Silkie thread!

[silkiecuddles]

:howfunkyisyourchicken how cute! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[BantyChooks]

@silkiecuddles I like your avatar!!

 

[silkiecuddles]

@silkiecuddles
I like your avatar!!

Thank you! I love yours too! White polish, or sultan? Or neither?

 

[BantyChooks]

ding!!- you are correct, he's a sultan... and his name is bubbles( which accounts for my username)

 

[flufssilkies]

Anyone want some silkies???

 

[silkiecuddles]

Anyone want some silkies???

Of course! But I don't have any room for them right now why?

 

[cgmaster]

Anyone want some silkies???

I need more hens!! lol

 

[stengelc]

I would love a white one. But Unfortunatly I live to far away from you...

 

[fancychick1]

This is my silkie SLW mix, she has turned into a beautiful hen. She is really mellow and friendly like the silkies.

 

[Sylvester017]

well its been lovely having my silkie chicks, i was wondering when to move them in the big coop with the other hens. how old? and how because i have dual p birds and silkies are bantams so they will never be the same size.
they still dont like me

Chuckles

Don't worry about your Silkies - they are wary of surroundings because they are aware of their diminutive size and take precautions to move out of harms way. Once they establish that you are their food/treat source they'll eventually come running when they see something in your hand. The only breeds we've had that NEVER displayed aloofness towards us has been the Breda and the Dominique. All other breeds have been wary until a routine is established and they come to trust you as their food source. It's a monumental moment while hand-feeding treats - a Silkie pecks at your shoe or pant leg to hurry up and give her another handful! If you are sitting low to the ground they will jump into your lap to get closer to the treats. Sometimes they get so comfortable they'll settle down for a while.

You know your chicken breeds best. However I've never introduced new birds to an established flock until the new birds are at least 5 to 6 months old and at least the same size as the older birds. We let the birds see each other through a fence for several days to get acquainted. Then we will put the new bird in a fenced area in the coop house overnight so the birds see each other in the morning but not have physical contact. We put the new bird outdoors with a fence to continue exposure to the flock without contact. Eventually all fence barriers are removed and let the natural pecking order evolve more peacefully then just dropping a new bird suddenly in an established flock.

In our case we didn't have good luck mixing LF dual purpose breeds with our Silkies. Our Marans plucked a Silkie bald on the roost, and then viciously attacked another Silkie, and then tried to depose the alpha leader so we had to re-home the large bully Marans. Then our White Leghorn went ballistic on her flockmates after 3 years of calm and we had to re-home her too. Now we don't integrate our Silkies with any heavy dual purpose layer breeds. We only have gentle temperament breeds weighing 5-lb-&-under with the Silkies in our small cottage backyard. Our Blue Wheaten Ameraucana is very kind and submissive to the Silkies and our new curious little Breda pullet is getting her gradual introduction to our outdoor flock this week. She's only had a mirror as a companion during quarantine and she is chomping at the bits to join the flock whenever she sees them.

Hope you thoroughly enjoy your Silkies!