Good to know! :D My first instinct was to go for BrahmaXSilkie cross immediately - yet I later started to think of the enormous size difference... Did you use AI or was it the natural mating?
Yes-yes, no bantams in breeding lines if the goal is a giant chicken :D
As I wrote initially, I have been thinking of crossing black Silkies with Ayam Cemani initially and bring in Brahma after that. It's to get Silkies a bit bigger before starting crosses with Brahmas. Does this make any sense...
To be honest, I strongly dislike Naked Necks.... In case of Silkies, the naked neck is somehow tolerable as the skin is black. Yet any breed with a red naked neck - not for me for sure, sorry!
Thus, it is just Giant Silkies. Preferably - but not necessarily! - black, yes.
I daydreamed a bit after the work at school today - and vividly imagined a giant black Showgirl of about 1 m high... Now, when fully awake, I can not even imagine what would I do if I met it:eek: Run away screaming on top of my lungs? Froze in place with awe and astonishment? Say to myself...
Hmm... I have not come to the exact number for weight yet, to be honest - just thinking that the bigger the better. Let's say at now that less than 10 pounds is not good enough for me :D
Sounds great indeed, thank you very much! I wouldn't mind if they will get as big as Brahmas f.e - yet I would be disappointed if I will end up with birds who weigh less than , say, Wyandots... :D
Oh, that's great! :D I will only start next spring. Both Silkies (Black) and Brahmas (Silver Laced and Porcelain) have just hatched a few days ago :D. I do have a couple of black Cochin hens, though, from this spring. And Ayam Cemanis as well if I decide to use this breed in my breeding project.
The idea of the artificial insemination scares me a lot to be honest! :D :D :D Greatest thanks for the advice anyway. I probably would trim the feathers around the cloaca of both - and see if this would work, If not, well, then the artificial insemination is a way to go... I guess.
These 'large' (=standard, not bantam) Silkies are still much smaller than what I would like to have them. :D Bantam silkies are less than 1 kg and 'standard' Silkies do not exceed 2 kg - as much as I have read about this breed.
Thanks for that Giant Silkie Project link! :D I am reading through...
I plan to start with two breeding projects next year.
One of them would be to get the body size of my Silkies increased significally - yet to keep their skin color, feathers and comb 'right' (characteristic for Silkies as they are). I would start with black Silkies - yet the color and pattern...
Hawks and eagles are not very common here at all - and these few eagles that are , do not threaten domestic birds at all. Too far away in the wild, too afraid of humans... The hawk which I managed to catch , weighed 880 g - and I was told that it was a pretty good weight for a youngster of that...