Showgirls

This page will be a running documentation of breeding for the "perfect" Show-Girl. Be sure and check back often as this page will be updated as we hatch more eggs and learn more about the project.

The goal is to produce a bird to this standard, these two Showgirls are owned by Inga Ladd

Juliet was purchased for the grand cost of $2.00 from a farm in Gassville Arkansas. She is a bit poor looking but I am in high hope that after being provided a 5% Sevin dust bath, Vet RX enhanced feed for a few days, followed by a mild wormer and a little Cod Liver oil to help her poor feather condition she will be an attractive mate for Dexter.

This is Dexter, a Blue Silkie Cockerel purchased from Inga Ladd's strain. He is now Juliet's "partner"

On June 28th I made a trip to the "Boothill" of Missouri to pick up our Showgirl Cockerel from Inga Ladd. Meet Prince Charming, ( we called him Romeo originally but he is just to CHARMING and is getting the Royal treatment hence his new name) he is a mix of buff, blue and white. I also picked up Belle a blue Showgirl Hen.

Prince Charming now has a harem of 4 hens, One full blood showgirl (Belle) one buff Silkie hen (cinders) one blue Silkie hen (ariel ) and one white Silkie hen (snow)

The first eggs from Juliet and Dex have hatched so we are now on our way. We have a blue naked neck with black skin but only 4 toes and no feathering on legs. Then we have a buff/red coloured chick with black skin, naked neck and lots of feathering on legs but only 4 toes. We will raise these and breed back to a Silkie. The general impression we get is that when you breed a Silkie Cockerel to a Non Silkie Hen and actually get the black skin then you have a pullet. So this will give us a pullet to breed back to Dex and maybe a Cockerel to breed to ? I am thinking we might give it a try with the blue Showgirl we already have. Have not thought this through yet. Verdict is still out on this one.

Meet the FIRST two chicks in this project hatched 7-19-03. They are the Turken/Silkie mix, first generation.



2 weeks old now, looking very turken still	lots of feathering on legs & feet	can already fly

Prince Charming's eggs are hatching. Not sure who is laying so each chick is a welcome surprise.


First 2 Showgirls, looking more silkie	looks like it's Dad	kinda shy hiding it's neck	Good view of the naked neck

It has been 5 months now and the chicks have grown into nice looking pullets and cockerels. We are getting ready to pair them up for an exciting breeding season. This is what we are looking at right now for breeders.

Bren and I have now separated the colours and Bren in Texas has the two Buff Hens and a Buff Rooster, The rooster has a red neck so that will be something we need to breed out as soon as we can. She also has one of the Blue Roosters which she is allowing to free range with her "Silkie girls" Hopefully this mating will produce at least a 25% hatch of Showgirls. The hens have started laying so we now eagerly anticipate the next generation.

I have the Splash Hen, Blue Hen and White Hen matched up with 2 Blue Roosters in MO. They were broody for quite awhile but now one of them has started laying an egg every other day.

Some of the chicks that hatched before Bren and I separated the colours have feathered out non silkie. They are quite strange looking. I plan on keeping the hens just for the fun of it as they will earn their keep laying eating eggs hopefully and will cull the roosters.

We had quite the set back with our breeding, we had originally planned on line breeding to Prince Charming our original Rooster but he became quite sick. I treated him for any and everything I could think of to no avail. Trouble with living in a small rural area is there is no local vet that is willing to assist with a "mere chicken" So sadly "PC" passed on. I was quite concerned about his death as I have a large flock and didn't want top pass on anything contagious so I sent his remains to the Lab at the University of MO. There he was tested for everything possible. The conclusion was he died of kidney failure and there would have been nothing I could have done for him. I am now concerned that this is a trait in these birds we will have to live with maybe because of the "line breeding" we have to do to perpetuate the breed.

Now that Bren and I have split the "team" so to speak I am creating 2 separate pages so we can document our progress without confusion to who is who. I hope you will stay with us as we continue to improve our line and learn as we go.

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