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

[dheltzel]

Only if they retain the tail. That will be my biggest challenge apart from finding a suitable silkied breed to bring that feather into my line. No point in a silkied pheonix if their tail breaks before it hits the ground

I can't think of any silkied chicken that had a long or high tail. Certainly the silkied Am roos had no long tail feathers. Perhaps it has never been tried, so I wish you luck and look forward to your reporting on this, and maybe pics if they do work out.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I can't think of any silkied chicken that had a long or high tail. Certainly the silkied Am roos had no long tail feathers. Perhaps it has never been tried, so I wish you luck and look forward to your reporting on this, and maybe pics if they do work out.

There was one person about a year ago that had some that seemed like they had decent tails. Nit as long as my flockmaster, but they looked like pheonixes at a glance

I'm thinking that in order to keep the tails, they will have to be housed differently than mine currently are, where they won't be having their tails stepped o and snagged all the time.

 

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

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 . . .

Glad to know that you will start to breed and preserve the Silkied Ameraucanas again.

 

[Chickenosauurs_RexNo54]

There was one person about a year ago that had some that seemed like they had decent tails. Nit as long as my flockmaster, but they looked like pheonixes at a glance

I'm thinking that in order to keep the tails, they will have to be housed differently than mine currently are, where they won't be having their tails stepped o and snagged all the time.

Silkied phoenixes. Sounds like a beautiful and unique bird. Good luck with your project.

 

[chickylover77]

Hello everyone! Has there been any headway in the silkied ameracauna project? I've been searching for some hatching eggs that have these beauties and it is near impossible to find anything. I've read through the many pages of threads here and been through every google page until it runs out but I cannot find anyone who is actually selling the eggs. I would really like to work on this project. The two sites mentioned in this thread I do not see where they offer silkied ameracaunas. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be very appreciative!

 

[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!

 

[chickylover77]

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!

Thank you for responding! Yea, all of the leads in these threads seem to be a dead end unfortunately. I will definitely let you know if I ever get my hands on some! I asked to join the FB group last night but noticed there aren't any recent posts either so I figured it probably was pointless, but still worth a shot lol

 

[chickylover77]

I'm still kicking myself in the butt because I saw them for sale I think in 2022 on a website and I wish wish wish I bought some then. It was in the dead of winter though and I live in Maine so I was waiting until warm weather to buy some and then I got caught up in life and never did get any. Now I can't for the life of me find that website, if it even exists.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Ugh, I definitely feel you on that regret! I'd had a few opportunities over the years to get them and woolly Svart Hona, and decided it just wasn't the right time back then. Now you can't find either of them anywhere! Wishing you the best of luck in your search! I genuinely love silkied feathering on any breed, but I'd really love to see silkied Ameraucanas in particular make a comeback!

 

[dheltzel]

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!

I have not had them for years. They did not survive well for me back then. It might have been that they were more susceptible to Marek's, which is a big problem in my area. The non-silkied Ams never had those problems. I have heard that silkie bantams are also more susceptible to Marek's, so perhaps there is a link there. I now vaccinate, so if I still had them, they might be ok, but all traces of the gene are gone from my flock. I supplied Sand Hill with their Lavender Am stock, that is where the silkied gene came into their birds. They do not vaccinate at all, so it is unlikely that you would ever get silkied chicks from their stock.
Before I exited the silkied Ams. I sold chicks cheaply to breeders all over the country to try to ensure their continued existence. It is certainly possible that some of those breeders still have them and simply don't know they are the last breeders with that gene.
A friend that lives several hours away has one of my chicks that grew into a nice hen and is still alive, but too old to produce viable chicks at this point.
I am now working with silkied cochin bantams. I am vaccinating the chicks and building a flock that could support shipping to other breeders. So far, they have not given me any problems like the SiAms.
I am also working with Mottled Ameraucanas, another variant that has given me more problems than the "normal" colors. I am struggling to get shippable chicks this year, as I will probably sell my breeding flock this summer to allow me to concentrate on my main projects.