WTB 1-2 BLACK silkie pullets-Upstate NY

[sonew123]

Im looking to buy 1-2 Ill even take 3 Black silkie pullets only- nothing over a year old please-jet black-not grey. If anyone has any they want to sell-I can travel to pick up if it's not hours away? Please PM me if you have anything like this your willing to sell? thank you~

 

[sonew123]

nobody huh? :-(

 

[destiny_56085]

In my opinion, 'good' blacks are very hard to come by. The off-colors in the hackles (either gold or silver) are problematic. Roosters will usually show this and finding a totally clear male will be difficult. The hens can be clear, but carry the genes for those off-colored hackles. There is also only a couple of strains in the US that carry the jet black all the way in the down too.

I may have some available this fall, but they will be pricey. I may also be able to give you the names of a couple of people with chicks for sale out of some high quality birds.
Amy.... MN State Rep for ASBC & NSBA

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
Thats sounds great-I guess I should say as black as can be without killing my wallet! haha-The ones in the fall? how old will they be if you ship?

 

[destiny_56085]

I'll go through mine before the fall shows in sept/oct. Some of them could possibly be up to 6 months old. I'm going to hold back about 10 pullets and 2 cockerels for myself. If I really see some I can't let go, I might let some of my older stock go at that point. Anything else at that time will be put on Eggbid or sold at the fall shows. Gotta cut down before winter or my electric bill will be sky high. I already run 12 of the heated pet bowls and the horse's stock tank. Don't need any more pens of birds.

 

[sonew123]

how do pullets of age 6 months take to silkie boys of the same age when they meet for the first time not growing up together? is it right to business or fighting to get over? Def keep me in mind when you "weed out"

 

[destiny_56085]

I treat them just like any other silkie. My cockerels are separated off into a bachelor pen as soon as I can definitely tell what is what. I don't need my potential show birds getting beat up by a overanxious cockerel trying to mate with them. I don't really care about the boys. Only the very elite get to stay anyways and they are kept in individual cages. Any minor reason and those get sold at the drop of a hat. I'll sell what I can as pets or breeding stock and the rest end up on some Asian's dinner table. They don't need to be in perfect feather just for that.
The pullets are kept together until the end of show season. Then they get delegated to the breeding pens. All of those are separated by color. If I want to do specific pairings, I move pairs of trios up to the smaller individual cages in spring. They don't have a choice to get along or not. They might have a few squabbles at first and a few feathers might get pulled out. Everything is usually worked out within half an hour of intruducing them. If you do it at night, they usually don't even realize they have a new bird in the coop.