humidity was so bad the other day from it I couldn't even get pictures of the silkies outside when I tried. The lens just stayed too fogged up.

Bluey still has me going back and forth. Right now the look is closer to that of a little pullet but the comb and a bit of the stance reminds me of a little cockerel. At just 11 weeks I really wouldn't rule the possibility of a late blooming cockerel out. If by 15-16 weeks there still aren't any obvious streamers and pointed hackle and saddle feathers I'd feel more confident guessing pullet.



These little ones are all looking more pullet like to me at this point. It may take several more weeks to really give a good guess though. They are all such cuties!


My showgirls act just the same as the regular non NN silkies.

Mine do just as well in the heat as the non NN silkies as well. It doesn't get terribly cold here so I can't speak to that.

It sounds like you'll be doing a showgirl project? It may take several generations of breeding back to silkies to lock in the silkie temperament. The showgirls that have been bred back to silkie standard are pretty much all silkie but retain the naked neck gene originally bred in from naked necks/turkens. Bearded white naked neck silkies have actually been accepted as a silkie variety and can be shown as such. Other colors will hopefully be added to the standard as breeders work on getting enough high quality ones and showing them.

The term showgirl is not an official term but a widely used nickname for a silkie with one copy of the naked neck gene (heterozygous for the naked neck gene). They'll have what is called a bow tie and overall a bit more feathers than a silkie that has two copies of the naked neck gene or is homozygous for the naked neck gene. Stripper is the unofficial nickname for silkies with two copies.

Here is a young paint showgirl that has only one copy of the naked neck gene.

View attachment 3173604

And here is a young paint stripper that has two copies.

View attachment 3173605



If you don't like the more naked look of the strippers it is easy to avoid getting any by just avoiding breeding any naked neck silkie to another naked neck silkie. If you put a showgirl silkie (with one copy of the naked neck gene) over non naked neck silkies you'll get 50% showgirl offspring and the other 50% will be regular non naked neck silkies. If you put a stripper (two copies of the naked neck gene) over non naked neck silkies you'll get 100% showgirls.

Thank you so much for the information what beautiful birds you have

 

[LynnaePB]

Thank you so much for the information what beautiful birds you have

Thank you so much! And of course, you are very welcome!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Hey guys help me out here quickly! This is one of the chicks I sold to a lovely family as a one week old that can no longer can keep them. 3 months old now. This one I’m on the fence with taking back as I think it may be male. It is beardless and wattles coming in are small. Crest and body are looking female. It is mixed partridge in that mom is blue Partridge and dad was paint. I see some red coming in too so I’m leaning Cockerel. Any thoughts or ideas? I need to give her an answer right away.
Thanks.

 

[LynnaePB]

Hey guys help me out here quickly! This is one of the chicks I sold to a lovely family as a one week old that can no longer can keep them. 3 months old now. This one I’m on the fence with taking back as I think it may be male. It is beardless and wattles coming in are small. Crest and body are looking female. It is mixed partridge in that mom is blue Partridge and dad was paint. I see some red coming in too so I’m leaning Cockerel. Any thoughts or ideas? I need to give her an answer right away.
Thanks.View attachment 3174614View attachment 3174615View attachment 3174616

Aww definitely a cutie! At 3 months old I'm leaning cockerel with this one with the current comb and wattles and brighter red starting to come in on the wings. It looks like streamers might be starting as well but they don't seem to be in enough to call it either way. I could definitely be off but if you want to avoid getting another male I probably wouldn't risk it.

 

[chickengr]

Hey guys help me out here quickly! This is one of the chicks I sold to a lovely family as a one week old that can no longer can keep them. 3 months old now. This one I’m on the fence with taking back as I think it may be male. It is beardless and wattles coming in are small. Crest and body are looking female. It is mixed partridge in that mom is blue Partridge and dad was paint. I see some red coming in too so I’m leaning Cockerel. Any thoughts or ideas? I need to give her an answer right away.
Thanks.View attachment 3174614View attachment 3174615View attachment 3174616

in my experience coulour in mixed colour chicks meant nothing. I had pullets with red shoulders.

sorry for this little one, I have no clue. wattles are somewhat big but the rest look more like girl. I agree if you don't want another male don't take chances.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Thanks guys!
Haven’t had time to catch up on the thread, this customer has four Silkies. She needs to rehome all of them unexpectedly and I told her I would take any that weren’t male. The other three all look female. So we’ll see what happens!
She lives about an hour away from me so I haven’t seen this bird in person since it was a little chick, these are photos she sent me. I appreciate your help and insight!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Hey guys help me out here quickly! This is one of the chicks I sold to a lovely family as a one week old that can no longer can keep them. 3 months old now. This one I’m on the fence with taking back as I think it may be male. It is beardless and wattles coming in are small. Crest and body are looking female. It is mixed partridge in that mom is blue Partridge and dad was paint. I see some red coming in too so I’m leaning Cockerel. Any thoughts or ideas? I need to give her an answer right away.
Thanks.View attachment 3174614View attachment 3174615View attachment 3174616

I'm gonna say cockrel
Cutie!!!