Introducing a silkie to a small flock

[hennyshens]

Hi! I have 3 hens that were rescued in the last 6 weeks, a leghorn, an isa brown, and an australorp. They don’t fight and are a pleasure to live with! They are put into a coop at night, and are locked into the box section so they don’t roost at night. During the day they free range our large backyard.

We want to add a silkie to complete our flock as we just think they’re beautiful chickens. I’ve been doing a lot of research and getting contradicting information. Some sources say you can’t mix Silkies with other chickens because they’ll get attacked, some sources say you can as long as you get a pair, and then some sources say if you just introduce slowly you can definitely have them all live harmoniously.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with this or some tips?

 

[sourland]

Silkies raised with a flock generally do not have problems. Introducing silkies to an established flock can be difficult. It all depends upon the temperament of the birds in the established flock.

 

[Chickassan]

Silkie or not it is always better to introduce at least two birds at any given time when you're dealing with an established group.
Even the most ordinary looking chicken is going to be hassled if you introduce just one.
Silkies being a bit odd in every way are definitely better in pairs of you already have other birds.
So you you'll have to get two.... terrible news right?

 

[Swbertrand1]

We raise Silkies alongside our laying hens and introduce Silkies from time to time, the most recent being in the last two months when we started integrating maturing chicks to the flock. We had 10 birds BEFORE the integration: 1 Silkie rooster, 3 Golden Comet layers, 1 RIR layer, and 5 Silkie hens (most lay regularly).

Now we've got 12 birds with the addition of 2 new Silkies (chicks that we raised this spring) that are just over 5 months old, but they've been attending "mixers" with the adults during evening free-range time for a few months. That free-range time when everyone can get up close and personal with each other gives us clues about potential problems upon integration. It's worth noting that we began the integration by putting them in a segregated run that opens to their own segregated side of the coop starting at about 10-12 weeks of age, so everyone gets very used to one another.

In the last few days, we've opened the runs up so that the birds can mix all day, but they still stay in a designated side of the coop at night to avoid closer quarters that can lead to issues like pecking. One of the young Silkies has already started working her way up the pecking order too, squaring off against a 3 year old Silkie that was messing with her just yesterday. The young hen came out on top after a few minutes of "wrestling" - interesting to watch...

At the end of the day, it all comes down to how your birds respond to a new member and how smooth integration goes. Some birds readily accept new birds; others do not...

PS: I agree with Chickassan that introducing them in groups (2, 3, or more) is better. It gives them a buddy from the outset.

 

[Mrs. K]

The breeds you have, tend to be the top birds, and are so nice, because they can hold their own. I think you would be introducing a perfect victim for all of them.

Chicken behavior can be very ugly. In small flocks in small set ups it can be very difficult to introduce birds, each time you do, you greatly reduce the space for all.

A lot depends on your set up, a question you need to ask is what will you do if it doesn't work? A separate set up?

I think you would be happier with what you have, discord among chickens is ugly and makes it hard to enjoy them.

Mrs K

 

[hennyshens]

Thank you so much for your replies. While I would love to get a pair of silkies, i just feel 5 might be too many. I don’t really want to build a whole separate set up for silkies, currently these chooks are the easiest pets to live with and I want to keep it that way as I’m already chasing after a toddler. I think we might be happier with our 3 as is! Thanks again everyone.