Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

There are good bumblefoot articles/threads on BYC. As long as the foot is not swollen bumble is easy to treat at home. Swollen/abscessed I would go to a vet at that stage.

We've treated easy cases at home but kept the hen indoors until totally healed. It's time-consuming to treat at home & easy cases the vet will just send you home to do it yourself anyway.

My new rooster has a big lump on his left foot. It doesn’t seem to bother him, but I am curious.
He’s a big boy now and he won’t let me catch him today.

 

[featherhead007]

Soft watermelon is served today with Greek yogurt.
Coco had steak and eggs with cheese.
Sure I spoil them, but that’s just my way.
They shy away from other people, but not me. (They are all over me)

 

[featherhead007]

Soft watermelon is served today with Greek yogurt.
Coco had steak and eggs with cheese.
Sure I spoil them, but that’s just my way.
They shy away from other people, but not me. (They are all over me)

I feel like a poultry chef. Service to chickens.

 

[featherhead007]

You know, I was once asked
“How do you like your chicken? Fried Or barbecued?”
I said “I like my chicken well mannered and not messy when at the dinner table!”
True story

 

[Sylvester017]

My new rooster has a big lump on his left foot. It doesn’t seem to bother him, but I am curious.
He’s a big boy now and he won’t let me catch him today.

Bumble will usually have a black scab where the swelling is. See bumblefoot article pictures to compare whether your boy qualifies. Heavier birds are more prone to bumble.

Our vet suggested we wrap the perch to cushion it. We did that but our Dominique still kept getting bumble every year. It wasn't the perch that was a problem but the Dom's liked to snooze/perch on our rough stone garden bed borders & on the cedarwood sandbox borders that irritated their foot pads! This year our Dom hardly perched on the borders so she didn't get bumble.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Yes, yours are polkies & beautiful.

In order to get Satin or laced Satin Silkies they have to be crossed w/ some other smooth-feather breed & then back-crossed. Breeders nowadays are experimenting w/all sorts of mixes. I'm not a curious geneticist & just stick w/ regular hen breeds & since we aren't zoned for roo's we don't have the pleasure of watching new chicks hatch.

It's why I love pics/stories of roo's since we can't have one.

Ooh, time to dig out pictures. You want to talk about a gorgeous in my opinion silkie cross, I have found it.

I have my own "satin" silkies. The cross is Black Copper Marans x silkie.

The first of this cross was a total oops I guess Branch can breed the Marans. I set Bunny with 3 eggs when she set on the couch and 2 hatched. I also set her with 3 "pure" Marans eggs. 2 hatched and at hatch I knew immediately the "Corona" chick was different. Marans do not have double toes!! Branch you dog you. Both chicks ended up being boys and I kept the cross and named him Twig. I tried for over a year to peacefully incorporate Twig into my flock. Twig was a good boy, but Bubba hated him. He finally stood up to Bubba and things seemed to be going well for a bit then Twig snapped and tried to kill his daddy Branch. That was the final straw and I rehomed him last summer, no one messed with Branch.

Here is Twig

Twig had the color of a BCM rooster but half the size. He had the silkie toes, beard and muffs. He was stunning and I do miss him. I wish he had worked out, I tried so hard.

The second of this cross was again not intended. My silkie hen Chiquita decided she like Bubba a bit better then Branch and when she went broody and I let her hatch her own eggs there was once again a oops in with a pure silkie chick. Once again being my luck wanting silkie pullets, the pure silkie....boy of course. The oops, I still have the oops running around and I love her to death.
Meet Goose

Like twig she is half the size of the pure Marans but bigger then the silkies. She also has the silkie double toe, beard and muffs. She is gorgeous in my opinion with her coloring, just like a Marans hen with the full copper hackle markings that my hens lack. Her eggs are small silkie sized but not white like her momma laid. They are a soft brown. The marans gene darkened those eggs about 4 to 5 good shades. My marans line is Broody, cross that with the silkie and omg Goose is a chronic broody. She is a wonderful mother, did not expect anything less from her.

Before Twig turned on his daddy I had thought and had plans of breeding Twig and Goose. It was perfect because while both were Marans x silkie they had different parents. Then Twig became a idiot and essentially ruined those plans. Raven went broody a few days after he left and I gave her 1 goose egg to incubate. I got insanely lucky with that egg. Not only did it hatch, for once I got the desired pullet. I had one shot to get the Twig x Goose daughter, Goose understood the mission.

Here we have Spooky.

She's a perfect little girl. I look at her, I see the Marans in her body shape but the silkie genes are strong again. Again, double toe, beard, muffs and silkie sized egg. Her egg is 2 shade darker then her momma Gooses. Not Marans dark. If I eventually get another Marans rooster and I still have her I will backcross her to him. I think in one or two more generations I could have potentially kept the look and size of Goose and Spooky and got the darker marans egg.

I have 2 loves in the chicken world. I love Black Copper Marans. The hens are sweethearts, their egg color, and the roosters are big gentle giants. No offense to Branch, I love and miss that little man, but it is hard to beat the classic look of a BCM rooster. The coloring is iconic and my favorite. My 2nd love is silkies and it took me by surprise as I resisted silkies for a few years. Branch and his hatch mate Poppy changed that. I thought of silkies as ugly weird alien looking chickens. They were 4 weeks old when they were no longer ugly, and no longer weird looking to me. Their personalities changed how I saw them. They are little clowns and dogs in a chickens body. I am hooked for life for the silkies.

Maybe that is why I adore Goose and Spooky and tried so hard with Twig. They are the best of both worlds.

 

[Sylvester017]

Raised garden bed stone border & sandbox cedar border ~ causes of bumblefoot on our Dominique hen when she snoozes/perches on them.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Satins are my favorite!

Nyx, silkie x cochin bantam. All black with no real comb.
Classic cochin shape! And tiny!

Morinth, silkie x cream legbar? She lays mint green eggs, has silkie toes and a straight comb. Her coloring is amazing, cannot wait to see her little polkie babies in the future.

Samara, silkie x cochin probably. Gray-black skin, flat walnut comb, tan eggs. 5 toes on each foot, beard, muffs, and attitude.

Cocoa puff, silkie feathered silkie x cochin bantam. The lady who got him said she might put him with silkies or cochin bantams to breed. Silkie toes, flat comb maybe walnut? Or rose. Super sweet attitude.

Muddy buddy. Silkie x cochin bantam. Looks exactly like a silkie but pale skin. He will be in a pen with silkies most likely. Had an awesome attitude.

That's my experience with silkies so far! I cannot wait to see what they hatch next year with polish genes!

 

[Sylvester017]

Ooh, time to dig out pictures. You want to talk about a gorgeous in my opinion silkie cross, I have found it.

I have my own "satin" silkies. The cross is Black Copper Marans x silkie.

The first of this cross was a total oops I guess Branch can breed the Marans. I set Bunny with 3 eggs when she set on the couch and 2 hatched. I also set her with 3 "pure" Marans eggs. 2 hatched and at hatch I knew immediately the "Corona" chick was different. Marans do not have double toes!! Branch you dog you. Both chicks ended up being boys and I kept the cross and named him Twig. I tried for over a year to peacefully incorporate Twig into my flock. Twig was a good boy, but Bubba hated him. He finally stood up to Bubba and things seemed to be going well for a bit then Twig snapped and tried to kill his daddy Branch. That was the final straw and I rehomed him last summer, no one messed with Branch.

Here is Twig
View attachment 3952138
Twig had the color of a BCM rooster but half the size. He had the silkie toes, beard and muffs. He was stunning and I do miss him. I wish he had worked out, I tried so hard.

The second of this cross was again not intended. My silkie hen Chiquita decided she like Bubba a bit better then Branch and when she went broody and I let her hatch her own eggs there was once again a oops in with a pure silkie chick. Once again being my luck wanting silkie pullets, the pure silkie....boy of course. The oops, I still have the oops running around and I love her to death.
Meet Goose
View attachment 3952141
Like twig she is half the size of the pure Marans but bigger then the silkies. She also has the silkie double toe, beard and muffs. She is gorgeous in my opinion with her coloring, just like a Marans hen with the full copper hackle markings that my hens lack. Her eggs are small silkie sized but not white like her momma laid. They are a soft brown. The marans gene darkened those eggs about 4 to 5 good shades. My marans line is Broody, cross that with the silkie and omg Goose is a chronic broody. She is a wonderful mother, did not expect anything less from her.

Before Twig turned on his daddy I had thought and had plans of breeding Twig and Goose. It was perfect because while both were Marans x silkie they had different parents. Then Twig became a idiot and essentially ruined those plans. Raven went broody a few days after he left and I gave her 1 goose egg to incubate. I got insanely lucky with that egg. Not only did it hatch, for once I got the desired pullet. I had one shot to get the Twig x Goose daughter, Goose understood the mission.

Here we have Spooky.
View attachment 3952148View attachment 3952150
She's a perfect little girl. I look at her, I see the Marans in her body shape but the silkie genes are strong again. Again, double toe, beard, muffs and silkie sized egg. Her egg is 2 shade darker then her momma Gooses. Not Marans dark. If I eventually get another Marans rooster and I still have her I will backcross her to him. I think in one or two more generations I could have potentially kept the look and size of Goose and Spooky and got the darker marans egg.

I have 2 loves in the chicken world. I love Black Copper Marans. The hens are sweethearts, their egg color, and the roosters are big gentle giants. No offense to Branch, I love and miss that little man, but it is hard to beat the classic look of a BCM rooster. The coloring is iconic and my favorite. My 2nd love is silkies and it took me by surprise as I resisted silkies for a few years. Branch and his hatch mate Poppy changed that. I thought of silkies as ugly weird alien looking chickens. They were 4 weeks old when they were no longer ugly, and no longer weird looking to me. Their personalities changed how I saw them. They are little clowns and dogs in a chickens body. I am hooked for life for the silkies.

Maybe that is why I adore Goose and Spooky and tried so hard with Twig. They are the best of both worlds.

That is so sweet! We are hooked on Silkies too & always had them.

One thing about cross-breeding Silkies is that the temperaments may not be sweet in the offspring. Just like Breda fowl ~ the B/B/S were sweet but the Cuckoo Breda that used Malines to crossbreed to get the cuckoo pattern changed both the size & the temperament of the Breda fowl.

All my Blue Breda were people/flock friendly sweeties but the Cuckoo Breda was much bigger/heavier & very aloof. In talking w/ other Breda owners/breeders they had the same issues ~ all B/B/S varieties were exceptional sweeties while other Breda crosses like Cuckoo or Mottled were skittish.

Phaedra ~ my first & favorite Blue Breda hen

 

[Sylvester017]

Satins are my favorite!
View attachment 3952169
Nyx, silkie x cochin bantam. All black with no real comb.View attachment 3952171
Classic cochin shape! And tiny!
View attachment 3952170
Morinth, silkie x cream legbar? She lays mint green eggs, has silkie toes and a straight comb. Her coloring is amazing, cannot wait to see her little polkie babies in the future.
View attachment 3952174
Samara, silkie x cochin probably. Gray-black skin, flat walnut comb, tan eggs. 5 toes on each foot, beard, muffs, and attitude.
View attachment 3952172
Cocoa puff, silkie feathered silkie x cochin bantam. The lady who got him said she might put him with silkies or cochin bantams to breed. Silkie toes, flat comb maybe walnut? Or rose. Super sweet attitude.
View attachment 3952173
Muddy buddy. Silkie x cochin bantam. Looks exactly like a silkie but pale skin. He will be in a pen with silkies most likely. Had an awesome attitude.

That's my experience with silkies so far! I cannot wait to see what they hatch next year with polish genes!

They are so cute! Nice thing about Silkies, Cochins, & Polish is that they are considered docile breeds so crossing them should keep the same temperaments.