WTB........Frizzles and polish!!!

[RhodeRunner]

Quote:
If you are speaking of my feathered monster, no one local has asked for her yet. I will warn you she is a terrible layer, I don't think I got a single egg from her, unless they were laid somewhere hidden in the yard. Heaven forbid my hens use nesting boxs. Also, how long would you like me to hold her?

 

[sarahssizzles]

Greetings All;

Please forgive this repeat but, this is a recent post I put up on the "what breed is this" section. I am going thru the lists for references on Sizzles & puting it where ever I think I can get the info out to more people. I hope you find some useful info here.

I keep coming across the question what are SIZZLES and too often I hear the response “they are a frizzled Silkie” A frizzled Silkie is just that, a frizzled Silkie. It may well have Sizzle genes but, it is NOT a SIZZLE! There is an excellent pic of the two different birds at this topic site https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=101486&p=1

In the US, Frizzle is a feather type & can be found in most breeds, including Silkies. SIZZLE is a developing breed. The standard we are working with at this time are basically the Silkie standard BUT with a change in feather type to barbed frizzled and as a variety, barbed smooth. That means, 5 toes, blue skin, crests, walnut or pea comb, turquoise ear lobe, compact body type, etc. BUT NOT SILKIE FEATHERS! We are still working out the fine points & will eventually write our own standard to include the changes we desire.

SIZZLES are, in the original breeding, a cross of a Frizzled Cochin to a Silkie (matters not which parent was which) The chicks produced are referred to as F1 ie: first generation. . The cross produces 4 types of feathers - smooth regular, frizzled reg, silkie reg & frizzled silkie (aka; Frilkie) You can breed opposites back to each other ie; smooth silkie to frizzled reg, frizzled silkie to smooth reg..etc. to produce the desired frizzled & smooth SIZZLES. In the earlier generations it is not uncommon to see only 25% with frizzled feathers & that doesn’t take into account getting the proper crests, toes, color or combs. F1 do NOT a breed make. That takes time & dedication.

The problem with breeding a frizzle feathered bird to a frizzle feathered bird (no matter what breed)is the double frizzle gene gives you what is called a “frazzle”. This produces feathers that are soft, very curly and unfortunately usually brittle & tend to break off, leaving a bald bird. It is also known to, in a higher %, come with internal irregularities that can shorten the life span. So, that said, the general rule of thumb is to breed a frizzled coat to a smooth coat, preferable one with frizzle genetics. We (folks on the Sizzle list) have decided to include smooth feathered sizzles as a variety of SIZZLES for that very reason.

Following that rule of thumb, your next choice is to check you traits & breed for what you want ie; a light pigmented bird to a dark, straight comb to walnut, 4 toes to 5 etc. Choose your best stock & breed to reduce faults & increase desired results. It took me 5 generations to weed out 4 toed birds in favor of 5 toes & I'm still getting some straight combs and some light pigmentation but, ..it's a process and a very challenging & interesting one at that!

For the sake of clarety & simplicity we have taken to calling them Sizzle (with a capital S) for frizzled Sizzles & sizzle (with a lower case s) for smooth sizzles.

I have been breeding only back into my own lines, since I started out with a sizable gene pool. I’ve been hatching over 200 chicks per year. My F5 generation produced about 30-35% birds that I considered progressed far enough to keep & I still have my share of faults to breed out. In the earlier generations I was seeing only about 10 – 20%. I'm taking a clue from some of the other successful breeders this year & breeding back to Silkie roos to strengthen my characteristics. The challenge there is then I increase the chance of getting Silkie feathers, which we don't want but, I feel my lines are fairly strong at this point & want the infusion of traits that I still need to improve my breeding.

I am by no means an expert, either on chickens or on genetics but, I have some practical experience & because of the great people on the Sizzle list, I’ve learned lots. I have tried to keep track of the information on BYC about Sizzles & realized that there is a lot of confusions so I hope by sharing some basic information it will help others
To answer some of the questions I’ve been asked, I would avoid breeding back to Cochins if at all possible as you really only breed to them for the frizzled feathers & don't want the other traits. If you don't have a smooth sizzle roo to breed your frizzled Sizzle girls back to, try a Silkie roo. You'll get a higher % of silkie coats but, most of them will have the SIZZLE genes & you can breed them back to a barbed coated Sizzle next year.

I hope this helps clarify some of the general questions out there. There is a lot more in depth information available that just takes some asking & digging to get to. If I can be of any assistance in that quest well, it helps me learn too! The address for the Sizzle list is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sizzles/

Best of Luck!
SarahsSizzles

 

[Disco Hen]

I would be very interested in a bantam frizzle if anyone has one i am in Sonoma CA will drive a little way also