Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

lexiredhead that first picture of them as wee chicks is so precious. I love baby silkie chicks so so much

Do you guys find that your silkies don't each much?? We have some other chickens that are a week or so older and they always gobble down the feed as fast as they can, and their crops will be really full if we let them eat as much as they want. My 3 silkies (we keep them apart because I'm worried they will be bullied by the other chickens) hardly ever eat until I can feel a full crop. They are so small compared to the others.

Right now I have a broody Silkie. I have no roos. I make sure she gets off the nestbox at least a couple times a day to eat/drink/dust-bathe. I set her across the yard so she has to get exercise foraging on her way back to her imaginary "nest." During broody times, molting, illness, prolific laying cycles, I will give one drop of Poly-Vi-Sol no iron liquid children's vitamin a couple times a week since hens don't eat much while broody or when molting. I observe that hens normally eat voraciously in the morning, next to nothing during the day, and then forage a bit again right before roost. Whether you free-range or keep hens penned up can affect how their appetites goes. All the hens behave differently at different times depending on brooding, molting, illness, weather fluctuations, laying, etc. I gently touch crops if I have a concern about their feeding so I can monitor eating behavior. Normally crops are pretty flat in the morning and bulging in the evening before roost. Considering Silkies weigh around 2-lbs and LF weigh 2 to 3x more a LF crop will be far larger than a Silkie's crop. Silkies are such a unique breed and have a different set of concerns from other breeds that they need a little extra TLC which sounds like you are giving it to them

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[Fancychooklady]

lexiredhead that first picture of them as wee chicks is so precious. I love baby silkie chicks so so much 

Do you guys find that your silkies don't each much?? We have some other chickens that are a week or so older and they always gobble down the feed as fast as they can, and their crops will be really full if we let them eat as much as they want. My 3 silkies (we keep them apart because I'm worried they will be bullied by the other chickens) hardly ever eat until I can feel a full crop. They are so small compared to the others.

Really depends what you are feeding them. My silkies won't eat your standard size pellets, so I feed micro pellets mixed with a free range seed mix. Once a week I feed them cooked rice with raw egg and sardines in olive oil. They all love it !

 

[Fancychooklady]

I was wondering how she has 12 eggs since she has been sitting for a while and I thought there was about 8 LOL... I will try to mark them but that means getting her off of them, and the rooster seems to be "parenting" as well!

It's not uncommon for a hen to lay 10-12 eggs and then sit. But there is no point in letting her sit on infertile or eggs that may have been added later. 9 times out of 10 she will hatch some out and walk away and leave the others anyway. Wait until night time , take a good torch and an empty toilet roll out to the pen and candle them one by one. Ditch any clear ones.

 

[DesertChic]

lexiredhead that first picture of them as wee chicks is so precious. I love baby silkie chicks so so much

Do you guys find that your silkies don't each much?? We have some other chickens that are a week or so older and they always gobble down the feed as fast as they can, and their crops will be really full if we let them eat as much as they want. My 3 silkies (we keep them apart because I'm worried they will be bullied by the other chickens) hardly ever eat until I can feel a full crop. They are so small compared to the others.

My Silkies are actually eating more than my other birds right now, especially of the fermented feed and fresh greens I give them. I think they need the extra calories to help them stay warm in this colder weather now that the rest of the birds are roosting at night instead of snuggling with them. I even had to put out a second feeder so that they have more access to the feed and don't get squeezed out by the larger birds, even though they often chase the much, much larger Australorps away from the feed so they can get their share first. Silkies really can be tenacious.

 

[nayeli]

It's not uncommon for a hen to lay 10-12 eggs and then sit. But there is no point in letting her sit on infertile or eggs that may have been added later. 9 times out of 10 she will hatch some out and walk away and leave the others anyway. Wait until night time , take a good torch and an empty toilet roll out to the pen and candle them one by one. Ditch any clear ones.

What is the point of the toilet roll? How is the best way to candle?

 

[Fancychooklady]

What is the point of the toilet roll? How is the best way to candle?

By placing the egg on the end of the tube it creates a tunnel and concentrates the beam of light. It also makes handling the egg safer.

 

[nayeli]

By placing the egg on the end of the tube it creates a tunnel and concentrates the beam of light. It also makes handling the egg safer.

I'll try that later! She is definately sitting... I was using a cat litter scooper to clean up their coop and she got off the eggs and went down to the run, I come inside to look up how to check the eggs and it was less than 5 minutes, I went back out again and she was on the eggs!

 

[Fancychooklady]

I'll try that later! She is definately sitting... I was using a cat litter scooper to clean up their coop and she got off the eggs and went down to the run, I come inside to look up how to check the eggs and it was less than 5 minutes, I went back out again and she was on the eggs!

This is a very helpful thread on what to look for at the various stages of candling. The other alternative is to let her hatch out what she can and then just discard the others.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

 

[missbecky]

To the person concerned about mixing the silkies with other breeds...

All my chicks were hatched, and placed together t the same time...

I have...

• 3 Silkie roosters
• 1 Welsummer
• 1 Columbian Wyandotte
• 1 Buff Orpington
• 1 Blue/black Cochin
• 1 Bantam Rhode Island Red

The birds are all different sizes, and personalities. I let them free range in my small back yard during good weather, but they get to go out in their run daily. I throw scratch feed out there, and sometimes lay out snacks for them; like apples, pears, pumpkin, greens, and general leftovets. It keeps them from getting bored, and possibly picking on each other. All my birds get along just fine. They of course experience the establishment of the pecking order, but then everything is routine.

Introducing new birds to your flock can be done by placing the new bird in a cage in the coop with the other birds until they all get used to each other... Then you can integrate them while they are out free ranging... See how it goes. It may go well right off the bat, or it might take more time. Pecking order establishment is to be expected. Discipline your birds if they act up... Pull off & Grab the bully, and make them submit just like a rooster does a hen by kind of holding them down with one hand, and forcing their head down with the other hand... telling them "No!" repeat if nescesary. They are smart, and will know that as the head hen, you set some of the rules.

 

[nayeli]

This is a very helpful thread on what to look for at the various stages of candling. The other alternative is to let her hatch out what she can and then just discard the others.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

Thanks, not sure if I'll get a chance to or not tonight.. It was raining =/