Texas

[LBejaran]

Good morning, folks! I wish I knew how my chickens are, but I spent the evening at Grandma's house (she's not feeling too good). It was an interesting night, though.

The 50-something year old gas heater was running and the ceiling sparkled with every flickering light. It was a very reminiscent of childhood, but it was a bit sad, too.

It just makes me want to go home and start living. Planting seeds, watching the chickens, trying to find my escapee quail, that's what I wanna do right now.

By the way, I saw the picture of the Swedish Black rooster and kept wondering what it'd take to breed something that looks similar. Then I thought, hey, we've almost done that!

One of my game hens mates with a RIR and the pullet we got is all black, including her comb and wattle. I think if I were to breed her with a black Silkies, maybe I could get a couple chicks with bluish black skin and smooth black feathers. Oh, the possibilities! Breed purists, beware! I am not the breeder you are looking for, haha!

 

[Little Wing]

Have y'all seen these? Its one crazy looking chicken.

http://www.traigadongtao.vn/ga-tien-vua-05-1821449.html

 

[jajeanpierre]

I almost got impulsive..someone is selling white and buff silkie chicks about 20 minutes from me..lol But they're so hard to sex and I don't know how they'd do in the heat..

They may be hard to sex for a few months, but they are very tasty.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Have y'all seen these? Its one crazy looking chicken.

http://www.traigadongtao.vn/ga-tien-vua-05-1821449.html

I watched the video. Faking video is hard, but if those pictures are real, they look like they have a severe mite infestation/infection. Look at the vent area of one. Either that or some kind of disease/genetic issue. That's my thought.

Edited to add that I think they are probably Cornish X or something like that. Sick Cornish X.

 

[hungnguyen]

Quote:
Yes, this Ga Dong Tao breed is expensive but somehow lots of Vienamese folks value it. Mainly because it is not raised around and it was once offered to the King/Queen only (Ga Tien Vua = chicken offered to the King .... am I right, Tammy?). Their price was 10 - 15 million dollar each, isn't that scary ... worse than the black chicken we saw yesterday Even a millionaire like me has a hard time affording this, lots of 1000$ bills. I took a bunch of pictures of them in a ranch in NhaTrang. This ranch was built inside a entertainment resort so tourists can view the birds. I have not seen this breed made to the US yet. Maybe I need to show them to Popeyes folks. Imagine Popeyes holds a raffle with the gran prize being a "GDT 3 piece dark meat meal"

 

[Brookshire11]

Good morning, folks! I wish I knew how my chickens are, but I spent the evening at Grandma's house (she's not feeling too good). It was an interesting night, though.

The 50-something year old gas heater was running and the ceiling sparkled with every flickering light. It was a very reminiscent of childhood, but it was a bit sad, too.

It just makes me want to go home and start living. Planting seeds, watching the chickens, trying to find my escapee quail, that's what I wanna do right now.

By the way, I saw the picture of the Swedish Black rooster and kept wondering what it'd take to breed something that looks similar. Then I thought, hey, we've almost done that!

One of my game hens mates with a RIR and the pullet we got is all black, including her comb and wattle. I think if I were to breed her with a black Silkies, maybe I could get a couple chicks with bluish black skin and smooth black feathers. Oh, the possibilities! Breed purists, beware! I am not the breeder you are looking for, haha!

Let me know when you do, I'll travel...lol
Yeah I read even the bird's muscles and bones are black...its crazy.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I had a Great Blue Heron in my yard today. I think he cleaned out my gold fish pond. My husband foolishly cleared a lot of the algae, giving a perfectly clear view of the deepest part of the pond. My husband just doesn't think sometimes. The shallow areas have lots of hiding places among the plants, but the gold fish and other fish will be in the deep part this morning...

Does anyone know if a Great Blue Heron is a thread to small adult Silkie hens? I was surprised at how big a bird it was.

Thanks.

 

[hungnguyen]

Quote:
For your info. Ga Dong Tao is a special breed in Vietnam. It comes with scaly leg, bulky body and ugly looking face. They said only a certain place is fitted to raise/breed them (but I think more ranches are investing in this for profit now). I hear of them for 10-15 years and now seeing them in some of the Southern and Central part of Vietnam in my recent trips. Somedays I hope to bring you 1 ... by the way, you want white meat or dark meat?

 

[Brookshire11]

They may be hard to sex for a few months, but they are very tasty.

I never thought about eating a Silkie...are they a pain to pluck?
If I got an ornamental-type bird, I'd probably just keep it at "pet" status.
Practically speaking, I don't have much use for a Silkie other than that...I know they're awesome momma birds/broodies, but I don't really plan on hatching chicks...
We'll see. My daughter is REALLY into our birds..if she asked for one, one day I don't think I'd say no..lol
We wen't to the feed store to pick up grit and I had to drag her away from the day-olds lol

 

[jajeanpierre]

I never thought about eating a Silkie...are they a pain to pluck?
If I got an ornamental-type bird, I'd probably just keep it at "pet" status.
Practically speaking, I don't have much use for a Silkie other than that...I know they're awesome momma birds/broodies, but I don't really plan on hatching chicks...
We'll see. My daughter is REALLY into our birds..if she asked for one, one day I don't think I'd say no..lol
We wen't to the feed store to pick up grit and I had to drag her away from the day-olds lol

You don't want to pluck them--their skin should be quite black and is off-putting. I skinned them, which takes just a couple of minutes.

The breast meat was greyish and there was a very thin black black layer wherever the flesh touched the black bones. I just cut up the meat into small pieces and put it in a curry. They were very nice eating chickens.

My Silkies produce a lot of eggs. I'm really surprised at how reliable they are. They are just 11 months old, but I haven't put them on lights or anything. Their eggs are about 5% of their body weight, so they give me a 38/40 gram egg. They produce far more eggs and larger eggs to their body weight than my Ameraucanas or Polish. They are a really nice, sweet bird. Mine are just pet quality hatchery Silkies.