HatTrick Silkies Articles Truths

The Truth About Breeding
Faults & DQs
~ Nikki Stetson

When you start breeding Silkies with a purpose, or goal in mind (The Standard of Perfection), you find out rather quickly that not every chick hatched is 'perfect'. Sometimes it takes a little time to realize the difference between imperfections(faults) that can be used carefully and imperfections that can be disasterous. It is my hope to guide you through some of those faults and give you the truth as to how it is going to affect you further down the line. I will use as little genetic spin as possible.
Remember, if faults, dqs and bad traits were so easy to get rid of, we wouldn't be talking about them.
Keeping it simple and using common sense will take you where you need to go.

Some traits, such as wrong number of toes, can be hidden somewhat easily due to the fact that they are recessive genes. Both parents must show it or carry it in order for that trait to pop out. The down side is, if only one parent passes it along to an offspring, that offspring is a carrier and will surely pass that recessive gene along down the line. If you believe in anything I tell you about recessive genes, believe that Murphy's Law will ensure these hidden (recessive) genes will pop out in the most amazing birds, rendering them useless. The best advice I can give you is steer as clear of recessive genes as possible and certainly never chance using a single combed, or wrong # of toes bird, trust me.

TOES

THE STANDARD:
Toes: Five - three front straight, well and evenly spread.
The hind toe double, the normal toe in natural position and
the extra toe placed above, starting from close to the other toe,
but well formed, longer than the other toes and curving upwards and backwards.

Since Silkies are known for their five toes, some important things to remember about toes are;
Four and six toed birds should not be used. Recessive - will keep passing down.
Double toe nails should not be used, it is a sixth toe. As is a "nub" sitting anywhere on the fifth toe...it too is a sixth toe.

Toe placement, fortunately, is one of the few bad traits that really is easy enough to work with. Please see Janet's article on Importance of Toes. One placement issue that I personally don't like to see and won't use if at all possible is "duck toe". Note in Image AT#3, the fourth toe points downward and lays against the leg. If you are unsure about this, place the bird down on a table or flat surface and look at the foot head on to get a proper perspective of toe placement - Img AT4.

TAIL

THE STANDARD:
Tail: Male; short, very shredded at ends, well spread at base, filled underneath with an abundance of soft feathers which are overlapped by coverts and lesser sickles, the whole forming a duplex curve with back and saddle. Sickles, lesser sickles, and coverts; abundant, soft, well curved, without hard quills, concealing main tail feathers. Female; short, very shredded at ends, well spread at base, filled underneath with an abundance of soft feathers which are overlapped by cushion and coverts, the whole forming a duplex curve with back and cushion.

Silkies are known for their 'fluff' and one of those attributes is a big, fluffy tail. But that too is not without it's own challenges. Some of the things we look for in a tail is tail set, hard feathers, off color in colored birds, shape of tail and wry tail.

Wry Tail is a condition where the tail set naturally carries to one side, as opposed to centered to follow the natural line of the bird's back.
Wry tail is a skeletal issue and birds with this fault should not be used for breeding.

Below are examples of wry tail in a young, self blue cockerel:

The video below is an example of wry tail in a silkied Serama:

Below are examples of wry tail in a buff silkie pullet:

The video below is an example wry tail in a Silkie:

PAGE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION 5/13/2012
I will be adding A LOT more information and pictures, not just of the basics but will also work expand into each variety as well.

Special thanks to those who contributed to this article; Julie, Montana, Bobbi, Chelsea, Randall, Vanessa, Glenda

Click Here to return to the Articles section