Yet another question......silkie X's

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Fri May 30, 2008 8:51 pm

Hi PA. Why are silkie/pekin crosses better as broodies than straight silkies?

Deb (who has had 4 silkies sitting on empty nests for the past 2 months!!!) :lol:

kwinagi · **Joined:** Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:58 pm **Posts:** 236

sometimes silkie feathers can tangle and strangle the chicks, so some people are less keen to use them as broodies

i have found this can also happen with pekins.

potentially it could happen with the crossbred silkie pekins

that being said, these little crossbreeds combine the excellent mothering skills of both parent type, and seem to be extra good mums.

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Fri May 30, 2008 11:10 pm

Thanks kwinagi. Good explanation!

Deb :-D

Ajacksonno · **Posted:** Fri May 30, 2008 11:23 pm

debbieo4914 wrote:

There is a great little article on crossbreds called "Designer Chickens" in the new Australasian Poultry magazine that I got today!

Deb :-D

hehehe i was reading that today

As CL said before, my silkie X pekins have had similar results, the pekin feathering with a cute little pompom on their head.

Probably not the best picture, but this little hen has silkie in her about... 3 generations back. Can still see the little bit of puff on her head

http://paforumphotogallery.com/displayi ... ?pos=-1200
http://paforumphotogallery.com/displayi ... ?pos=-1201

Drew Smith · **Posted:** Sat May 31, 2008 8:46 am

rubberparrot this link will give you some http://www.pekinbantams.com/blue.asp theirs some ordinary to ok information on that site. What are you hoping to breed? Old English are good brooders, my brother and I have used them for decades especially when breeding the first Lavender Pekins way back in the late 80's early 90's I still reply on them today with Mahogany Pekins & Lemon Pekins and some others I won't mention as someone might claim they bred them first :roll:

Cheers Drew

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

debbieo4914 wrote:

Hi PA. Why are silkie/pekin crosses better as broodies than straight silkies?

Deb (who has had 4 silkies sitting on empty nests for the past 2 months!!!) :lol:

Hi Deb, The issue with many silkies is vision or lack of because of their crest this can make them flighty when they first commence incubation. Pekins on the other hand don't have this issue but in our opinion are not as good as silkies particularly in reference to brood cycling. The combination of both breeds seems to bring out the best of both breeds and we have found them very good brooders. We trim our silkies prior to the breeding season and find this works well also.

Thanks
P.A :lol:

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:28 am

Thanks for the explanation PA. Always happy to learn new things. I must admit, after reading all of these posts, that the cross is sounding quite attractive!

Deb :-D

Rubberparrot · **Posted:** Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:09 am

bunyanuternie wrote:

The boys will make good soup (not great soup, just good)

Hi I was watching "Top Chef" on pay tv the other night and one of the ingredients one of the chefs had to work with was black chicken. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest this was a Silkie it was a small carcass and I don't know of any other chicken with that melanotic gene, are there any others?. The chef described it as wood in chicken form and it did not look appealing!
Shanna

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:16 am

Oh, that doesn't sound good! :shock:

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