I thought I would share a little bit of our journey with raising Silkies (and our adorable coop and flock). My younger sister is in charge of the Silkie operation. Initially they were an impulse buy at TSC a week before the layer flock was due to arrive in the mail. We figured a few more chicks couldn't hurt and my sister wanted to raise her own flock. We welcomed Norbert, Winky, Fluffy, Errol, Hedwig, and Buckbeak to our little starter homestead. Yes- they were all named after Harry Potter creatures. With our first purchase came our first beginner mistake- we asked if we should feed them Medicated or Unmedicated feed when we first bought them. We were told only to feed them UNMEDICATED feed, so we assumed they had been vaccinated. Alas, they had not. Hedwig was acting very sleepy and we weren't sure if it was due to being a chick or some other cause. Just a few hours later, she passed away. I frantically searched what could have been the cause and found out about coccidiosis. The rest of the silkies started acting sleepy and I gave them an emergency dose of corrid. They all pulled through!
Fast forward a six months, we have three girls in with two boys. While the boys got along perfectly and were friendly with us they were over breeding the girls and causing a lot of stress. Buckbeak and Errol were re homed and the girls became much more friendly.

Meet Winky, Norbert, and Fluffy!


When the girls were about one year old a raccoon got into the layer flock and slaughtered all of them but one, who was horribly injured. We bandaged her up and threw her in with the silkies, hoping they would take her in. They did not share a coop before but always roamed the yard together. We kept a close eye because we knew that they could attack her due to blood. They completely took her under their wing, and that night and every night since they sleep in a huddle with Crooks in the middle, keeping her protected. They are inseparable and it is the sweetest thing.


The Coop:







The new chicks that will be added to the silkie flock: Pepper, Buffy, and Mouse:





The roos (we will keep one): Willow, Piper, and Orlando: