What's wrong with their feathers?

[Sumatra503]

I'm convinced now that the silkied gene can show up anywhere. the silkied gene is recessive and hiding out in most breeds out there.

Sounds to me like you have a lethal gene on your hands if you are having such poor hatches every time. I had a lethal occur in my Bantam White Leghorns. All of the chicks would either die in the egg or die before the first week was over. I tried mixing in another roo of a different breed and all the chicks hatched and were fine. These lethals can be quite common and devastating to a breeding program or project.

Have you had such poor luck very often?

 

[Redcatcher]

Quote:
I'm so sorry! Perhaps you will find him? I hope so!

Your good thoughts must have helped. He showed up just a few hours ago, hungry and limping. In my own experiences, chickens almost never get "lost". Either they find their way back home within a few hours or not at all. Anyway, I learned my lesson. They are all going out in a secured pen tonight.

 

[Sumatra503]

So happy to hear he came back!!

 

[alicefelldown]

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Let's please not. It's easier to move your convo (interesting as it is!) to another thread than try to clean this one up after the fact. This is THE thread people go to for these birds - no reason to make it harder for new followers to figure out what has been going on over this last year+.

Thanks!

What she said

 

[Redcatcher]

Quote:
This IS on topic. As far as I know, I am the only one in this project who hatched a black bird from Jubaby. The egg was clearly marked F1 so either it was mismarked or a genetically very dark blue bird that appears to be black. I had planned to use him in the silkied Americauna project. Up until just a few hours ago I thought that was no longer a possibility. So, are we not supposed to express any emotions towards these birds in this thread?

 

[HeritageHens]

Yay Chicks! :

This thread is really out of my league, but I just keep reading because the birds are really beautiful and I love the watching this project progress. That rooster is really quite lovely.

Ditto here. I had "found" this thread back in September and then forgot about it. The last couple days, I decided to get caught up but it took me skimming 15 pages of the breed forum to locate the thread! I can't wait to get more updates in the spring when things pick up again!​

 

[KellyHM]

Ok, quick update. I have 2 F1s that are about 4 months old now. I'm pretty sure there's a hen and a roo. Now for the bad news...the hen has a nasty case of fowl pox and I'm afraid I'm going to lose her.

She's on antibiotics, but isn't wanting to eat or drink much and has gotten very thin. The roo had a slight case and has gotten over it and is doing fine. I'm going to

if I ended up with a pair only to lose one to a disease I can't prevent!

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

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ACK! That's just too bad. Fingers crossed for her. I'd force feed her as best you can if she's not eating/drinking on her own. It's not pleasant for bird or owner, but if she's thin and not eating, they can go pretty fast. I would make getting some food and liquids into her priority, while she's fighting off the pox.

My 1 remaining F1 (from Kathy) has turned out to be a boy. He's doing very well. My silkied girl from Kathy just seems a little "special." I don't know if her vision is off or what. She eats nearly all day, but never has a FULL crop. There's food in there for sure, but not like the others at bed time. She has bad aim too. If I put a meal worm in front of her she takes 4 or 5 tries to pick it up. She also often has food in her beard and a messy rear. I keep her cleaned up, and put her in a warm shed at night. She's sweet as can be, and I don't suspect her of any illness, just needs some special attention. Luckily none of the birds bully her at all. I hope she keeps trucking along until she lays, and I can cross her to the F1 boy. I should get 1/2 silkied birds and 1/2 splits, both in splash and blue!

I'll cross my fingers for you, and you cross them for me!

My silkied cockerel seems to be on track. He's growing well, and is starting to act a bit roostery. I saw him sparring with the F1 the other day, which thrilled me, since he's been pretty timid too.

I'll try to get some updated photos of the "kids."

 

[Redcatcher]

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I have never seen fowl pox in person and hope I never do. But I can pass along the positive thoughts that seemed to help my black Americauna cockerel find his way home. They are all now safe in a secured house out back and growing really fast. The blues are catching up to the black cockerel. I hope yours recover and go on to produce some nice birds for you.