Blue Sky Silkies

10/25/2024

My favorite splash cockeral grow-out from this year's hatch. His temperament is so sweet!

09/07/2024

Next up we have a pretty little blue pair. The roo is missing part of his crest and beard due to a "discussion" he had with his neighbor. 1 roo, 1 hen. No 🛳. PM for details.

09/07/2024

Sweet babies!

09/02/2024

Gone

BBS starter pack! Its time to thin the flock. 1 roo, 2 hens. No 🛳. PM for details.

08/31/2024

This year's growouts are growing up!

08/17/2024

Busy life + sneaky hens =

06/07/2024

05/30/2024

**** GIVEAWAY CLOSED!!!****
- will announce winners tomorrow in a live video!

****GIVEAWAY****GIVEAWAY****GIVEAWAY****

EDIT!!!! I will announce the winners live… any account replying to you in comments or private messages is not me, please report! DO NOT GIVE ANY PAYMENT INFORMATION…THIS IS A GIVEAWAY!!!

I THINK ITS TIME FOR A GIVEAWAY!!!

Thought I’d snag up a couple of the growouts and do my best to get a Red, White and Blue Memorial Day picture.

Life has been CA-RAY-ZEE for me these last few months. Some days it was just doing the bare minimum to care for my little Flock and if you know me at all, I love these birds and what I do to only offer my minimum. And as I can start to get my head above water again I must say this little silkie community has remained supportive to me and my birds. Even when I’ve been late to answer messages or missed them totally y’all gave me grace. Supported my breeding program and the vision I have for my particular corner of this breed. And so many of you offered me kind words and encouragement behind the scenes.

NEEDLESS TO SAY!!! I AM THANKFUL FOR YOU ALL!!! And for that I want to give something back.

So here’s what we are gonna do.

I’m going to give away 2 sets of Hens Choice Hatching eggs totally free!

There are a couple ways to be entered into this Give away

- Number one you MUST like this post

- you can get entered by tagging 3 friends in a comment

- you can be entered by sharing this post to your farm/personal page

- you can be entered by posting a patriotic picture of one of your chickens (does not have to be a silkie

- you can be entered by posting a picture of a bird that you have gotten directly from me or my eggs (but make sure it’s a pretty picture!) and tag me

We are gonna keep this going throughout the this holiday weekend/week and will close it next Saturday!

P.s. I would love to know how long you’ve been following me and farm page so please put it in your comment, even if you’re a new follower.

Alright let the fun begin!

Y’ALL HAVE AN AMAZING MEMORIAL DAY!!!

05/06/2024

04/24/2024

Check out the fluff on these feet!

04/13/2024

These babies are so sweet and will make great companions!

04/11/2024

We have blue & black bearded silkie chicks!

12/10/2023

ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT SILKIES ARE COMPARED TO NORMAL CHICKENS (long read) IMMUNE SYSTEM AND FIBROMELANOTIC

Silkies are weird, their immune systems are different to that of normal chickens due to the crazy lots of black pigment (indeed eumelanin). Before the age of 10 weeks, Silkies are more prone to become ill due to immune deficiencies because of a less active immune system caused by the hyperpigmentation which spreads throughout tissues including immune organs like the bursa of fabricius and the spleen. This gives less immune response by B-lymphocytes (therefore lower titer after immunisation) later but another mechanism boosts the adaptive immune system only with time delay, i.e. after 10 weeks.

Therefore Silkies are not weaker in general just in another time frame compared to normal chickens, but this lack of B-lymphocytes is compensated by a higher amount of other innate defensines including mast cells and monocytes, near all blood vessels to act when necessary. When there is damage, pigmentation cumulates near the spot. The load of pigment in Silkies is considered part of the immune system of the Silkie.

Later, after the crucial first 10 weeks of the Silkie, due to the same hyperpigmentation the bursa of fabricius (known for innate chick immunity) and thymus degenerate much slower compared to normal chickens, and the Silkie benefits therefore from a longer from it. Due to the hyperpigmentation apoptosis (programmed cell death) of these organs goes much slower.

Next to this, at 24 weeks of age of the Silkie, there was more expression in the spleen of another group of immune cells giving more adapted immunity, these immune cells are in much lower quantities present in normal chickens. When the bursa of fabricius was finaly degenerated at the age of 23 weeks, special lymph nodes were detected in the intestines and spleen, adding to adaptive immunity.

Next question was how is all the black pigment distributed throughout the chicken, next to skin also along the blood vessels and even in the brain, lungs, te**is and ovaries.

First you might think, that in such a drenched-in-black bird the keratinocytes (featherpulpproductionfacilities in the skin) might also be black, hence the pulp too but as we know, white feathered Silkies exist, so the keratin producing cells themselves are not excluded from the hyperpigmentation but the feather pulp itself is.

How does all black pigment travel through the bird? The Silkie has a special motorway to distribute all pigment from the pigment cells (melanocytes) throughout and this motorway is a network of cells that spread their tentacles (imagine nerve cells' dendrites) to everywhere in the bird (motorway = filopodia). The filopodia are also used for communication between the pigment cells (melanocytes) and other cells in the body, for pigment delivery when considered necessary and to 'fill' the internal organs with pigment.

Pigment production continues to accelerate during maturation of the Silkie (as we can see that it takes often till 6 weeks before full melanisation of the toes is finished, but that is a layman's observation of course). It is proven that the melanisation in Silkies plays a large role in its immune system.

Furthermore a special thing about the Silkie is that the hyperpigmentation has influence on fertility. It is known that Silkies lay less, compared to Leghorn for instance. This is due to a cumulation of pigment in the egg follicles (secondary), more specific in the corpus luteum. Melanocytes in Silkie are also involved in the regulation of s*x hormone secretion and are therefore believed to delay the formation of ovarian follicles and therefore Silkies don't lay as many eggs as Leghorns in the peak of laying.

This is an old article, based on comments from breeders who know all about fibromelanosis and immune systems. I've written the above donald duck based on paper in link below for the ones who don't know everything (like me, lol, writing about it helps remembering).
[Ugly watermarks are against thieving digital creators]
All can be read in more detail in the 2015 paper:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125686

My poultry books and 50+ free articles on chicken genetics and history and other useless knowledge fun to know: www.chickencolours.com

11/06/2023

It has been brought to our attention that a business has been using our images and informing inquiring customers that they are affiliated with Cackle and use our birds to ship. Hatchery Farms (Chesterfield, MO) is not now nor previously affiliated with us. Please confirm with us if you're considering placing an order with another business that claims to sell our baby chicks. We would advise steering clear of this particular business or others that cannot confirm where their birds are coming from.

10/29/2023

Missy, the blue hen got Best of Variety and my splash got Reserve of Variety! Very pleased with the results of our first poultry show 😊

10/28/2023

Early morning prep before the judging begins.

10/25/2023

Heart of the Ozarks Poultry Show is this weekend! 10-28-23. Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center, 1335 W Knapp St Fayetteville, AR 72704

We'll see you there!