Silkie thread!

[aoxa]

Phyllis - regular partridge, correct?

Best foot feathering I have.

Butt shot

Feet

I also think girl.

 

[stoopid]

I get my bands from ABA, they are solid plastic and need to be put on when chicks.
Be very careful with the size... different companies have different numbering for the sizes.
But the size you want to shoot for is 15mm.

 

[aoxa]

Hawkeye95, Remember the chick you thought had a single comb? Original picture:

Got a close up so you can see.

The chick has light skin. Already found him a home.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Phyllis - regular partridge, correct?

Best foot feathering I have.

Butt shot

Feet


I also think girl.

Yes she is a girl, that is a girl color/pattern for partridge. Boys usually get a rusty red in the wings/back or a straw to autumn orange in the hackles where girls are much more muted in color than the boys are. Also LOVE her - she is AWESOME

 

[blessedchick]

I tried the spiral ones, and it was awful. They were extremely hard to get on, and it hurt them when I tried. I would get something besides the spiral. As for size, I have no idea

I use different colored zip ties after having the same experience that you had, Aoxa, with the spiral ones with my swans. With the zip ties you can put them on the youngsters, too, and just clip them off as they get bigger to replace them.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Okay so I got quite a few pictures of my silkie flock this past weekend. Finally uploaded them. Wanted to share my favourites with you (as well as some others).
But first..

How freaking cute is this chick?! 9 weeks old

One of my favourites for sure. I am definitely thinking girl. Colour - blue partridge?

More to come in a second..

Yes blue partridge, and pretty certain its a girl

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

I was looking into the leg bands for my chickens, mostly the chicks.
This website was recommended by someone here. http://www.nationalband.com/leg.htm#992
What size would I order for a silkie chick? Or an adult silkie?

I use colored zip ties. look on ebay or amazon for 4" or 6" multi colored zipties. - different colors, use colors to color code the hatches, and just change as needed. cheaper and simpler than the chick bands. At 4-5 months old they are big enough that I switch and use bandettes size 9 for almost everyone but some of my males legs get so thick they need the next size... they are colored and numbered. Love 'em. Great for record keeping. Others also use the wing bands which get clipped into the skin/web of the wing - if you're wanting record keeping either method works but the wing bands you can do them as early as a couple days old and they are permenant for the rest of the birds life, and a great record keeping method from day 1.

 

[aoxa]

[COLOR=800000]Yes she is a girl, that is a girl color/pattern for partridge. Boys usually get a rusty red in the wings/back or a straw to autumn orange in the hackles where girls are much more muted in color than the boys are. Also LOVE her - she is AWESOME [/COLOR]

Thank God she's a girl! Her sister was coloured the same way and sHE started crowing at 13 weeks lol.

Here is the sister. I do not own him. He was hatched from my eggs. Is the colours still not in to show male?

 

[Hawkeye95]

So what really goes into the paint breeding? I understand that they don't always breed true. This is because it is such a "new" color, correct?
I think I got a partridge chick out of a paint egg? Is that possible? I'm about 95% sure it was a paint egg. lol This egg had had a small crack in it and I put a piece of tape over it and of course it covered the lettering on the egg. You could still see the "P" by the tape..I'm pretty sure it was the paint egg though, as I only had 2 of them.
I'll take pictures later when the little one dries up more.


And a hatching question to go with this one!
When do you know your chick needs help getting out of the egg when using a broody hen? And what's the difference if the egg was in an incubator?
How long is too long for a chick to stay in the egg and what can be done to safely get the little one out?

Sanna, that is a loaded question about what goes into a paint breeding. I know that the white they are using is a dominant white-- which pretty much the white silkies everyone has is not. The paint (black spots) are supposedly caused by holes in the pigment... but I know that theory is still trying to be tested and figured out. I haven't done much reading on it, but it doesn't sound easy at all. And no, they don't breed true. And apparently you aren't supposed to breed paint X paint --- but have a black (a REAL solid black) over paint. Finding a good black isn't easy. How many pictures do people post here of their "black" birds that are really blue? All the time. Are you sure the P wasn't for Partridge? Especially if you got a partridge out of it?

I got shipped eggs not to long ago and one was labeled BS (blue/or splash) and I hatched out a partridge. Mistakes happen...

Anyway, read this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/429754/the-american-paint-silkie It is the paint thread set up for silkies. Reading the background and seeing how they are working toward paints is very interesting, but it also sounds like you need a PhD in genetics! LOL Sonoran is breeding paints, too. She has a really amazing paint in her avatar.

Hawkeye95,
Remember the chick you thought had a single comb?
Original picture:

Got a close up so you can see.

The chick has light skin. Already found him a home.

Yes, you are right!! Wow, if you hadn't posted the close-ups, it was tough to see.

I use colored zip ties. look on ebay or amazon for 4" or 6" multi colored zipties. - different colors, use colors to color code the hatches, and just change as needed. cheaper and simpler than the chick bands. At 4-5 months old they are big enough that I switch and use bandettes size 9 for almost everyone but some of my males legs get so thick they need the next size... they are colored and numbered. Love 'em. Great for record keeping. Others also use the wing bands which get clipped into the skin/web of the wing - if you're wanting record keeping either method works but the wing bands you can do them as early as a couple days old and they are permenant for the rest of the birds life, and a great record keeping method from day 1.

I use the zipties right when they hatch so I know who is from who. SOS-- I was going to attend a show in another week, but they required the 90 day test (which I have) and numbered Closed bands. Since mine are all open (I'm not talking about the zipties)... I'm guessing they are talking about the ones that have to be put on with a tool. I didn't know if I wanted to buy all the stuff for that and then something better happens along for a closed band. Any ideas on closed bands?? Anyway, that show also coincided with the kids first week of school, so I decided against it. I don't have the right kind of bands anyway, apparently. I need to find out more about it, because that was a pretty large show, and one I will try to get to next year. But I need to be better prepared for it. The other shows have not required closed bands.

 

[mystdogs]

I like looking at pictures of birds. = ) So.....Just thought I would share some I took of my birds upon returning from a show in June 2012. As you can see, the sun was setting and the lighting made for some neat pictures.

Beautiful!