Silkie thread! - Page 2326

Hi all.

Quick Gray Silkie question:  Can you sex the youngsters based on their head coloring? 

I see the std of perfection states a males' head to be Dark gray and the females' to be Chinchilla gray.  

Does this mean that pullets have lighter colored head feathering, or just that a dark gray headed female would not be show-worthy [and vice versa with a male].

...perhaps if I add some pictures?!.....  

[apologies if any of you replied and somehow I missed it!]

Hey guys! Hope all are well. Sorry it's been a while, but I still have my 3 new Silkies in my house....they are driving me crazy!! I hope the rain holds off and my son can get their coop and run done this week. 

Anyways, I have a question about one of my 3.5 week olds. This is the one that hatched yellow with the purple smutty area on its back. It seems to be getting that color overall with some buff mixed in. 

I hope these pictures are ok--they are pretty true to color. Anyone know what color it may be?

Look at these feet already!!!

This little sweetie has become my favorite of all, so far. 

Hey guys! Hope all are well. Sorry it's been a while, but I still have my 3 new Silkies in my house....they are driving me crazy!! I hope the rain holds off and my son can get their coop and run done this week. 

Anyways, I have a question about one of my 3.5 week olds. This is the one that hatched yellow with the purple smutty area on its back. It seems to be getting that color overall with some buff mixed in. 

I hope these pictures are ok--they are pretty true to color. Anyone know what color it may be?

Look at these feet already!!!

This little sweetie has become my favorite of all, so far. 

I prefer Sevin dust, DE has never worked for me, neither works on eggs. Both can be sprinkled in the dust bath area can aid in their own deterring of mites...DE is supposed to be all natural, BUT inhaled it is just as dangerous as sevin if not more so to the respitory system of birds and humans. DE is tiny shards of sharp silica, and can damage lungs if inhaled. Sevin is a pesticide, and should be used sparringly, best used in the coop mixed in the bedding and sprinkled directly on the bird, or in dust spots...Some use DE as a wormer, or claim it can be used as a wormer, but once its wet it is useless, also I *believe* its been disproven as well....I remember reading up on it when it wasn't working for me. 

For mites/lice I use sevin in dust spots and coops, and on birds directly I use permethrin or adams flea and tick spray either one is the same thing you use on dogs for flea/tick control and works well on mites/lice. 

X2!!!!  If you've tried DE and Sevin-- the Sevin will kill the mites in about 2 minutes flat.  With the DE, the way it works, the bugs first have to come across it, and then be in it enough that it cuts their exoskeleton to the point that it dehydrates them.  As you can imagine... that takes a LOT longer.  Especially if you find an infestation, I'd rather have a live bird than a dead bird waiting around for DE to work or not work.  I have DE too.. a whole bag of it.  I'm just 'eh' on it.  I've read it can be eaten and used as an internal wormer, but there again, it's going to have to be put in the food consistently and then the whole-- when it gets wet, it won't work thing... If you really have a significant worm load on your birds, you need to use a real wormer.

Besides, if you start reading up on Sevin, did you know that it was originally produced for the poultry industry?  So it's not an accident that it works the best with minimal risk to the bird.  A lot of people even use it in their Martin houses -- sprinkle it in the nesting for the wild birds.  It's been shown over and over to be a safe product.