Steve the Silkie Roo

[meckler]

I stopped at a Tractor Supply chicken swap by chance and saw a delightful little silkie rooster. The owners were desperate to get rid of him because they already had 3 roosters and "Stella" turned into "Steve"! I've raised chickens for almost 4 years, but I've never had a rooster. Steve turned out to be the perfect addition to my flock. He is adorable, protective of my girls, and is a mild-mannered little gentleroo. I've decided to take on a new project and try to breed some silkies with Steve. Looking to purchase some silkie chicks, I've become flustered with the styles of silkies and the color choices. Should I pick the same color? Should I go with the same type of silkie? I don't even know the difference between Steve's breed and a Swizzle Silkie! Whatever that is! Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[shortgrass]

He's cute!

It depends on what kind of chicks you want.... but in my experience, silkie roos have a hard time breeding large fowl hens... not impossible, just hard on the little guys

Pure breeding? Stick with the same color. Want a few splashes, try some black hens and then maybe some white... I had black and white silkies and got a few "dalmations" lol

Frizzles! Lol those are hard; half of them feather out frizzled and the other half will look like they're constantly molting

I'm experimenting with frizzle/polish crosses... they're not old enough to breed yet but I'm curious to see if I can't get a frizzled polish... possibilities are endless!

I bred my black silkie roo, Batman, to some EEs, and got black, medium sized, bearded, 5 toed, flying polish looking freaks haha.. its interesting to see which traits get passed in those combos, and I'm not sure if buff is dominant or not, so you could end up with some interesting results!

 

[meckler]

Thank you so much for the advice! I have seen a bunch of black silkie chicks in my area, so maybe I'll try a few of those