# Breeding from a blind hen.



## sideways (Sep 19, 2012)

Know this is a slightly silly question as I'm guessing the answer will be don't, but....

As I have other silkies and they are all together if I hatched from the blind silkie do you think it could run down to her chicks? I'm just worried about getting the eggs mixed up and not having to keep her separate..?!
Many thanks....


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

I think it would depend on whether her blindness is genetic or developed later. Do you know which?


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## sideways (Sep 19, 2012)

I'm not sure... She was very tiny compared to the others when I got her. She is still slightly small but has caught up... I don't remember her acting differently to the others when she was a chick.
So moves her head back and forth all the time and put her head right down nearly touching the floor to see what she is pecking. So there is a little bit of sight.
So I'm guessing her eyesight has deteriorated... But because she is a bit odd it's hard to know.
Many thanks


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## Chloe88 (Jan 11, 2013)

She sounds like a runt. I'd keep her as a loved pet, but I wouldn't breed her. Only the best birds should be bred. And after you breed the best, you still have to cull the chicks and pullets. 

Best of luck with your breeding!


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

I wouldn't breed her then, just to be on the safe side. 
I don't cull any of the animals on this farm, unless it's in pain or has no chance of a decent quality of life. Which probably explains why I have a farm full of misfits.  I take the ones that others deem handicapped. I have a year and a half old silkie X hen with a severe crossbeak and a skull deformity. She doesn't lay eggs or go broody, but she makes a great foster mother. I have raised commercial broiler house "culls" that didn't grow fast enough to suit the commercial industry, a half blind hen and my favorite duck is...how should I put this?...a few bricks short of a full load. 
Love em all.


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

We all have our talents... :-/


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