Where can I find Silkied varieties of rare, or uncommon breeds.

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

I'm wondering where I can find silkied varieties of rarer, or uncommon breeds( not Silkies ).

1. Where can I find Silkied Ameracaunas
2. Where can I find Silkied Cochins
3. Where can I find Silkied Ayam Cemanis
4. Where can I find Silkied Turkens
5. Where can I find Silkied Wyandottes
6. And finally, where can I find Silkied Orpingtons.

 

[dheltzel]

I will weigh in here regarding the Silkied Ameraucanas. There is an extensive amount of info on this site about their history. I bought eggs and chicks and it took me a few years to establish them in my pens. I did repetitive outcrosses to standard bred, high quality black and lavender Ams (my original stock from John Blehm). That was so extensive that even when I stopped deliberately breeding for silkied, the gene still exists in some of my flock.

I sent lavender Ameraucanas to Sand Hill Preservation Center, and warned him that the silkied gene popped up from time to time. IDK if he actually had that happen, or if he was just passing along my information in his description. I know he likes that like of Lavenders and finally felt an Ameraucana was laying eggs he could call blue instead of green. Honestly, John Blehm should have the credit for those nice blue eggs. I continue to select for that, but it's easy when you start with excellent stock. I would not count on being able to recover the silkied gene from his lavender Ameraucanas.

Last summer I had 2 silkied chicks pop up in my brooders. Both perished quickly, but I have tried to put the old band back together again and have resolved to not sell Ameraucana chicks until they are a week old, so I can inspect for silkied feathers. This pen produces Sexlinked Ameraucanas in Black and Lavender, and the head spot on the lavenders is sometimes hard to see, so I like to wait until I see primary feathers I can inspect for barring. Of course, any silkied chicks will be put into brooders with more gentle chicks, like the genetic hackles, cochin bantams, etc. - and not with their fellow Ameraucanas or Ayam cemani, both of which I suspect of evil acts when I have left the room.

Someone mentioned that the reason they disappeared is because they were only kept by "fad breeders". That is just not true. I distributed literally hundreds of silkied and silkied split chicks to other breeders around the country (and I did not get rich doing this, I don't believe in extorting money for rare breeds, I'd rather see them get common). Some of them could still have them, as I have no way to follow up. Several reported problems keeping them alive and that was when I decided they were not worth my time to preserve anymore. I made sure to send some to mild climate areas, like FL and CA.

I had no problems producing lots of silkied chicks by using a silkied roo over split hens. Half the resulting chicks were silkied and the rest were splits, all good breeding material. I had trouble with the pullets and hens dying over the sometimes harsh winters here in PA. I also was not vaccinating for Marek's at the time and many of my losses were " Marek's suspicious". I hope to recover the gene this year and with vaccinated chicks, to try again. If I am outrageously successful, I might have a few chicks to share with a fellow breeder or 2, but most likely I will use the chicks to re-establish the pens I had, and put a few in the care of a friend who has "cushier" overwintering facilities than I can obtain at the working farm where my birds are housed. As I think about it, she will likely get most of the silkied pullets, and I will focus on some silkied and single barred cockerels to see if I can make silkied cuckoo Ams. I wish my energy, time and space could keep up with my fantastic mental ambitions . . .

 

[miss heny]

I'm popping in my two cents on the factors why Silkie Ameraucanas struggled was a percentage of people who got them were fad breeders not realizing the long term commitment to cultivate a strain like this with extremely limited genes. They also hit peak novelty right when alot of new import breeds hit the scene, not saying that the only problem. I do wish you luck because having come back from my hibernation it was quite shocking how many breeding programs for niche strains have collapsed from varies reasons.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Hey, they weren't mine. There's a thread on here about them, I think it was around the time I first joined

I'll have to report it for public nudity to Kathy so it can be purged from existence and memory.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

As far as I'm aware, @dheltzel does not have them anymore at all. There might be a small chance of the Ameraucanas from Sand Hill Preservation being silkied or carrying the gene, but it doesn't seem like there's very much of a chance at that. Another user, @Thespoiledchicken , had posted back in 2022 that they still had them and seemed to have a more robust line of them, and that they'd hoped to retire soon to focus more on breeding them, but I haven't seen any word from them since. The Facebook group for the variety is completely inactive and my request to join is still pending months later. Unfortunately, that's all the leads I personally had on silkied Ameraucanas.

I do hope you can find them somewhere! I still would love to get involved with breeding and preserving the variety as well!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yes, if I get into them I'd likely set up for rotational breeding to start with anyway, as it seems to be the simplest way to preserve a variety from a small number of individuals (as few as 3 males and 3 females) without inbreeding becoming too much of an issue. Worse comes to worst I can set this up with 3 silkied and 3 smooth-feathered Ameraucanas as well, and make silkied-split offspring to breed together and bring back out the silkied trait later. I dedicatedly adore the silkie-feather trait, so it would take a lot more than that to deter me from getting them. See my title under my username.

Silkied Ameraucanas were well documented here on BYC (and I believe you are right, the two original birds were at least hatchmates if not siblings), but it's hard to find a lot of information on the Cochins. From what I've gathered, there were two separate mutation 'events' that occurred to produce the Cochins, one in a show line of Black Cochin bantams and one in a hatchery line of frizzled Red Cochins. They've sort of waxed and waned in popularity over the years, never really building up much steam behind them like the Ameraucanas did right off the bat, but they seem to finally be gaining an interest in recent years, which makes me quite happy! There were a few years where I was afraid I might be the only person actively working with them anymore, or at least both actively working with them and actively posting online about them. Thank goodness that proved not to be the case!

Edited for a typo​

 

[miss heny]

Phenotypically they look identical, but we don't know genotypically, and we won't find out until someone invents a genetic test for that kind of thing. The only genetic test for chickens is the fibro test. Maybe someone could make a new line of Silkied Ameraucanas, but with the silkie gene from the Cochins. Though it would take forever to get rid of the Cochin attributes

There also genetic testing to see if your bird is a carrier of the blue egg gene. I only know this because I was curious of the price of genetic sex testing for silkies and same place tests for blue genes.


The tough part about that would be keeping the silkie gene while breeding out the cochin's parts.

 

[miss heny]

Some were aiming for like fibro, NN, long tails

I also feel like a old person going "back in my day"

 

[miss heny]

Same. I remember back when Eggbid.com was a thing and BLRW eggs sold for $54.00 for 6+ eggs. Penedesencas were the fad breed with chicks selling for $100 each as day-olds. Everyone wanted Marans, Barnevelders, and Welsummers. CCL weren't a thing. Neither were Ayam Cemani or any of the trendy hybrid crap the hatcheries are turning out.

Remember the Serama cult? (I love seramas but back in the day ooof soo many)

Or the mix reception Green Fire Farm got when they came to the scene?

 

[ColtHandorf]

It was a bit weird for me too, and that says something. I want a tiny bantam like naked bird, not a giant full size one

Where is this thread? Does anybody breed them today?

I have no idea. I'm sure you could use the search feature and found out the OP hasn't been active in years.

@ColtHandorf and @JacinLarkwell do you know where I could find some silkied Ameraucanas, Turkens, and Cochins?

I do not. I see Silkied Ameraucana mentioned on here occasionally. I believe they have a lot of health and fertility issues if I remember correctly.

All the other ones you mentioned I was like okay, I get it, but Tolbunt polish ooof, my cryptonite

Disgusting. lol There is no set pattern or color. I have a friend with some and every time he sends me a picture I just scream. None of the birds look like the one next to them. *gags*