Silkies Aren’t “Just Cute”—Here’s What You’re Missing

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Oh, disconnect day.

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Okay.

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Today, folks, we are going to talk about one of my absolutely favorite subjects jennifer and I have searched far and wide to try our best to find somebody.

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We have asked so many people to come on our show because we have a lot of listeners that like Silky's and they ask questions about Silky's.

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And that's something that she and I have never had.

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So we finally found somebody.

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We've got Dr.

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Nicole with us today and she's gonna tell us about the fluff balls.

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Hi, Nicole.

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How are you?

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Hello.

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Good.

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So nice to see you guys and get to talk about one of my favorite chickens ever.

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Tell everybody about yourself first.

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Okay.

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I live on about a two-acre lot in a subdi- division luckily with no HOA.

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With my family, I've got three small kids and my husband.

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We've got three dogs and a few cats.

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It just kinda comes with the territory of being a veterinarian.

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And we decided we wanted to get into chickens.

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And probably about Let's see, how old is my oldest?

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Eight years ago we purchased some layers and then the kids wanted to get into showing and they wanted a smaller chicken that they could handle.

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And when I was younger, I my parents would order by the hundreds meatbirds from hatchery.

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I don't know if I'm allowed to say the name, but- we always ordered from Mari McMurray.

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So each spring, we get all these boxes of these little meatbirds, and one year they decided to get into some layers, and of course they always throw in the free chicken.

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And the free chicken turned out to be a little silky rooster.

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And his name was five toe Hairy Sam.

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And and he was the sweetest little chicken ever.

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We used to carry that thing around everywhere, dress him up.

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And so when my kids wanted a, more of a pet show quality s- chicken we decided to go with some silkies.

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And I quickly found out my obsession with them had not dwindled at all.

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So it soon went from the kid's little fun pen to mommy's silkies.

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So the kids still have theirs.

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But I've been developing a line of white silkies probably seriously been breeding them now for about five years.

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And like you had mentioned, Carrie in the most recent podcast, it, that's about how long it takes for you to really start seeing some results.

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So this year, we're really excited to start showing them and showing off what we've been working on.

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So it's a little synopsis of where we're at.

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So we've got our real chickens, and then we've got a fun pen, and then we've got mommy silkies.

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So what colors you have white.

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Is that the only color?

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So we've, I, I have white that I've seriously been breeding.

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And then I've got a couple of blacks that I was thinking about starting, but my black rooster is hideous and I don't think I'm gonna get very far with him.

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So one of my good friends at an upcoming show in a couple weeks, she's I'll bring you a rooster." So we'll see what he looks like and if we can do anything with him.

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But I would like to do some black silkies, but it just, it takes up so much space, and on two acres, we can't go too far.

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You can have a lot of chickens on two acres.

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You can, but one of a, one of our acres is swampy and I can't put too many coops back there, so Sounds like a farm is in your future.

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We're trying.

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It is.

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I was gonna say, you know- If I can convince my husband.

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So you could tell your husband that it would be a tax rot off.

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It would be.

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Because for you, with you being a vet, if you just so happen to build a rather large barn where you could have patients in and things like that, and you have an office, then that whole part would be a tax write off.

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That's true.

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That's perfectly legit to me.

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And it probably, honestly, that's what it would come down to anyway.

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Yeah.

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We moved here from two acres, and I can tell you it's a huge difference, and how big is your farm now, Jennifer?

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18 and a half acres.

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Nice.

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Yeah.

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I didn't wanna go over 20, so this worked- Yeah.

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pretty good.

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That is, yeah.

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Yeah, that's a nice size.

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Yeah.

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If it's not all swamp.

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No.

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There's a lot of swamp here up near St.

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Louis.

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Oh, no, it's 100% usable.

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Yep.

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So- That's too bad.

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All right.

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So if you guys are listening on a podcast, like audio only podcast, we have slides.

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So after you listen to us here and leave us a review on your podcast platform, head over to YouTube so you can actually see the pictures that we're fixing to show.

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But I do wanna point out when I was putting this slideshow together, instead of just plopping your chicken on the front, I like had to make it all pretty and put it in that frame and kinda show it off and- I like that.

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That, Jennifer, that has your signatures.

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And, I'm really impressed because I know that they're not your favorites, but you went above and beyond to make it look really nice.

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This is Nicole's picture that she sent me and then I fixed it so I could put it in that- I like it.

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bird that I took out of that picture.

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And then I'm awesome.

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So your whites are all white.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Yep.

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Now, do they have the slate face and the slate legs or- Yes.

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is that kind of pale as well?

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Nope.

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So the interesting thing about the silky is they have that hypermelanotic gene where they their bones, their skin and everything else is gonna be dark in color.

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So even though you know how the beak is clear, but you can, there's a bone under there.

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So when you're looking at the beak, it'll look blue, and that's because you're seeing the bone under there.

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Oh.

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If- Okay.

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Yeah.

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So you want the comb nice and dark like a mulberry to, dark blue, black color.

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You don't want, you don't want any white or pink s- skin anywhere on your silky, whether they're white or black or, blue, whatever color they are.

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So all these little modeled silkies that are coming out that have the little bright red comb and the white pink beak, that's not- not favorable.

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very standard.

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That would be- Kari, you pushed her before the s- the slide.

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I got all that in the qualifications.

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I'm so sorry.

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Yeah.

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I had to ask though because I've always wondered that.

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And it's easy to have them wash out.

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So that's something that you gotta be really careful of.

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So- So I did do a little research- on the silkies because I know noth- like literally nothing about them.

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Yeah.

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That's exactly what I have written down, too.

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Okay, good.

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I got it off the- Yep.

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I got it off the Silky Phantom Association.

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Is that what it is?

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Silky Bandom Association?

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Yep.

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I got it off their website.

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Yep.

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Yep they're a really old breed.

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They were found and recorded by Marco Polo as early as 1298.

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But like you have there, they didn't- Marco Polo?

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Yeah.

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Sorry, that caught me off guard.

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I just thought that was a game that you played in the pool.

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Yes, he was real.

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I- He found a lot of stuff.

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History was not my strong point, okay?

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Okay.

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I'd have to be a coach for that.

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Oh, wow.

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Okay.

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We're gonna, we're not gonna go down that rabbit hole, Mr.

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Schoolteacher.

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Okay.

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Go ahead, Nicole.

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And there's rumor that the silky breed became the way it is, with these little fluffy feathers and the chick-like characteristics with the big eyes and the really docile temperament is because the emperors were getting tired of always getting chicks for their kids, so they wanted a chicken to stay in chick form.

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So that's And then another use for them is in Chinese medicine because of the dark bones.

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They like those, apparently.

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Aren't they a delicacy in Australia, too?

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So they were used in traditional medicine.

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I don't know.

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Maybe.

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Could be.

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I know a lot of people will buy my extra coal roosters and they eat them, but- I don't, I can't.

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Those are her babies.

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I can't do it.

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They're my babies.

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And I'll be honest they're all wet and you see all that black skin.

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No, I just can't do it.

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Oh what else was I gonna mention?

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Oh the Dutch really furthered the breed a lot.

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And then they were introduced into the APA in 1874.

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And I think that's all- All right.

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all I got for the history.

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Yep.

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There's your standard colors.

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So I do white, some, trying to get my hands on some better blacks, and then my kids, they've got some splash, some blue, some cartridge.

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We've got one buff named Sarah, but they're all in a separate pen so that they don't get in with my white birds.

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Just, you just kinda slid that right in there.

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We just give them people names.

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Yep.

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So- Sarah's a good mom.

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this partridge color.

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That's like a purple color.

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Do we have a picture?

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No, I didn't get a picture of a partridge.

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No, I only sent pictures of myself.

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I'm curious, is that like a lavender purplish color or a sofa?

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No, it's a pattern.

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It's a pattern.

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And partridge a pattern- Yeah, it's a pattern.

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Okay.

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I was going by the dot you had.

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It was hopefulness.

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Yeah.

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Now- Here's a, here's our first rabbit hole.

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So on Canva, apparently when you try to change the color dots colors, it changes all of them into that palette.

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So I gave up about the six, the 16th try.

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So that's why there is a purple dot.

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It represents the comb little- There you go.

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That's what I was trying to do.

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We'll go with that one.

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You want a nice ballberry comb, yeah.

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All right.

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So tell us about these traits.

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Yep.

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So you wanna have five toes.

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So you've got a polydactyly animal, you've got that little extra toe in there.

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The feathers have no barbicles, so they don't stick together when they preen.

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They just stay fluffy.

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Like we'd mentioned earlier, they've got the black skin, bones meat, everything.

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It's all gonna be black, so that's where you have that nice purply black colored skin.

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You want nice feathers down the legs, and those should also be s- what we refer to as soft feathers and not the hard feathers that are gonna be, like you would see on a standard chicken.

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And very important too, not to lose that feathering down the middle toe.

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Is it on the outer toe too?

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Yep.

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So it'll be on the outer three toes, or the outer two toes there, and then the three medial or the three on the inside will be without feathers.

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Okay.

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So those extra two toes, those are back on the backside of the leg?

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Correct.

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Yep.

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Your regular chicken will just have one back there and then a silky will have that extra one.

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Gotcha.

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And you want them to be separate like that because a lot of how should I say?

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Ha- hatchery quality silkies, they'll have, those two toes will be fused or they will have a lot of webbing, which is called crab toe or they'll have a lot of duct toe going on.

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So they should look like that when you hold them up.

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Gotcha.

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All right, good to know.

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Yeah.

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All right.

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And then there's one of my young cockroach s- showing off, starting his stuff there.

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And I put that pickup just so you could see that he's got a nice dark blue earlobe tight wings, nice high tail, but it's not a squirrel tail, because again, with these breeds with the higher tails, you gotta be careful you don't go too far in a squirrel tail.

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Okay.

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So that black spot is his ear?

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Yep.

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And if you were to zoom in on it, you would see it's a shiny blue color.

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I thought that he was looking at me when I was putting the picture on the slide.

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No.

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No.

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He probably is, but you can't see him.

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Yeah.

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Oh my word.

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They just crack me up.

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How do you sex them?

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How do you know that's a boy?

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So if you look at his crest, he has, and he's sticking them up in that picture.

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He's got little like feathers coming off of his crest.

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And so they'll have those.

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He's also bigger and he's crowing I know he's a rooster, but once, once you s- have been around your chickens, I if somebody else handed me a bunch of four-month-old silkies, I probably couldn't tell theirs apart, but with mine, I can start to tell them apart about four months old, just to, how their characteristics are.

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And those little streamers on the head, that's one of the first things that's gonna give them apart.

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And they do have, what are they?

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The heckles on the neck- that those feathers are gonna look a little different.

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And they do have saddle feathers, Okay.

00:15:10.008 --> 00:15:12.958
So do you DNA sex yours?

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I don't because at this point in my program, I'm keeping everything until they're six months old, till I decide if they stay or go.

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So by that point, they're all either crowing or laying eggs, so they don't need to.

00:15:27.448 --> 00:15:27.748
Okay.

00:15:28.288 --> 00:15:30.927
Out of curiosity, what age when they start laying?

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Usually between six and nine months.

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Okay.

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All right.

00:15:37.228 --> 00:15:39.378
So a little bit later than your regular chicken.

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Yep, that that sounds like a standard bread bird.

00:15:43.648 --> 00:15:43.978
Yeah.

00:15:44.608 --> 00:15:44.788
Yep.

00:15:44.788 --> 00:15:47.443
There's a lot of standard birds, it's six, eight weeks.

00:15:47.443 --> 00:15:48.873
It's not, six, eight months.

00:15:48.873 --> 00:15:51.793
It's not, eight to 12, 15 weeks.

00:15:51.843 --> 00:15:52.802
It's not fast.

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Yeah, like some of the box door chickens, yeah.

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This one was in my cold pen.

00:16:00.283 --> 00:16:06.853
Because you see that middle toe lacking a lot of feathers there and unfortunately she had duck foot or duct toe.

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See how both those little toes were pointing down?

00:16:10.603 --> 00:16:30.263
So that, I, out of the, I don't know, 120 I hatched this early, late last year, early this spring I had two with duct toe and three with Rybeek, so not too bad, but I was a little surprised to see that pop up because I haven't seen that in quite a few generations.

00:16:31.613 --> 00:16:35.483
So that is recessive, if I'm understanding correctly.

00:16:35.483 --> 00:16:40.163
And- if you don't coll it out, you will end up with it everywhere.

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Watched.

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So cold pen it is, right?

00:16:44.453 --> 00:16:45.293
Yeah.

00:16:45.413 --> 00:16:45.623
Yep.

00:16:45.623 --> 00:16:47.573
And she went to a nice pet quality home.

00:16:47.663 --> 00:16:48.593
They're happy with her.

00:16:48.623 --> 00:16:51.829
It's not gonna affect her at all, but- definitely can't stay.

00:16:52.939 --> 00:16:53.179
Okay.

00:16:53.179 --> 00:17:01.119
So the one, the picture on the right is the one that I couldn't quite figure out last night, but now that I'm looking at it- Yeah.

00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:05.398
is that a one-eyed chick with blue lipstick on?

00:17:05.818 --> 00:17:05.979
No.

00:17:07.769 --> 00:17:08.999
That's a profile.

00:17:09.118 --> 00:17:17.548
And I just, I picked that one to show the blue e- ear because a lot of silkies you'll notice might have a red ear or white ear.

00:17:17.848 --> 00:17:30.669
So it's just one of those little picky points that you have to always make sure they've got a blue ear and a really dark brown to black eye and not a red or orange or light brown eye.

00:17:32.378 --> 00:17:36.699
Do you have to put their hair up in ponytails every morning so they can see where they're going?

00:17:37.295 --> 00:17:37.454
No.

00:17:38.048 --> 00:17:38.408
No.

00:17:38.408 --> 00:17:41.709
And that's another thing when you're breeding is not to overdo them.

00:17:42.249 --> 00:17:56.018
It's really easy to overdo them and make them so they can't see, and then you're gonna end up having to trim and put their crest up, which can be pretty If you don't know what you're doing, you can do some damage because they do, a lot of them have vaulted skulls.

00:17:56.068 --> 00:18:00.568
And if you put that, that scrunchy on too tight, you're gonna hurt their skull.

00:18:01.118 --> 00:18:01.148
Okay.

00:18:01.148 --> 00:18:03.068
Can we talk about that for just a second?

00:18:03.308 --> 00:18:03.728
Sure.

00:18:03.728 --> 00:18:06.608
So can you tell people what the vaulted skull is?

00:18:07.898 --> 00:18:22.038
So the vaulted skull is basically where the skull grows a little bit taller and is a little bit more prominent on the top and it's thinner.

00:18:22.188 --> 00:18:26.128
So there's still a skull there protecting the brain but it is thinner.

00:18:26.878 --> 00:18:28.918
It's not a fall, it's not a defect.

00:18:28.918 --> 00:18:36.328
A lot of people think it is but it does help balance the crest if you have Again, it's all about balance.

00:18:36.328 --> 00:18:41.068
You don't wanna have one with an extremely vaulted skull that could be dangerous.

00:18:41.098 --> 00:18:43.468
And you don't want one with too large of a crest either.

00:18:43.468 --> 00:18:44.998
You want the bird balanced.

00:18:45.178 --> 00:18:52.118
So having a s- a, moderately vaulted skull will give you that nice moderate crest that you're looking for.

00:18:53.238 --> 00:18:58.178
Anatomy-wise is there things to be aware of with the vault?

00:18:58.178 --> 00:19:03.788
Like you said, you can't exaggerate it one way, what could happen, and how would you know if you've exaggerated it?

00:19:04.388 --> 00:19:10.838
So if it's too big, s- a lot of them won't even hatch because they can't turn to unzip.

00:19:10.868 --> 00:19:10.898
Okay.

00:19:11.558 --> 00:19:13.928
The skull just gets stuck in there.

00:19:14.028 --> 00:19:21.078
And s- if they do hatch, like if you help them hatch out, you're gonna see a lot of neurologic signs with them.

00:19:21.078 --> 00:19:23.058
They might not be able to walk properly.

00:19:23.478 --> 00:19:32.408
They might have rye neck, or I've seen them to where they just kinda have almost like a head twitch to the, to one side.

00:19:32.918 --> 00:19:39.498
So they're not definitely not what you want in your breeding program.

00:19:40.458 --> 00:19:56.308
And that's one of the reasons why you might not wanna mix them with large fowl either because one corrective peck to the head, maybe where your larger chicken's not meaning to really hurt them, maybe just boss them around a little bit, could really hurt a silky, because that's, that skull is so thin up there.

00:19:58.438 --> 00:19:58.858
Okay.

00:19:59.098 --> 00:20:05.728
So how would you know if it's too much of a vault, like when they hatch, say?

00:20:05.758 --> 00:20:06.778
Well- Can you tell?

00:20:07.288 --> 00:20:08.008
Yeah.

00:20:08.938 --> 00:20:12.991
You, like I said, you, you can tell if they're not neurologically appropriate.

00:20:13.021 --> 00:20:13.051
Okay.

00:20:13.068 --> 00:20:15.451
sometimes they won't have any feathering on top.

00:20:15.841 --> 00:20:21.871
It'll be, like, bald and it'll just look really big compared to all your other babies.

00:20:22.181 --> 00:20:22.841
Okay, gotcha.

00:20:22.841 --> 00:20:24.431
Like a cone hits, the movie.

00:20:24.461 --> 00:20:25.301
Yeah.

00:20:25.391 --> 00:20:26.291
Exactly.

00:20:26.321 --> 00:20:26.711
Yep.

00:20:27.341 --> 00:20:41.631
And so that's one you wanna immediately put a little leg band on and say,"Okay, you're going into the pet, pet home." So in the incubation Facebook group that we have, we s- of course, there's a lot of silky people, and of course they wanna help them hatch.

00:20:42.291 --> 00:20:46.581
So then, of course, I am not about helping chicks hatch.

00:20:46.581 --> 00:20:51.651
I think if they can't hatch on their own, it's a sign of weakness, but I understand everybody does their own thing.

00:20:51.921 --> 00:20:56.151
So- Unless your five-year-old opens your incubator and shrink wraps them all, then I'll help them.

00:20:57.838 --> 00:20:58.958
So- But yeah, I agree.

00:21:00.591 --> 00:21:16.041
So if it is a silky and they do need help hatching, and then they also have exhibited neurological problems, then maybe suggest to people to look at their head and see if it's an exaggerated vault.

00:21:16.098 --> 00:21:16.218
Yeah.

00:21:16.671 --> 00:21:17.711
Yep, I would.

00:21:17.751 --> 00:21:18.051
Okay.

00:21:18.651 --> 00:21:19.101
Gotcha.

00:21:19.281 --> 00:21:20.031
That's good to know.

00:21:20.031 --> 00:21:20.901
I didn't know that.

00:21:20.901 --> 00:21:21.981
So- Yeah.

00:21:21.981 --> 00:21:21.991
Yeah.

00:21:22.311 --> 00:21:22.521
Yeah.

00:21:22.521 --> 00:21:23.001
All right, cool.

00:21:23.571 --> 00:21:24.021
Thank you.

00:21:24.531 --> 00:21:25.011
Yeah.

00:21:25.251 --> 00:21:25.611
Okay.

00:21:25.611 --> 00:21:28.791
I put these side by side because I assumed you were showing me something.

00:21:29.021 --> 00:21:31.901
So I just wanted to show the difference between a hen and a rooster.

00:21:31.931 --> 00:21:40.881
You were asking how you could tell them apart and I should have flipped the picture on the left over so you could compare, head to head and cushion to cushion.

00:21:41.421 --> 00:21:46.461
But so on, on the left, her head is down at the bottom.

00:21:46.971 --> 00:21:49.411
And and again, this kind of shows balance.

00:21:49.411 --> 00:21:53.311
So you want the cushion and the crest to reflect one another.

00:21:53.671 --> 00:21:56.401
And I think that both of these birds are pretty well balanced.

00:21:56.431 --> 00:21:58.381
The one on the left, that's a little pullet.

00:21:58.381 --> 00:22:01.441
She's not quite done growing yet, so she'll fill out a little more.

00:22:01.901 --> 00:22:04.901
And then for your boys, you want them nice and wide in the back.

00:22:05.171 --> 00:22:09.821
So it's always important, I th- I see a lot of profile pictures of silkies online.

00:22:10.131 --> 00:22:20.291
Not many people will post pictures of the top because I feel like a lot of people might have a narrow bird or maybe not know to look there, but you see how wide his back is.

00:22:20.631 --> 00:22:22.241
So you want a nice wide bird.

00:22:22.241 --> 00:22:24.381
And that, and it goes for the hen as well.

00:22:24.741 --> 00:22:28.511
Because they really are made up of three balls, the cushion, the crest and the body.

00:22:30.561 --> 00:22:35.441
And then on the cockroll, you can see his little streamers going back there and then- I do see them now.

00:22:35.921 --> 00:22:36.551
Yeah.

00:22:37.901 --> 00:22:39.101
And then the head- Streamers.

00:22:39.101 --> 00:22:42.221
a little more smooth on the back of her crest.

00:22:42.961 --> 00:22:46.261
Is streamers a silky term or is it a technical term?

00:22:46.891 --> 00:22:49.621
It's, I've only ever heard it used in silkies.

00:22:50.431 --> 00:22:50.821
Okay.

00:22:51.291 --> 00:22:53.571
I don't know if other breeds have streamers or not.

00:22:53.601 --> 00:22:53.961
No.

00:22:54.961 --> 00:22:56.071
We have sickle feathers.

00:22:56.941 --> 00:22:58.141
Oh, okay.

00:23:00.641 --> 00:23:03.131
The ones that flare out over their tail?

00:23:03.131 --> 00:23:03.191
Yeah.

00:23:03.341 --> 00:23:04.091
Sickle feathers.

00:23:05.929 --> 00:23:06.189
All right.

00:23:06.249 --> 00:23:07.211
Which are beautiful.

00:23:07.211 --> 00:23:08.681
So we have a box of drowned rats.

00:23:08.741 --> 00:23:11.821
And, these are my babies getting their spring bath.

00:23:11.901 --> 00:23:26.391
So I was just gonna mention, and it's funny that, listening to your most recent podcast that Carrie had mentioned, if somebody doesn't do their research, he's not even gonna answer back their email, you know about a chicken.

00:23:26.751 --> 00:23:37.491
And so my point with this picture was that a lot of people see these cute little chickens online and they don't realize that they need a lot more care than a regular chicken.

00:23:37.541 --> 00:23:40.931
They'll need a bath at least twice a year to keep their feathers healthy.

00:23:41.411 --> 00:23:43.601
And they're not pretty when they're wet, as you can see.

00:23:43.651 --> 00:23:47.761
And then on top of giving them a bath, you have to have the means to dry them.

00:23:47.761 --> 00:23:53.691
So I have like one of those industrial dog blow dryers that everybody gets blow dried.

00:23:54.051 --> 00:23:58.281
And there's just, they're different than your average chicken.

00:23:58.281 --> 00:23:59.271
They don't boost.

00:23:59.301 --> 00:24:02.551
They sleep in little cuddle piles on the floor.

00:24:02.791 --> 00:24:07.411
So if you have them in with big chickens, they're gonna sleep under the roost and just get pooped all over.

00:24:07.831 --> 00:24:17.586
And I just- let me ask this- with you bringing that up about the way they sleep, when they are chicks and you've got them in a brooder, are they- are they real bad about piling up then?

00:24:18.696 --> 00:24:20.866
They they do sleep all piled up.

00:24:20.866 --> 00:24:24.196
I keep my brooder pretty warm though, so they spread it out and then- They will.

00:24:24.406 --> 00:24:28.616
So as long as it's warm, they won't pile and try to, hurt each other- Crush each other.

00:24:28.664 --> 00:24:28.976
anything like that.

00:24:28.976 --> 00:24:29.366
Yeah.

00:24:29.414 --> 00:24:29.534
Yeah.

00:24:29.634 --> 00:24:30.154
No, that's good.

00:24:30.234 --> 00:24:35.096
They do like to s- snuggle up with each other but they don't tend to overdo it, I don't think.

00:24:35.636 --> 00:24:38.936
I should've got a picture of when they all go into the coop at night.

00:24:38.936 --> 00:24:42.186
They just kinda, like, all lay down into a corner together.

00:24:43.146 --> 00:24:44.796
So the big birds do that.

00:24:44.796 --> 00:24:49.824
I'm not hearing anything that's out of the ordinary, so even my- But they won't- Won't be tense.

00:24:50.445 --> 00:24:52.206
They won't go on a roost at all.

00:24:52.726 --> 00:24:53.236
I have some breasts out there.

00:24:53.285 --> 00:24:54.896
Even if it's like a foot tall?

00:24:55.706 --> 00:24:56.156
Yeah.

00:24:56.156 --> 00:24:59.066
Some of them will hop up there, but they really don't.

00:25:00.365 --> 00:25:01.285
Yeah.

00:25:01.346 --> 00:25:01.736
Yeah.

00:25:02.096 --> 00:25:03.385
I wonder if you put one of your layers on.

00:25:03.385 --> 00:25:04.316
They don't chicken.

00:25:04.476 --> 00:25:06.336
No, they don't.

00:25:06.336 --> 00:25:07.646
They just, they stay babies.

00:25:09.306 --> 00:25:09.666
I don't know.

00:25:09.726 --> 00:25:22.026
Yeah, because the Kiki Rikis that are with them are all over the place, flying up in the rafters and everywhere, and the silkies are just like,"All right, see you tomorrow." See, I'm gonna get me some kikirikis just because I like saying the word.

00:25:22.666 --> 00:25:23.506
You won't regret that?

00:25:23.556 --> 00:25:26.016
Every farm needs a tiny cock, I'm telling you.

00:25:27.366 --> 00:25:28.326
How do you spell that?

00:25:28.806 --> 00:25:30.666
Kiki Ricky, just like it sounds.

00:25:32.676 --> 00:25:35.066
It's a bunch of I's with some Ks and Rs.

00:25:35.066 --> 00:25:38.966
Ki- K-I-K-I-R-I?

00:25:39.326 --> 00:25:40.346
Is that a Kiki Riki?

00:25:40.485 --> 00:25:41.205
Kikiriki.

00:25:41.685 --> 00:25:42.065
Yeah.

00:25:43.065 --> 00:25:43.385
Different.

00:25:44.385 --> 00:25:45.285
That's a real thing.

00:25:45.825 --> 00:25:46.035
Yeah.

00:25:46.035 --> 00:25:47.385
Oh, I can hook you guys up.

00:25:47.385 --> 00:25:48.915
That's the table dancers.

00:25:49.635 --> 00:25:51.045
No, those are sharamas.

00:25:51.525 --> 00:25:53.055
They look just like them though.

00:25:53.105 --> 00:25:53.855
They're smaller.

00:25:54.365 --> 00:25:55.505
They're smaller and friendlier.

00:25:55.505 --> 00:25:56.465
They do look smaller.

00:25:56.765 --> 00:25:59.795
Ceramas are mean a lot of the time.

00:25:59.795 --> 00:26:06.785
Like these things, they look like they're the mi- miniature of miniatures.

00:26:06.845 --> 00:26:06.875
Okay.

00:26:06.875 --> 00:26:08.525
These are smaller than moderns.

00:26:09.005 --> 00:26:09.425
Yes.

00:26:09.605 --> 00:26:12.245
Hey, Listen, we're gonna do Kiki Rickis on another show.

00:26:12.755 --> 00:26:13.385
We're talking about silkies right now.

00:26:14.585 --> 00:26:14.915
Yep.

00:26:15.065 --> 00:26:18.455
This is a dad gum rabbit hole waiting to run down.

00:26:18.785 --> 00:26:19.175
Yeah.

00:26:19.475 --> 00:26:20.855
Just because you wanna spell it.

00:26:21.035 --> 00:26:23.015
Okay, what are we looking at on this picture?

00:26:23.355 --> 00:26:33.645
So this goes back to Carrie's earlier question about the lighter comb and this little pullet has a really pink comb and even her be- beak looks a little too light.

00:26:34.035 --> 00:26:36.545
So this one was in my pet home pile.

00:26:36.965 --> 00:26:42.155
And then the one on the right, that's the darker comb that you wanna see and the darker peak.

00:26:44.155 --> 00:26:44.425
Yep.

00:26:44.485 --> 00:26:47.125
I could see that when I took the pictures up there.

00:26:47.305 --> 00:26:48.295
No, let me ask this.

00:26:48.295 --> 00:26:54.080
On this particular bird, the white tip at the beak- is that a no-go or is that okay?

00:26:54.740 --> 00:27:01.760
That's okay because, all that beak covering is just the keratin and that, that is gonna be clear to yellow anyways.

00:27:01.790 --> 00:27:05.440
But you want that bone underneath to be nice and dark and black.

00:27:07.209 --> 00:27:07.669
Okay.

00:27:07.674 --> 00:27:09.640
So the beak itself is not black.

00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:11.110
It's the bone underneath this black.

00:27:11.140 --> 00:27:11.740
Yeah.

00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:18.410
And some silkies will have a pigmented beak but those are usually seen in your paints and your splashes.

00:27:18.410 --> 00:27:26.860
If they have a black spot near their beak, you'll see some of that pigment go over onto their beak, but their beak, the beaks themselves are not pigmented.

00:27:28.150 --> 00:27:28.510
Okay.

00:27:29.650 --> 00:27:30.100
Interesting.

00:27:30.100 --> 00:27:30.340
Yeah.

00:27:31.390 --> 00:27:32.560
Just the bone underneath.

00:27:33.560 --> 00:27:38.090
And then this was an example of an eye that's a little bit too light in color.

00:27:38.660 --> 00:27:46.210
And I should have got that one over in the sunlight as well, but the one on the right has a nice black to dark brown eye.

00:27:46.570 --> 00:27:49.810
You don't wanna see that, like that light golden color eye in your silkies.

00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:55.290
And that was the one that had the lighter comb anyways, so he was already in my pet pile.

00:27:56.550 --> 00:27:58.710
What about the beak on the one on the right?

00:27:59.490 --> 00:27:59.850
Yep.

00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:04.360
So that one I think that was the example of the crossbeak.

00:28:05.290 --> 00:28:06.851
Oh, that's next, I think.

00:28:06.851 --> 00:28:06.881
On the right.

00:28:07.510 --> 00:28:08.020
Yeah.

00:28:08.590 --> 00:28:09.910
Oh, and that was just a repeat.

00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:10.240
Yep.

00:28:10.420 --> 00:28:11.290
There's a crossbeak.

00:28:11.350 --> 00:28:11.740
Yeah.

00:28:13.030 --> 00:28:17.050
So right color, unfortunately.

00:28:17.690 --> 00:28:25.530
And I feel like if you start to get into the line breeding enough, you're gonna start to see some of these traits come out.

00:28:25.530 --> 00:28:35.420
And I feel like it's, while it sucks to see it's good at the same point because once you remove those, then you're just cleaning up your line a little bit more, yep.

00:28:35.510 --> 00:28:47.030
But yeah I hadn't seen duck, ducto or crossbeak for two generations and then all of a sudden- Is it possible that you did- Words of these defects.

00:28:47.660 --> 00:28:50.840
Is it possible that you did a sibling mating?

00:28:52.850 --> 00:28:55.340
I did a sibling mating initially.

00:28:56.600 --> 00:28:56.870
Yep.

00:28:57.500 --> 00:28:59.212
And so then these were- Is that maybe these?

00:29:00.170 --> 00:29:00.500
Nope.

00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:04.100
So then these were, trying to think down my generation.

00:29:04.100 --> 00:29:14.630
So then their parents were like uncle to niece, if that makes sense.

00:29:16.060 --> 00:29:16.095
Yeah.

00:29:16.185 --> 00:29:16.935
Will that be okay?

00:29:17.145 --> 00:29:20.025
Sometimes you'll see defects come out in a sibling mating.

00:29:20.075 --> 00:29:22.055
But the line breeding should be fine.

00:29:22.055 --> 00:29:25.445
You should be able to line breed pretty far, but- Yeah.

00:29:25.655 --> 00:29:28.655
the sibling mating will show you things like this.

00:29:29.015 --> 00:29:29.375
Yeah.

00:29:29.495 --> 00:29:31.115
But that's one of the benefits of it.

00:29:31.815 --> 00:29:45.405
When you get your, when you get your line where where you're happy with it, when you start fine tuning things, that's where the sibling mating comes in handy because things that have been hiding for a while will pop out.

00:29:46.745 --> 00:29:46.780
Yep.

00:29:46.840 --> 00:29:50.650
And then you can clean it up a little more and move forward.

00:29:51.650 --> 00:29:53.990
So this is a picture of a bonnet crest.

00:29:54.150 --> 00:29:58.200
A lot of people like the really big overdone cr- crest.

00:29:58.980 --> 00:30:04.750
For me personally, I don't like them because like we talked about earlier, you're gonna have to do a little more maintenance on them.

00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:07.330
I like my birds to be able to see on their own.

00:30:07.430 --> 00:30:15.800
And so while she was really pretty her crust, and this little pullet was only four months old, so that crest is just gonna get way too out of control.

00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:26.840
The crest is supposed to be like a single ball kind of, and this one, you can almost identify three, like one over each eye and then her crest on the top.

00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:32.090
She's not really what I would consider a good crest.

00:30:33.230 --> 00:30:33.440
Okay.

00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:37.250
So the crest are inheritable traits, highly inheritable?

00:30:37.306 --> 00:30:37.446
Yes.

00:30:37.546 --> 00:30:37.726
Okay.

00:30:37.886 --> 00:30:38.012
Gotcha.

00:30:38.526 --> 00:30:41.346
Now, on that, so if you're, so we're looking down from the top.

00:30:41.886 --> 00:30:42.126
Yep.

00:30:42.426 --> 00:30:43.896
Should it be round?

00:30:44.496 --> 00:30:45.306
It should be.

00:30:45.366 --> 00:30:45.666
Yep.

00:30:45.666 --> 00:30:47.346
It should be round all the way around.

00:30:47.376 --> 00:30:47.706
Yep.

00:30:47.916 --> 00:30:50.192
You shouldn't be able to see like eyebrows.

00:30:50.446 --> 00:30:59.666
At 2:30- ish and almost 10 o'clock- if you're looking at it where it comes in right there at those points, that's not something- Yeah.

00:30:59.876 --> 00:31:01.166
you would want, correct?

00:31:03.323 --> 00:31:03.543
Correct.

00:31:03.543 --> 00:31:03.553
Yep.

00:31:03.746 --> 00:31:11.776
So you would just find a pair to make this width that had the crest that you did want- and wait a year and see what happens.

00:31:13.336 --> 00:31:21.359
And, and with all the ones that I had this spring, I had plenty where I was just like,"All right, we're not gonna mess with it.

00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:32.489
But if somebody had a bird that they'd been working on for a while trying to get a bigger crest, this might be a good one to add to their program, because she'll definitely add some crest for sure.

00:31:32.489 --> 00:31:32.549
Yeah.

00:31:34.809 --> 00:31:41.177
And the hen is where a lot of the features from the head and the comb and waddle, like the crest- Yeah.

00:31:41.269 --> 00:31:45.939
the comb and the waddle comes mostly from a hen because I've- Yes.

00:31:46.349 --> 00:31:59.609
I've taken a hen with a perfect comb- paired her with a rooster that had a jacked up waddle- And combs and every single thing that hatched out had a perfect comb and wattle set.

00:32:00.389 --> 00:32:00.869
Nice.

00:32:00.919 --> 00:32:01.159
Yeah.

00:32:01.849 --> 00:32:02.239
Yeah.

00:32:02.989 --> 00:32:04.429
I was glad that was an easy fix.

00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:05.089
Yeah.

00:32:06.049 --> 00:32:10.519
So let's, let me ask you a couple questions about incubating for a minute.

00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:16.429
So we had a question in the group the other day what is the average size for a silky egg?

00:32:16.999 --> 00:32:20.359
Do you have a idea of what that would be?

00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:20.419
Yeah.

00:32:21.139 --> 00:32:28.069
So mine that I put in my incubator are usually about 40 to 45 grams.

00:32:29.699 --> 00:32:30.149
That's pretty good.

00:32:30.149 --> 00:32:32.974
So like a banner- Yep.

00:32:35.344 --> 00:32:36.424
Yep, exactly.

00:32:36.424 --> 00:32:39.204
And I don't I don't hatch out pulley eggs.

00:32:39.314 --> 00:32:48.794
I guess those would be a little smaller and some people do it, but yeah, I wait until they get up to- You fight the temptation.

00:32:50.765 --> 00:32:51.074
I do.

00:32:51.164 --> 00:32:51.734
It's hard.

00:32:53.214 --> 00:32:54.384
Like- What about shape?

00:32:56.094 --> 00:33:02.694
So the silky egg is gonna be a little bit more oblong than than your regular large chicken egg.

00:33:02.904 --> 00:33:10.764
But it sh- you should still be able to tell which is, which is the pointy end and which is gonna have your air cell in it.

00:33:10.864 --> 00:33:12.934
So it s- still should have that shape.

00:33:13.264 --> 00:33:19.004
Some silky eggs will get really oblong and very pointy and those I'll put in the breakfast pile.

00:33:19.574 --> 00:33:20.444
You mean torpedo?

00:33:20.444 --> 00:33:21.764
I call them torpedo eggs.

00:33:21.794 --> 00:33:22.394
Yeah.

00:33:22.604 --> 00:33:22.904
Yep.

00:33:22.964 --> 00:33:23.324
Yeah.

00:33:23.354 --> 00:33:23.714
Okay.

00:33:23.774 --> 00:33:25.724
And not golf balls.

00:33:26.144 --> 00:33:27.764
No, we don't want golf balls.

00:33:28.334 --> 00:33:28.604
Okay.

00:33:28.604 --> 00:33:31.714
So you do 40 to 45 grams.

00:33:32.384 --> 00:33:36.074
What about if you had a monster, like a 50 gram pop out?

00:33:37.004 --> 00:33:39.434
Would you chalk that up as a double yoker?

00:33:40.814 --> 00:33:42.674
I'd probably just put that in the breakfast basket.

00:33:43.064 --> 00:33:43.364
Yep.

00:33:43.454 --> 00:33:43.794
Probably be a double yoke.

00:33:44.624 --> 00:33:45.014
Just abnormal.

00:33:45.014 --> 00:33:46.224
I can't yep.

00:33:46.224 --> 00:33:51.984
And I really, yep, just try to stick right mid, mid-level.

00:33:52.614 --> 00:33:53.424
No, that's good.

00:33:53.424 --> 00:34:15.914
I would, I was just curious like what a top side of one would be, because I know with other foul I have a lot of large foul I know that 60 to 65 grounds is the high side- on a large foul, but with the American breasts, that's ideal because you're gonna get larger chicks and better grow outs.

00:34:16.525 --> 00:34:16.534
Yeah.

00:34:16.944 --> 00:34:18.684
So- You want a nice giant chick.

00:34:18.684 --> 00:34:22.954
Yeah, and I guess- So that, that's why I was curious about the silkies.

00:34:23.764 --> 00:34:30.465
And you wanna keep them right at that mid-level too, because you don't want them to get too small, but you don't want them to get too big either.

00:34:31.454 --> 00:34:34.275
So because they will occasionally at shows they'll weigh them.

00:34:34.664 --> 00:34:38.114
And if they're, if they don't make the weight cut, then they're disqualified.

00:34:40.694 --> 00:34:41.985
What about incubation time?

00:34:41.985 --> 00:34:44.864
Still 21 days, anything special?

00:34:44.914 --> 00:34:45.335
Yeah.

00:34:45.335 --> 00:34:55.005
I, a lot of times will hatch them with my Kiki Ricky eggs and so I pull everybody off the turner at 17 days.

00:34:56.684 --> 00:34:58.904
We're gonna say, he's gonna get the giggles every time.

00:35:00.644 --> 00:35:03.485
No, I swear I'm going down a rabbit hole tonight.

00:35:03.545 --> 00:35:05.735
I'm, I may not go to bed till 2:00.

00:35:06.275 --> 00:35:08.594
I gotta figure out about these Kiki Rickis.

00:35:09.594 --> 00:35:13.045
I'm gonna, I'm gonna do that and then I'm gonna have to find, I'm gonna have to find some.

00:35:13.644 --> 00:35:13.974
Oh, man.

00:35:13.974 --> 00:35:14.924
So-'Cause they're really cute.

00:35:15.684 --> 00:35:15.724
Yeah.

00:35:16.244 --> 00:35:19.174
I'll- I'll put a trio in a box and ship them down.

00:35:19.804 --> 00:35:22.764
They're, once they establish- A trail will probably fit in a box.

00:35:22.974 --> 00:35:23.634
They will.

00:35:23.754 --> 00:35:29.454
Once they establish I could probably put five in a box for you, but once they establish, you're not gonna get rid of them.

00:35:29.554 --> 00:35:31.954
It's letting mint go in your garden.

00:35:32.014 --> 00:35:32.764
It'll just take over.

00:35:34.474 --> 00:35:36.364
You'll have little babies popping up everywhere.

00:35:37.381 --> 00:35:38.301
How big are their eggs?

00:35:39.724 --> 00:35:43.294
They're, they're not as small as you would if I haven't weighed'em.

00:35:43.294 --> 00:35:46.444
I just kinda eyeball but- So they, they still pop out a pretty big egg?

00:35:47.464 --> 00:35:47.974
Yeah.

00:35:47.974 --> 00:35:49.864
Bigger than bigger- Compared to their size?

00:35:50.294 --> 00:35:52.274
You would think they would lay like a robin sized egg.

00:35:52.274 --> 00:35:54.734
It's only slightly smaller than the silky egg.

00:35:55.424 --> 00:35:55.574
Huh.

00:35:55.574 --> 00:36:00.222
And those babies could hatch out of them- That's very impressive.

00:36:00.232 --> 00:36:00.614
and they're ready to go.

00:36:02.174 --> 00:36:06.014
And that's another reason I hatch them with the silkies because they'll teach the silkies how to eat.

00:36:07.274 --> 00:36:15.044
'Cause they come out scratching and pecking and ready to eat and the silkies are just like,"I'm gonna take a nap now." And Kiki's will get them going.

00:36:15.914 --> 00:36:16.304
Okay.

00:36:17.204 --> 00:36:17.744
It's pretty cool.

00:36:18.024 --> 00:36:18.064
Yeah.

00:36:18.264 --> 00:36:18.585
All right.

00:36:19.264 --> 00:36:20.774
I'll hold all my questions for later.

00:36:20.774 --> 00:36:23.683
We have enjoyed you being- So the next podcast.

00:36:24.163 --> 00:36:25.023
Yes, exactly.

00:36:25.543 --> 00:36:27.164
We have enjoyed you being here.

00:36:27.164 --> 00:36:32.994
I put a picture up here so people can find you on Facebook because, sometimes you find the wrong farm.

00:36:33.085 --> 00:36:33.114
Okay.

00:36:33.114 --> 00:36:34.585
So this is the cover photo.

00:36:35.044 --> 00:36:40.323
And we will have you back to talk about Kiki Rikis because Kerri Collins- She's already picked up another follower.

00:36:42.844 --> 00:36:43.294
I'm on it.

00:36:46.264 --> 00:36:46.864
All right.

00:36:46.964 --> 00:36:48.074
Thank you so much.

00:36:48.074 --> 00:36:50.234
That was very, that was a lot of fun.