The "Ask Anything" to Nicalandia Thread

[MysteryChicken]

I’ve been inclined to think the Ameraucana/EE/whateverthemomis the parentage is, though in the basis of the beard on my EE. The Silkie father doesn’t seem to have much of one. The eggs weren’t supposed to be fertilized by the Silkie, I was getting blue-layers from this lady but the Silkie got into the breeding pen.

The beard is a dominant trait. 1 copy of the beard gene can result in a skimpy beard, or a half beard in some cases.

 

[Solanacae]

I’m not sure, I had originally contacted the breeder because I was looking for blue Australorps. In the process of talking to her, she said that she also had blue egg layers - not necessarily pure lines or colors, but guaranteed to lay blue eggs. I ended up getting both Australorp and blue layer hatching eggs. Two hatched out of the blue eggs with black skin, slightly feathered legs, and 5 toes. I contacted the breeder, and at first she was as confused as I was. Upon talking to her husband, she found out that the Silkie had gotten into the breeding pen (did not elaborate how) and her husband had found him in there. The intended rooster was keeping the Silkie away from the hens at the time, but obviously not the whole time.

 

[Solanacae]

The beard is a dominant trait. 1 copy of the beard gene can result in a skimpy beard, or a half beard in some cases.

Right, but not all Silkies are bearded? The one picture I have of the father looks to me like he’s not got much of a beard. I don’t have Silkies (I don’t like the way they look, don’t hate me for saying that) so I wasn’t particularly thrilled that I ended up with this cross. This chick has a plenty full beard.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Right, but not all Silkies are bearded? The one picture I have of the father looks to me like he’s not got much of a beard. I don’t have Silkies (I don’t like the way they look, don’t hate me for saying that) so I wasn’t particularly thrilled that I ended up with this cross. This chick has a plenty full beard.

He's what's called half bearded. Despite that, he can still pass on the bearded trait.
Two half bearded roosters.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Right, but not all Silkies are bearded?

Yep, not all are bearded. None bearded(Standard Sized), are my preferred variety of Silkie.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Here's some older ones from a few weeks ago apart from the one with the lamp. It's too cold now for me to be outside too long and they don't want to come outside either. They don't like to stay still anyways though, so it's more just what I've got for a decent idea of what they look like.
Tufted males:

(back up male )
Clean males:

Clean females

I'll dig out some more from other folders I have

 

[Solanacae]

He's what's called half bearded. Despite that, he can still pass on the bearded trait.
Two half bearded roosters.View attachment 3353993View attachment 3353997

Thank you for the pictures, that helps a lot. Is my chick in question bearded or half bearded? Or does it need to mature before I can know?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

One thing I have noticed that I'm not a fan of is that they are not able to keep their rears clean. They have worse pasty butt now than as chicks. I'll be trimming butt fluff next year.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you for the pictures, that helps a lot. Is my chick in question bearded or half bearded? Or does it need to mature before I can know?

She's fully bearded.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

This is a nice size comparison too. The marans male and the araucana are the exact same age and have been raised together since hatch.