Silkie thread!

[DesertChic]

Broody not bloody! Ugh stupid auto correct!

Thanks for the correction!

 

[Fancychooklady]

OK, So yesterday I found my I believe 2 month old silkie chick having trouble walking because its legs did not work. I then moved it into a metal aviary inside where my doves live and put it on the bottom with food and water but came out this morning to find it dead. Is it some sort of disease that killed the chick, could it kill my call ducks, doves or other silkies?

It would be unusual for a bird to die in such a short period of time from mareks or a deficiency. As a rule chickens are very stoic and once they go down, whatever their ailment , it is usually fairly advanced. Salmonella poisoning on the other hand is quite swift. I would check the coop and pens for any rancid food , worm and check the rest of the flock for lice and mites. Sorry for loss.

 

[mom of silkies]

Another auto correct by my computer is my username it's "silkie" lover instead of silkie lover ugh!

 

[18angovem]

Quote:
I have a hospital/quarantine cage(actually 2) but they have 2 ducks in them. The ducks arent sick they just are a little violent during the breeding season and dont have mates so they are seperated. I would have put them with the doves but they are violent and too big for the aviary.

 

[CliffB]

Here's my new Polkie Frizzle picture. Cannot wait to see her in a few more months.

 

[DesertChic]

She's really pretty!!!!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

She's super cute!

 

[only1bgirl]

Three eggs in four days from the pullet we thought was a Roo in her makeshift Christmas box nest by the backdoor. She really makes a production out of this, I hope it's just new layer jitters. I have to settle her into the nest and her hatchmate has to be by her side before she goes about it. The eggs seem to be a bit larger each time.

 

[Bloveschickens]

Hello everyone! I currently do not have any silkies but am going to get 2 silkie chicks in the spring. I am either going to get a blue silkie and a white silkie or a black silkie and a white silkie.

I have three questions:

#1 Should I get black and white or blue and white? What I know for sure right now is that I am definitely going to get a white silkie. Not sure about the second one though. Blue or black?

#2 For the names I am thinking to name one copy and one paste. Copy and Paste! My sisters really don't like those names but I really do and think it is very cute. What do you guys think?

#3 Can someone please post a picture of a silkie hen next to a large fowl hen? I currently only have large fowl hens and I have heard the silkies living with them shouldn't be a problem as long as I introduce them slowly and carefully. I just wanted to see how much of a size difference there is.

Thanks!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hello everyone! I currently do not have any silkies but am going to get 2 silkie chicks in the spring. I am either going to get a blue silkie and a white silkie or a black silkie and a white silkie.

I have three questions:

#1 Should I get black and white or blue and white? What I know for sure right now is that I am definitely going to get a white silkie. Not sure about the second one though. Blue or black?

#2 For the names I am thinking to name one copy and one paste. Copy and Paste! My sisters really don't like those names but I really do and think it is very cute. What do you guys think?

#3 Can someone please post a picture of a silkie hen next to a large fowl hen? I currently only have large fowl hens and I have heard the silkies living with them shouldn't be a problem as long as I introduce them slowly and carefully. I just wanted to see how much of a size difference there is.

Thanks!

I adore ALL Silkie colors. For a backyard free-range setting I chose a Partridge Silkie and a Black Silkie. I find Buff a fairly resilient color as well in my other breeds. For a couple years I had a White Leghorn that started out beautifully white after a molt and then got dingy yellowy stained. So for the backyard and dust-bathing or foul weather I find the non-white colors better for me. I LOVE the whites but will not consider this color for any future backyard chickens. Some people manage to keep their white chickens white but I daresay I wouldn't count on it year-round. My Black Silkie will get reddish tints in her feathers during the sunny summers but seeing the reddish highlights on the Black is more appealing to me than seeing the yellowy stains on white feather hens.

But I still say that you should get whatever color appeals to you most if that is what makes you fall in love with your Silkie.

Personally I do not mix non-combative Silkies with assertive/combative LF breeds. The only LF breed to get along with my Silkies so far has been our APA Ameraucana. We have a small yard and our Marans and Leghorns got abusive toward our Silkies regardless of them growing up together or being introduced slowly so we re-homed the LF. As pullets most LF and bantams get along but as a size difference comes into play at maturity there can be some problems. I wish I heeded the advice of being a new owner not to mix assertive/dominant LF breeds with gentle Silkies. A 2-lb Silkie doesn't have an equal chance against a LF two to three times bigger who wants to bully. JMHO. It all depends on how much room you have for the gentles to get away from the assertive bullies. My Buff Leghorn at one-year-old started chasing my Silkies and Ameraucana around the yard to pull out their beards, muffs, and crests so I had to re-home her immediately.

Let us know how it goes!