Showgirl

Such a unique cutie

Beautifle! Easily the prettiest and weirdest bird I’ve seen. Lovely breed and I would buy one!

I have a showgirl rooster and a showgirl hen. They have all the good qualities of a silkie. They are sweet and soft. They go broody and make good mothers. They lay every other day or so. They make a good conversation starter. ;-) I love my showgirls and the rooster is friendly too.

Just like the silkies, they don't tolerate the heat very well. They need shade, cool water, and possibly a fan when it is really hot. I lost two this past summer due to heat. They need lots of protection against predators because they are slow and maybe not so smart.

I love my showgirls. When I first saw a showgirl I thought they were ugly and weird looking, but the more I looked at them the more i liked them. Now I have 3 showgirls and I am in love with them. They area really interesting looking and I am hoping to set up a couple of breeding pens with them and some silkies.

These are my babies.

Vera 4 month old non-bearded bowtie splash pullet.


Vera


Vera on the left and Tamar the bearded splash showgirl pullet (I think) on the right.


Spanky the splash cockerel at 4 months old as well.


I recommend them if you are looking for an interesting looking ornamental bird that does go broody often. I suggest breeding them to a silkie to maintain silkie type and good feathering.

When I first saw a showgirl, I thought is was really homely and swore I would never get one. I went to purchase a couple of regular silkie pullets from a breeder and she had some of these. When I saw them in person, I decided I NEEDED to have one. I purchased two day old Lavender chicks from a breeder that are now about 6 weeks old. I LOVE them. They are really sweet little birds. Most recently we purchased an 8 month old black showgirl pullet and I just LOVE her. She is sweet and has a wonderful personality. I can't wait to add her to my breeding pens with my black rooster once she gets through quarentine. I would have many more of these little cuties if I had the room!

I have white and blue showgirls and silkies. When I first saw the showgirls I thought they were so ugly that they were cute and I had to have them. I have never regretted that decision. I love them. They do find free roaming. If trouble approaches they go into the palmettos or back into their coops. A pretty calm breed. Even though they are not a recognized breed I show them in the State fair just so people get to see them. People ask if I clip them to look the way they do.

"ORLY?"​

That's the most politically correct response that we receive when people first meet our Showgirls.

Many use LOTS of colorful expletives.
These are elaborately arranged to communicate that our visiting humans don't quite believe that these chicken-ish creatures are, in fact, the same species as their Chicken McNuggets. ​

"What's wrong with them?"​

"They're so ugly they're cute! I want some!"

"Are they half rabbit?"

Or, my all time favorite:

"IT'S A REAL, LIVE MUPPET!"​

Showgirls are some of the most unique and entertaining chickens you can keep. They are quiet, small, and convert feed very economically.

They are fantastic mothers; even roosters do a good job helping to raise chicks, and broodies often team up to help each other raise bigger families. Our girls go broody every couple months, regardless of day length or weather conditions.

Showgirls are a work in progress.
The goal is to create a bantam bird with 5, evenly spaced toes, compact Silkie body type and Silkie soft feathering, dark beaks, even purplish-black skin, a walnut comb, dark eyes, large Silkie crests, naked necks (with bowties, beards, both, or neither), and good mothering abilities.

Breeders begin by crossing bantam Transylvanian Naked Necks with high quality Silkies in order to secure the dominant, expressed Naked Neck gene. The first generation from this cross doesn't look much like a Showgirl at all, but does have a naked neck. From there, breeders cross these hybrids back to high quality Silkies in order to improve type conformation. They begin to look like presentable Showgirls by about F7 or F8, if the breeder is lucky.

Showgirls can be had in every color that one could find in Silkies. We specifically breed for Paint Showgirls currently. Paint pairings can produce white, black, and Paint offspring. We are currently awaiting the maturation of a quality, bowtied Paint Showgirl cockerel to take over roostering duties. His girls will be White, Paint, and Black Showgirls.


Hatching eggs and chicks should be available beginning Summer 2013.

The Paint color pattern is a very new program, and there are very few serious breeders of Paints. Like Showgirls themselves, Paints are a work in progress. The goal is to create a conforming white Showgirl with black spots. Paint birds are NOT the same as Splash birds. Paint feathering is complete - that is, black feathers are entirely black, and white feathers are entirely white. There are "holes" in the genetic pattern of technically White birds that allow Black feathers to come through the predominantly white feathering, resulting in polka-dotted chickens. A particular problem with creating quality Paint Showgirls is that not only do these genetic "holes" affect feather pigment, but skin and eye pigment as well. It is common for Paint offspring to hatch with pink spots on their purple skin, and/or colorless spots in their eyes. This is a trait that must be aggressively culled out of any serious flock, though the pink-and-purple spotted babies are super cute and make great, unique pets.

It is very difficult to sex Showgirls before sexual maturity. You really don't fully know what you have until it either crows or lays an egg. Feather patterns also change as birds mature, so it is difficult to judge the quality of an individual bird until they are fully grown.

Showgirls are a hobby for us. We typically hatch very small numbers of eggs at a time in order to be able to adequately care for everyone and not end up overrun with little Showgirls. We have several other chicken breeds that provide us with colorful egg baskets, but only breed Showgirls.

I have been breeding silkies for 2 years now and I adore them. My favorite roo, Fonzy, runs around making nests to attract the girls...Chester guards the hens when they are on the nest laying. In sexing around 3 months if you feel a bump at the back of the comb it is more likely a roo...pullets are more flat. But they are early layers! Now that I have my breeders I will have a wonderful flock this summer!

i love these. would love to have a pair

I love my Silkie Showgirls ..They are beautiful birds . I purchased 2 from a local breader and ended up with one rooster and 1 hen ... they seem to be late bloomers as far as size and my silkie roo isnt very aggressive hes actually funny to watch when he is around the hens he parades in front of them like he is king of the coop ... the Hen is very laid back and lovable I may even consider them as indoor pets for the winter !! I chose the showgirls without the naked necks I just love all the fluff ..I call them the pomeranians of the chick world

I love my showgirls they show you just how intresting chickens can get. The guys are bantum so they take up less space and are adorable. I love their silkie feathers and cute naked necks. They are very interesting and a chicken that will interest most people. I love these little guys!

I have never seen one but looks like my kind of Chicken

First time I saw a picture of a Show Girl I didn't care for it, didn't want one either. Now I have one Show Girl. The egg was kinda forced on me to hatch. Chick is 5 months old and I still don't know if it's male or female. I think they are a Good ornamental chicken. I also have a female Silkie, so if my Show Girl is male I will breed them. They grow on you!

I would love to get a showgirl. Showgirls are my favorite types of chickens! They are perfect for me and I love their history.

I love my Showgirls! I love their personalities! Mine seem to know they are special and their personalities prove that. Would love to see them accepted and enjoy showing them. My birds lay year round for the most part and I do find they lay more regularly than the silkies. I also find they hatch stronger than the silkie. If you love them great if you hate them don't tell me. I personally can't figure out why so many people are so opinionated about this breed.
http://www.simplysplendidsilkies.weebly.com

My Diva is kept in a pen with pine shavings so she doesn't get too dirty. I do give her time in the run to take a dirt bath. Still, she keeps clean. She is so soft, really seems to enjoy being held. She's a fun bird for the kids and they love to share her. Okay, I admit it, I love to share her! I delight in collecting her eggs because I can't believe that a bird that already gives us so much also provides us with eggs.

What a fun bird to own! People either hate them or love them. They are basically a Silkie in personality. Friendly, calm, easy to raise. I hate to see mine dirty, but they do get that way. Easy to bathe and they seem to enjoy it.

Slow to mature. Not a reliable layer, 3 to 5 eggs a week.

What a sight in the barnyard. Visitors are drawn to them and want to hold/cuddle them.