silkie standard of perfection with pics

first off here is the link to the standard of perfections for silkies. this site has alot of info for things lots of you have asked about. i believe if you check this page over and parts of the site it may help alot, any questions just ask. by all means i'm not a profesional with silkies it is just a well loved hobbie, i like you am always learning too, however i do show them and my showgirls and help with local shows to learn all that i can about breeding and showing by meeting new people and talking with fellow showers and judges. not all pics burned i have to redo some but here is what i have so far.
enjoy.
silkie

http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/silkie_standard.htm


first pic is what the face of a exabition line bearded silkie hen should look like. note ya barely see her beak she looks like santa,lol. her name is carol (in honor of st. nick's wife) this girl has a great crest, and a good vault under it. she has no dq's and has excellet show quality and comes from champion bloodlines. she has excellent long feathering and is pure white. the next pic is a body shot of her. her first show with me will be in oct i'm excited to see how she places in her first sanctioned show.

full body shot of carol, note the foot feathering how much and how long if you can see it as she is headed out the run.

the next pic is of roo feet to help show ya a closer pic of foot feathering what judges like to see. his body shot will be posted next since i coppied the wrong one first.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2007 10:29 PM

this is an exabition roo, notice his very small, flat, mulberry walnut comb, he is like carol and also has no dq's or smutt colors. he has won a few times as grand champion and is a very handsome guy. his feet are pictured above.

i have more pics of my exabition lines if ya need more but at the moment i'm tired and all the white is starting to look the same,lol.

this is a pic of my show quality white showgirls and some silkies parts,lol. the sg on the left is my 1st place boy and the right is my sg pullet who also took 1st place a few weeks ago at a local show. they will also be going to a sanctioned show in oct but same as last time they have to make a special class for them because a showgirl is not a standard recognized breed. they can place and win ribbons even for best of breed ect just they can't win premiums or ever be champion bantam.

a show girl is a cross of a silkie to a naked neck and then breed back to a silkie over and over. this makes it so you get only the nn gene and you breed out the nn feathering ect. all my showgirls adults, teens and babies are 11th generation, my eggs in the bator from my partner breeder is 12th generation, i'm very excited to see the next generation how it has inproved in here breeding of them. this means they have have been breed to be a silkie w/ a nn gene and breed true. they are not nn x silkie now who throw half and half clutches unless they are with a silkie mate. my goal is to keep breeding them to part of my exabition line to make the best bearded showgirl and best footfeather on middle toe as possible to bring them more closer to the silkie breed with only haveing a naked neck and bowtie as i call them.

they are gorgous and people love them when they see them yet i want to breed them to my expectations, to me they are close but not perfect to what i consider exabition worthy. while i work on it i'm showing them to get them recognized in hopes to have the breed accepted to the standard of perfection book to enter them in any sactioned show as a new breed for any showing. if this happens they can take any place it is not restricted and they can win premiums and be shown the same like a silkie can. now they can't and are limited in special made classes. let me know how ya like the showgirls, i'm excited to hear what ya think of them.

this is my sq hattrick line silkie, she is nikki after her breeder. forgive her not so hattrick look as she has been in with roos who love to spend to much time with her, she is the favorite lady of all the pens,lol. she when fully fluffed when not breeding and looseing feathers is very beautiful but doesn't show the true hattrick look although she takes 1st place everytime in a show. she has feathers 2x's longer than what you see all over her yet even with that she is not what i consider to be exab line and due to she is a little lighter in color than most, i consider her show quaility although the normal hattick line is way more fluffier and bigger crests.

idea of what a pet quality bird looks like. i can't find good pics of the pet silkies to show ya on them the difference. here is my polish baby. standard colors are like white crested black, w/c blue, silver laced, buff laced ect. this is a red crested red polish from ideal hatchery. it is not a recognised color that can be shown. it is a polish with the same idea as the showgirls in mind. they are a polish x red leghorn then breed back to polish to get color gene but still look like a polish. it is actually a polish carrying a leghorn color gene but breeds true in that it will have polish babies not a mix of leghorns and polish. if it was the coloration of one of the above colors and true to color it would be consider show quality since it has no other dq's. since it is not a standard color it is dq'd from showing which makes it pet quality. it's a shame i love the new color. i have 5 of them to breed with my buff lace frizzle when older to see what kind of new cuties i can make for in my pet pen. later i want to use the frizzle gene for breeding so it will be my experiment breed to learn how the gene works and carries.

this is one of my younger roos he is breeder quality. he has excellent feathering and beauty but his comb is very light mulberry i believe when older it may turn red. if it stays the color now he has potential sq if not he would be pet quality as it is an automatic not worthy if his comb is bright red. he is one that has just 1 dq and that being his comb color. he would be a good example of a breeder. but he would need breed to a good girl.

ok, time for silkie to get some sleep. hope this helps like i said not all the pics again where burned,lol. let me know if ya need more pics or got questions and i'll try to help the best i can for ya.
night,
silkie

Wow! I'm in heaven! They're just absolutely beautiful! How many birds do you have on your farm? Looks liek you are a very busy chickadee!

lol, me too!!! thank you!! i have about 80 chicks and 24 i think it is adults i have lost a few of each due to the heat waves here the last few weeks. ya haven't added in the 5 kid's and 4 dogs yet either. oh my yes very busy, hehe. my flock is silkies, polish, bantam salmon favorrelles, white and splash showgirls, porcelein and golden neck d' uccles, buff laced frizzle, rir, and i got show eggs still hatching for a bunch of breeds. the rir and most of the show hatches will be sold as soon as they hatch out the rest. the others are my babies to keep.

here is a pic of some of my babies, there is a few kinds in the pic.
silkie

ok, i had loads of fun showing ya my cutties, now i want to see all yours,lol. so lets get talking silkies cause i want to learn more from you all too and love to see pics of others silkies too!!

here is one of my pet quality silkies the pullet on the right ya see most. she is supost to be a white but as ya can tell has splash in her and a brassy color of buff in her too. my dh thinks she is ugly and wanted me to sell her but i think she is a doll and i still love her the same so is going to be in my pet pen when it is finished being built to be a broody momma for me. her name is dolly,lol.

since ya asked about breeding i thought something that might help ya to know is how i seperate mine. in 2 of these pics ya might be able to see there is more than one pen or added wood and wire. this is because mine are built one huge pen and coop but are divided to make 4 seperate coops and 4 seperate runs. normaly i use this to seperate breeds but also some to keep pure colors. this helps greatly when breeding for standards. i also build them off the ground about 4ft to preditor proof them some and due to sometimes flooding, it also helps to keep the birds cleaner. whith silkies it helps to prevent feather damage and bad mudd balls on their feet and in my case since i have so many whites it's what keeps them that snow white color.

if you'd like to see pics of how we built the breeder pens i can post pics and explain in better detail. we got all the wood at lowes and cost under $100 for each 4 in 1 total to build, with all hardware and a shingled roof and fenceing. i'd have to ask dh the full size of them. i know each coop is 3ft x 3ft inside and each run is 3ft x 8ft( or the full length of a 2x4 board). since we have come up with the design i won't build them unless they are just like it. with 10 birds to a pen they still have a whole lot of room to run but i wouldn't put more than 15 in them. this allows adequite space and i rarely have but little pecking order and it saves way more space than a whole lot of little pens which require alot more supplies to make and money. so if you are looking for ways to make something like this to start a breeder program let me know and i'd be glad to help with what i can.
silkie

Hold that thought because I'm sure as soon as I get my stuff together I'm going to have tons of questions for ya! As for the picks, I first have to figure out how to get them from the camera, to the computer, to the post, LOL!
: ) Your set up by the way, is very impressive, and nothing sounds better than cost efficency! I like the idea of a pet pen too. I was wondering what happens to all the birds you don't want to part with, but aren't really part of the breeding program.

How do you keep the wire floor so clean??? It looks as if you've never had a chicken on it! You must have a secret....

i spray it down every other day to get poo off with the garden hose. my only prob is since they all moulted i got feathers everywhere on the wire i can't get out unless i walk under them and pull it out but i haven't got that brave yet to do,lol. this is a pic of what the front of each run looks like.

this is the back, it has 4 coops but only part are showing, there is 4 doors. the one with the wire is how i do them if a coop is to hot to open it up for summer heat. the wire keeps the adults or babies from getting or falling out the back door. they are built 4ft off ground so i worry about that and excape. it allowes air to circulate then the top of each coop divider there is wire to allow air flow from one side to the other.

this is what the inside of them look like with a homemade feeder. we made the feeder out of a left over piece of sewer pipe we had from when we rebuilt all our pipeing to put new lines in. we capped both ends and cut 2 holes out of it. this allowes them to eat with basically a self feeder it holds alot of feed and it keeps them from scratching it out and makeing a mess.

I have two silkie chicks, (you can see them under my sweet baby thread), 1 white maybe splash one and a black frizzle. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to tell their gender. I know this must be old news for most, but these are my first chicks and it has become quite apparent with the RIRs and barred Rocks. 4 have prolific tails and one has a stub. I am told the one with the stub is the roo. But my silkies are a few weeks old and neither has any tail feathers at all. They both act the same, sweet and docile. Any ideas? Thanks, Suz

are they purebreeds or crosses? i don't see all the silkie features. to be honest the white one looks like my purebreed d'uccles, is it possible you have a white d'uccle in there? barred rocks is easy to tell the boys have the yellow dot on the back of the head the females do not. the rir i go by size and color of the comb and weather the tail is up or downward shaped. do you have any recent pics of the silkies?

if you go back to the list of threads, the one entitled, my sweet babies has pics taken two to three days ago and they have changed very little since then. I have no idea if they are crossed or not. I got them from the feed store, and these being my first chicks, I just assumed if they said they were silkies, they were, but who knows. I looked at feathersite and some of the features do resemble the porcelain d'uccle. And by the yellow dot on the back of the head for the barred rocks, you are not talking about the white spot on top of their head are you?? I am going to cry if I have two male barred rocks two. One of my rir is already a cock. hmmmmm. Is there a difference in the silkie cock/hen behavior?

hmm, let me go back and look at pics again. i'll see if i got good shots of my silkies and d'uccle babies. i'll re look at urs too. mabe i can find some to post see what you think. sorry i didn't realize pics where just taken, i was looking at them while hubby was jabbering earlier,lol.

at a feedstore it depends where they get them. here if they are from hateries they are supost to be pures but sometimes they sell them from locals and those are sometimes mixed babies. for barred usually the girls have all black on the back of the head and boys have all black with a yellow dot usually on back of head but might be up higher on top also.

alright here is my guesses, now remember these are only guesses cause some of these i have never raised the breeds and also most ya can't tell at this age sex but we'll see how close they come as usually i'm about 95% right on guesses if i see them in person,lol. in a few weeks post more pics as they grow and i'll give ya my thoughts again and we'll see if i was right back now or if i think differently later.


1- right-glw-i think nona is a girl
2-americana or if rumpless a true auracana, girl
3-sizzle-girl i think, doesn't look like a pure silkie to me the face looks different but has silkie looking wings and frizzle is just starting to show in them.
4-barred rock-boy
5-barred rock boy if these are the same 2 below in group pic
6-light bramha girl
7-i think the same thing as cleo
8-rir not sure sex but if had to guess girl
9-rosy -cornish?
10-blue cochin
11-white d'uccle
12-gorgous dog!!!

this is some of the babies i have in the brooder now. in this pic the right side of the red feeder is a buff silkie running hard to see the blur, behind is a white silkie behind the silkie's bum is a golden neck d' uccle. behind that is a w/c blue polish. on the left side of the feeder going back the coop is a bantam boy salmon favorrelle(can tell he has black in wings), either a white or splash silkie(looks white but the face is funny looking i think only my splash have that face), a partriage silkie, a female salmon(can tell she has brown in wings) and a w/c blue polish. let me see if i can find more of the silkies and d'uccles to show ya. i have porceilan d 'uccles also.

in this pic there is left r/c red polish behind it is a golden neck d' uccle on the feeder is a male favorrelle, behind the g d' uccle is a white showgirl. on the right side is a w/c blue polish, behind that is another r/c red polish, behind is another g d'uccle. the rest back there look like rir, showgirls and silkies but are piled together mabe other kinds.

i don't have many of them seperately i got to take more pics since they have more feathers in now. also i have about 80 chicks so it's hard to get them to hold still for takeing pics. i can't see any of porcelians in there but they are there somewhere mabe in the first pic way up above there is. i think one of the porcelians in that one with the showgirl on the feeder above, to the left of the feeder is a buff silkie behind it is a porcelan and then behind that is a splash silkie. beside the buff silkie is a rir and behind it is a red polish again, behind that is my only splash showgirl. i had to laugh while i was typeing this i had a white showgirl hatch so i got 2 babies to hatch for them today. they are so cute!!!! i have 16 more eggs in the hatcher for them!! yes, i'm a hatchaholic, sorry can't help it,rotfl.

so what do you think? could it be a d" uccle? watch tell me if it gets feathers up above it's feet real long. if soo it's a d'uccle they have boot looking feathers called vulture hawks. mine are about 3 weeks old and have them already it is in way more than the feet feathers. if it is a silkie it won't have that it will only be on it's feet.

Silkie, Okay Im going back to Glendas Q. Your floors are wire, and you hose them down everyother day! What type wire are we talking? Hardware cloth? ...And isnt it rough on their feet? Or do they have other flooring ?
I really love your cages and the chicks look happy about their home too!

silkiechick, first I want to thank you for all the great pics and info. I was just showing them to my 12 year old that claims the 6 silkies that we have. Oddly enough, my 14 year old was just making fun of one of ours because you cannot see her eyes so I showed her your top pic.

Hubby walked through while we were viewing your pics. He's a bit concerned about one of your pics. I told him about the naked necks but that is not what he meant. Look at the bird on the left in this pic. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=3916700 He'd like to know exactly how you breed them that way. LOL

ROTFLMFFWAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hadn't noticed that Badseed !!

~Julie

I didn't notice either! And trust me, we've looked at these photos a couple of times. My 12 year old is really enamored with her silkies. I'm scrolling through pointing out the feathering and combs and in comes my smarty pants husband. LOL Only he would see the kid/silkie cross!

Awwwww, now that is some Chick! LOL!

OMG!! lol, i thought ya ment the silkie bum till i looked a few times. lol, that's my son hunter walking past the front of the cages. to cute, nope he's not a chicken he's my butterball,lol.

the wire is 1/2" x 36" hardware cloth. nope it doesn't bother there feet after a few days of being on it they are fine with it. they just are scared at first like there is no floor so they creap a bit till use to it. now they walk on it like it is wood flooring. it is because they were used to being on the ground runs from there preveous owner. the pens are all hardware cloth with plastic wire dividers, however today i noticed the plastic is comeing up so i'm rewireing chicken wire inbetween them all now it is more sturdier. the flooring of the coops is all osb with pine shaveings about 4" thick.

i'm building a new 4 in 1 it is blue we finished the coop today. tomarrow the roof and pen will be built the rest is done i can't wait to have it finished i'll have to take pics of it too.

you are all very welcome, i have fun just takeing pics and showing off my cuties for the first time. to most people here chickens are just for eggs. they don't know the fun of haveing them for pets or breeders. there is so much more out there to learn and have fun with and they have no idea.

i had 3 showgirls hatch today they are so darn cute!! one was a silkie of course and 2 nn. now what i want to know is what will that silkie throw when it is big enough to breed? what do you guys think? would it have the nn gene also to throw or only silkie or can it through either? i have not breed mine enough to get this far to know so it will be part of my breeding program to see how the genes work to make or not make showgirls.

here is a pic of one of thegirls not sure if it is the same one in pic 1 above there is like 4 of them that look identical unless i see how their personalities are i don't know which is which.

I havent a clue, on which gene will come through but just knowing that it will add to the Silkie Chick Saga is enough for me! I just love your posts and they are always so informative and Funny! Thank you on the update on the wire used now I have something to go by on my new coop!

I am about to post my new baby thread. Mama blacktail Japanese has new liitle ones popping out from under her as we speak!

i'm really excited to find out,lol. silkies and turkens are my fav breeds. thanks to a great friend of mine i know have the best of both it's awesome!! the cheapest place i found the hardwire cloth is lowe's here for $20 for a 25ft roll of it. if you have one close to you watch for discounted wire, lumber and osb. here the osb is normally 5-6 and cheaper if broke on corner usually half price. we use 2x3 instead of 2x4 and they are about half price right now they are 1.75 each. for hinges we got them at big lots 3" ones for 2 in a pack for 50 cents and keyed locks for 2 each and hasps at lowes for 2.32. hope that helps some.
silkie

oooooh..BIG LOTS..... dont you just luuuvv 'em! Thanks Silkie chick! We have the lumber but need some OSB! Lowe's isnt far from us, But I didnt think about Big LOts for the hardware! Yaaaaay!

Hi... My name is Ana... And I have a Silkie chickie

I am so glad to see this forum. I never noticed it for some reason and then I saw this one about Silkies. A tad bit of history...
Hubby and I are both allergic to cats and dogs. I ignore my allergies and claim it is a cold that won't go away, he reminds me daily of why he is sniffly and living off of Benadryl. So, when my 6yo son is looking into pets, we are pretty limited.
No kitties or puppies. Fish you cannot hug. Parrots are noisy and I don't feel like cleaning the poop, feathers and food all over (stop laughing). Bunnies are not my thing and they are liable to end up on the dinner table after being roasted for a couple hours. Small critters are cute but nocturnal. Then we watched a program on the Discovery channel about how some cultures eat chickens with black skin and bones. Hubby was way interested and made me look them up. So, here come the pics of the silkies. Fluffy, small, docile, friendly, hypoallergenic... (I cannot have down comforters or pillows... cant win them all!) After a week or so of intense searching, I found a local guy that sells all sorts of birds, from poultry to doves to small parrots to ducks.

Needless to say, Betty is a welcome addition to our family. She is 10 weeks old and so sweet. We got her at 6 weeks. She is a white fluff ball and friendly and takes the games my son plays with her. Hangs out in the kitchen looking to see what falls from the counter as I cook. "Sings" in my lap as I pet her. She roosts in the house at night, but she will spend the day on the patio. Pecking at my hanging plants and what ever other bugs make it under the screen door. We really adore her. The neighbors are not sure what we have, and I am afraid of taking her out in the backyard with me. As soon as I figure out how to close up the yard on that side, she will be free to hunt while I weed. Oh, and the roost? It is a laundry basket on it's tall side with a 1" x 1" stake through a set of holes above the floor. A kitchen towel works great as poop catcher.

My mom warned me (she has a small farm with lots of chickens) that one will never be enough. I am in denial that I am never going back to the farmer guy just to *look*.

So, thanks for the intro and I hope you got a couple of laughs at my expense. I just need to figure out how to diaper this gal for more indoor time.

^_^

Not laughing, sounds like a great set up. Silkies (chickens in general) are flock creatures so I would get atleast one more so your baby has a companion of it's own kind.

I'd toss the benadryl and switch to loratadine...it's a once daily dose with no drowsiness. It's generic for claritin which was a prescription antihistimine. And actually you can get it pretty cheap now.

Welcome to the "group"

~Julie =0)

Hi Ana and Welcome! Im not laughing and Im not going to tell you that one is not enough! What I am going to do is......... send you to http://www.chickendiapers.com/

NO kidding!

Whooooooooooo knew !!!!!!! I like the camo pattern for the roo's !!!

Did you see the silkie all sprawled out on the floor with it's diaper sleeping off a rough day...lol. Reminded me of a toddler, they have the exact same exhausted look !!!!!

Julie =0)

I don't even believe it! If my silkie loving kid sees that, I'll never hear the end! She wants two of everything and all I ever say anymore is "Nothing else that eats or poops is coming into this house!!".

Nice to meet you Ana! I agree with the above. Get your silkie a friend or ten. LOL

Well, I done did get me a diaper. Pretty lavendar at that. How nice not to have to tell my son - Poop Patrol!!! as I tiptoe around my kitchen. For right now, the one is enough. She stays with me most of the day anyway, and really loves it when I put new plants in. She especially loves it when I clean out the overgrown water plants from my container pond. Some critters are just the cutest. And, sometimes, the best ones are the most unlikely ones.

Thanks for the welcome, all! It's not always easy finding info on Silkies but looks like I hit paydirt. :-D

Now AnaM149, You know you are just going to have to send us a Photo!

absolutely. send it in a new forum so we can all remark on how lovely it is!