Frizzles & Sizzles

 My paint Sizzle rooster and a bantam white cochin hen. My rooster is the offspring of a Paint Silkie rooster and bantam white cochin hen. I like the way he looks and he is the head honcho of my bantam flock of sizzles.

 He knows he's handsome and struts his stuff proudly.

 This is one of my Paint Silkie hens. She's only a few months old here. Her sire was a Paint Silkie and her mama was a white Silkie I bought from Murray MacMurray hatchery, so I don't know more about her ( mama ) than that she is a white Silkie. I am still reading up and learning about 'paint' genetics but the breeding of the rooster and several white Silkie hens has produced quite a few paints for me and I am happy with them thus far. ( Going to keep the black hen from this crossing to see what she hatched out after being bred to her paint half-brother.)

 Here is one of my white bantam frizzled cochins. She is a good mama and hatched a passel of little paint sizzles. I am having so much fun with these cute chickens !  (MY Sizzles are chickens I get from hatching eggs produced by the breeding of my Silkies with Bantam Frizzled Cochins.)

 Mama frizzle with her chicks.

 Look at this crazy Sizzle. She has a few spots and wacky feathers. Love her !

I am learning a lot raising these chickens . I am set on producing Sizzles with spots ( paint) and Silkie skin coloring, blue / black. I have a few that already fit this description. My next project in the poultry pens will be to evaluate all my Silkies and Sizzles and narrow my flock down to what I want to keep and breed. Always something to do in the poultry pens !

Paint Sizzles ~ I Hope !

Sizzle chicks are hatching ! Yesterday morning I checked under this frizzled white bantam cochin to discover the first egg of her clutch had hatched. A tiny still wet from the egg chick was under her, and she was very angry with me for disturbing her and the chick.

I am kind of excited about these chicks because they are the chicks from her breeding to my Paint Silkie rooster. The next few days will tell , will I have Paint Sizzles or not ?

Paint Silkies & My Attempt to Breed More

 In November of 2013 I bought 2 Paint Silkies at a poultry show in Chehalis, WA. I had never before seen any chickens with big spots or splotches and I fell in love with this variety of Silkies.. I am sure my paint Silkie roosters are not show quality as they were being sold by someone who was showing their Silkies at this poultry show ( and show people don't sell show quality stock at the price I paid for my rooster ), but I did not care. I wanted spotted Silkies even if they were not show quality. ( I have spotted black & white sheep too .) Above is the rooster who has started my breeding program in search of Paint Silkies . I have 6 white Silkie hens from 2 different mail order hatcheries I bred him to.

 This is a group of 5 chicks from my Paint Silkie and 4 Silkie hens. Of the many eggs my Silkie hens faithfully tended only 5 chicks hatched. 2 are gray, the other 3 are white, and only one chick has spots.

 I am not sure if the gray chicks are splash, or if they are blue, or what ...? I have so much to learn about the colors and genetics of silkies and have been poring over on-line info regarding them.

 The 2 gray - blue chicks.

 One of my white chicks studies me as I study him. ( her ? )

 I opened the wings of one of the gray chicks to show the color and the wing development.

 The only paint chick is on the far right. It has a few spots here and there, and they are definitely spots, not splash or barring.

 These two silkie chicks were incubated and tended by a pair of Porcelain d'Uccles . ( Shh, they don't know they're another breed of chicken so don't mention it to them . ) These chicks are also from my Paint Silkie and white Silkie hens. From the chicks' budding combs I believe the chick on the left is a male and the other a female.

 These chicks look like baby dinosaurs, don't they ?

 

 They have very dark blue skin. Look at their feet.

 I turned the chicks upside down to photograph the skin color underneath their wings too. The chicks were not happy with me and very happy to be re-united with their parents and siblings ,

 a family of Porcelain & Self-Blue d'Uccles * ( click on asterisk to see previous post about the d'Uccles ). Again I'd like to stress to you that these chicks are unaware they are not related through breeding to the d'Uccles , so don't mention it to them ! Their mama is very attentive to them and their siblings and their papa is very protective.

From my Paint Silkie rooster and 6 Silkie hens I have had 9 chicks successfully hatch and only one chick is a Paint. I have a few bantam hens sitting on newly laid eggs from my Paint Silkie rooster pairings, so am hopeful for even more paints. I will be breeding these chicks back to their father and / or each other and will keep good records of them. I am going to be banding all the chicks according to generation of breeding and eventually be even more specific and particular in the pairings. But for now I am hoping for more Paint Silkies.

If you have any suggestions or info that would help please comment ! Thank-you ~ by Granny Baa

 

I posted my question about the color, breeding, etc. of Paint Silkies on a Facebook page and received some very interesting info, comment, and advice. I am going to paste the responses here as an update. I am very thankful to all the people willing to share their knowledge with me and I hope sharing this with you helps all of us raising poultry ! ~ " question!! I have various shades of grey, platinum? and blues trying the same thing lol

20 hrs · Like

Donna Rippy I just looked really quickly but are you crossing the paint cockerel with WHITE? That will NEVER work. Paints are really white chickens with one copy of Dominate white and the spots are leakage. Paints should be breed to BLACKS and other Paints. The other colors you are seeing are probably from you whites. White can hide lots of colors and my guess is she is either blue are splash under that white.

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Donna Rippy BTW Most White Silkies are recessive white.... that is why the pattern will not work with whites.

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Dian Gardner Donna is correct, breed Paints with Black or other Paints only. Otherwise you will end up with all sorts of odd colors, and a genetic mess. Don't breed to the grey (lavender) or the blues either - unless you are trying to produce blue paints. You wi...See More

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Andrew Ari Darmawi is paint actually dom white? I thought it was another gene...

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Jennifer Shaughnessy Misty Svedberg do you know?

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Dian Gardner Paint is an alilee of dominant white and it behaves like it. However.. there is possibly evidence that a bird that doesn't look like Paint may actually produce Paint babies.. as not all Paints look white/black.

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JimandKathy Burnson Thank-you Donna Rippy , Dian Gardner. Since my Silkie hens are from mail order hatcheries i don't know their parentage and had no idea about all you told me here. I do know when I bred my Paint Silkie rooster to a white frizzled cochin ( bantam ) i go...See More

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Cochins, Spotted Silkie-Cochins, and Doves

 Bantam White Cochins. These two roosters are both purebred cochins , one is frizzled.  They both came in an order I received last June of Frizzled Bantam Cochins, White. Although one of the roosters does not have frizzled feathers, he is capable of siring frizzled chicks.

 I use kitty litter buckets as nest boxes for my bantams. The roosters seem to love them. I have observed the little hens waiting patiently for the roosters to get out of the nest boxes so they ( hens ) could get in and get busy.

 A sweet fluffy frizzled hen. I love these little fluffy balls of feathers !

 I obtained a pair of Paint Silkie Roosters last year. I placed them in a pen with my one Silkie hen and a few frizzled bantam white cochins. I did not get any successfully hatched chicks from the Silkie , but plenty of Silkie-Cochin crosses. Quite a few had spots, which I LOVE ! Spots like these are not common in chickens,

 I know these little chickens are not able to be shown because they are not purebred, and don't fit the standard for Sizzles (is there a standard for them ? ) but have decided I am going to aim for a particular standard of my own for these little chickens. I want small white chickens with very curly feathers, good sized black spots randomly placed all over the chicken, with blue under-color . I like the dark blue around the eyes and beak instead of the bright red.

 My preference here is the body shape & coloring of the chicken on the right, but the spotting of the chicken on the left. This is so much fun. My chickens make me smile, a lot !

 And then there are my doves. My sweet, easy-to-keep doves that coo and coo throughout all weather conditions. They faithfully tend their young and are so graceful , almost angelic appearing as they fly around their pen from perch to perch.

 My doves are prolific breeders and the numbers are requiring me to have to offer a few for sale again. I hate choosing doves to sell. Each one I choose is so perfect ! But I need to reduce the number of doves for the doves' sake. When there are too many of them they begin to compete for nesting spaces and perch space and get so busy chasing each other around they all suffer for the chaos.

A dove setting on eggs, more baby doves to come !



This is a glimpse of a few of my chickens and my doves this month. Every keeper of livestock & poultry needs to spend some time simply observing their animals. This gives the keeper an idea of the state of the flocks & herds, an idea of changes to be made. Sometimes simply taking time to observe them also allows the keeper to see things that alert him/her to health problems. Health problems caught early are often easily treatable and prevent serious infection or contagion. Feeding and caring for your animals should be a given, but knowing your animals and how they should behave is right up there with the most important things you should do. Besides, it's fun , after all, we're keeping animals we love and enjoy, right ?



My Poultry Management & Goals for 2014

 I am pleased with the Sebastopol geese I bought last spring. Ella & Fella are beautiful, easy to keep, and I am hoping they follow the plan and lay fertile eggs THEY will incubate & raise. These geese just make me happy. They know my voice and squawk & honk every time I speak to them. They also follow me around like puppies.

 Our laying flock is comprised of Americaunas, Cuckoo Marans, and white Orpingtons. The Cuckoo Marans have been a disappointment because after the first few months of laying, their chocolate brown eggs became the typical brown color of most every other brown egg layer. Aside from my disappointment over their egg color though, the Marans have been hardy chickens laying all year round and my Maran rooster is a handsome and very nice fellow.

 Last weekend I cleaned the laying pen out. 12 wheelbarrows of yuck were toted out and spread in the garden and a shallow area needing more fill. I dusted the flock with lice powder and also the nest boxes & perches. I am putting apple cider vinegar in their water and have begun giving them Hen Grit . They seem to appreciate the grit . For the last 2 months I've been getting only 1 or 2 eggs a day but since Monday of this week the girls are giving me 3 to 5 eggs a day ! I think the total cleaning, dusting, and minerals have helped but have to admit the increasing daylight hours probably are the reason for the better egg count. That and the girls are finally all done moulting.

 I love my Bantam White Cochins, especially the frizzled ones. I am definitely going to keep raising them , maybe add some new breeding stock . The rooster is my original rooster so he must be a few years old and from what I've read, the fertility of roosters decreases significantly as they age.

 This is Mr. Fancy Pants. He is a Silkie / Bantam White Cochin cross hatched and raised here by his momma. I was afraid he was a goner 2 weeks ago. My Bantam Barred Cochin rooster decided after a year of getting along with Mr. Fancy Pants and the flock that he wanted to kill Mr. Fancy Pants. I found Mr. FP cowered in the corner of the bantam pen, bloodied and battered. I captured the barred bantam and caged him up to be sold at the auction. I had planned on keeping the barred cochin for breeding, but I simply don't have the desire to accommodate aggressive roosters anymore and Mr. Fancy Pants is easy going, tends & protects the hens and their chicks from predators and is fun to watch. I was concerned he had lost his right eye in the fight and until today it was a swollen shut blob. But look he has healed quite well !

 The two youngest doves are sitting near the lamp keeping warm and out of the way of the adult doves.

 I have a pair of doves sitting on eggs again. My doves are prolific and the dove population is always growing around here. I have 3 pens of doves. this is the backyard pen where they thrive. I captured 6 of the 20 living here and took them to the auction last weekend. It seems they are intent on replacing their numbers.

 These are the chickens I am really excited about ! Paint Silkies. No, they are not dirty. ( Well, their head tufts are because they keep pushing their heads into the chicken wire surrounding their pen to get whatever looks good on the other side. ) They have black spots !

 I bought them at the poultry show I attended with my grandson Bugs. There are 2 roosters and a hen. I will be breeding the roosters to the white Silkies I already have and begin looking for some more Paints. I have been scouring the internet for as much info as I can find on this new variety. Just think, spotted sheep, spotted ducks, spotted chickens.....

Best of all fresh from the chicken eggs !

 

2014 Goals for my poultry :

• Buy more white Orpingtons & Americaunas for laying flock
• train geese & ducks to live and graze near the pond which will be a better home and environment for them ( in other words, they aren't to live in the backyard anymore )
• Prepare the new Silkie Shack for my Silkies and breeding program.
• Begin culling doves for the whitest , hoping to breed out the ghost of a ring around their necks I find in a few doves.
• Nurture assorted bantam hens , make new nest boxes for them to incubate & brood chicks.
• Buy new Bantam White Cochin chicks, some frizzled.
• Learn more about the Porcelains I have ( thanks Bugs ) and begin preparing them for show.
• Look into local poultry shows and begin preparations.
• Enjoy my chickens fully !!!!!!!!