Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[boatagor]

Is this definitely a boy? A friend can't keep roosters and gave him to us. I always said I wouldn't keep a silkie but he's too cute and dumb for me to help but love him.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Is this definitely a boy? A friend can't keep roosters and gave him to us. I always said I wouldn't keep a silkie but he's too cute and dumb for me to help but love him.

Definitely

 

[AngBantamLuv]

How much do ya'll sell your silkies for or your breakdown of the different ages and prices? I'm trying to get an overall idea for mine.

I paid $12 each locally for 3 day old silkie chicks. One ended up being a polkie (with wry neck that i resolved) and one was a roo.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

How much do ya'll sell your silkies for or your breakdown of the different ages and prices? I'm trying to get an overall idea for mine.

I sell my chicks between $15 and $25. Depends on quality of the chick, or as far as I can judge at a such a young age and other factors. Beardless and or missing a toe or feet don’t look quite right, are cheaper. Don’t seem to have any trouble selling them. I know this sounds like a lot but take into account feed costs twice as much here as anywhere else and then I also have the vaccine overnighted as I vaccinate all my chicks against Marek’s disease.
I have given people chicks free when they paid full price for the others and I’ve had extra chicks.
All my birds come from breeder stock and not from a hatchery. That’s what sets my birds apart from other people who sell on this island. Most sell their chicks for $15 each and don’t have them vaccinated, so I think my prices are reasonable.
For a sexed pullet at four months and up anywhere from $40-$60.
If I have any older cockerels that I’m trying to sell I usually sell them for $20 and up.
As the market for Silkies here is quite limited, sometimes I have to wait quite some time before a male gets sold.
I definitely don’t make any money on this venture, it’s just for fun. My teenage daughter gets half the money anyway for her contributions.

 

[chickengr]

I have a buff rooster over white splash blue buff and self blue hens what do you guys think? Lol

mostly blue chicks.

 

[LynnaePB]

I have a buff rooster over white splash blue buff and self blue hens what do you guys think? Lol

Hmmm well I'll make a guess with each color but I could definitely be off.
I'm assuming your current birds are not carrying unexpected recessives for my guesses although if they happen to be from a mixed color flock those recessives become much more likely.

Buff boy x buff girl should give buff offspring

Buff boy x white girl is unpredictable as white can hide lots of things underneath. In silkies it often hides partridge though so if your girl hides partridge you'll probably get something between buff and partridge from this cross (sort of a smutty buff). If your girl happens to be silver based instead of gold you'd get some sort of Columbian gray looking males who would probably get red leakage later on along with the sort of smutty buff females.

Buff boy x splash girl should give 100% blue offspring that will probably get a lot of leakage later on. Girls with gold leakage and boys may have silver and possibly red leakage as splash is generally bred to be silver based.

Buff boy x blue girl should give 50% blue and 50% black offspring that will get similar leakage to the babies from the buff x splash pairing.

Buff x self blue should give all black offspring as self blue is basically a black bird that is homozygous for lavender which is recessive. Like the offspring from the blue and splash pair they will likely get leakage. I'm not sure whether self blue is usually gold or silver based so the leakage may all be gold or could possibly be silver in the males but dad being gold based the girls will have gold leakage not silver.

Buff is generally a color that is going to add leakage in a lot of color varieties. Other than buff x buff I'd call all the offspring mix colored if selling chicks.

How much do ya'll sell your silkies for or your breakdown of the different ages and prices? I'm trying to get an overall idea for mine.

I started at $5 each for young chicks but that was low. I've increased to $10 for chicks without any obvious DQs which is what I see a lot of breeders charging in the area. I'd take into account what prices are in your area as it can vary pretty widely. If you keep them for more than a month I'd increase the price especially if they are old enough to be off heat. I sell sexed pullets starting at $25 for pet quality (obvious large faults or DQs but healthy). Boys I usually just charge $10 for unless they are very nice quality. For me selling chicks can be really hit and miss. Boys are very hard to sell, and girls usually easy to sell. I'd like to see how well pairs sell sometime to hopefully help get more boys homes.

Is this definitely a boy? A friend can't keep roosters and gave him to us. I always said I wouldn't keep a silkie but he's too cute and dumb for me to help but love him.

He does look like a boy to me. It looks like he has streamers and that tail is looking fairly male. He's a cutie!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Yall this Silkie thread is closest thing for Satins...and yall know all my questions with regard to Bluey from chick to now.
We have established he is definitely a boy.
He is now 4 months old today.
Since I put Joey in a bachelor pad behind the main run, Bluey has stepped up his dominance over Daisy mostly.
They are hatchmates...so ain't gonna work.
I stuck him out with Joey just in open yard and Bluey went basurk! Flying into the HWC trying to get back inside the run! It was insane!
So I put him in the bachelor pad for hour or so til bedtime...and of course instead of Joey helping me get Bluey out of lil coop, he attacked him right there at my feet!
Dadgum boys!
Anyways...my question, if ya stayed with me this long lol, is since Bluey has NEVER shown any typical personality traits of a roo..cuddle, always first, etc...and now he's acting like a crazy dude just with Joey...what am I lookin at here? Is he gonna be mild mannered boy with humans or girls, or both? Too early to tell yet?
I'm wandering if I should keep him cuz he is so tall and long legged...he's not luvable at all! And based in my breeding questions it doesnt sound like he will really give me much of what i am wanting...with d'uccles for sure. So the only thing going for this dude is his gorgeous feathered legs and feet!
So questions and pondering here!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

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Are they laying eggs or being broody mommas/partners?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are they laying eggs or being broody mommas/partners?

That was when they were all brooding. Ended up with 7 silkie chicks (5 to the silver and 2 to the white) and 4 white pheonix chicks grafted onto the buff

A racoon and a bull snake made that plummet to one silkie chick each and 2 pheonixes on two occasions unfortunately