Silkies in main coop

[YarrowFarms]

Does anyone have a separate silkie setup in their existing coop? I'm learning that the silkies I had years ago that roosted were a bit of an anomaly. I don't have room to build extra coops in my run space, and I can expand my run due to terrain. My coop is fairly large, and I could potentially convince my hubby to build a nesting area for them so they're not at the mercy of whoever is sleeping above them, and maybe my nesting boxes can stay clean too.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions!!

 

[Krugerrand]

Does anyone have a separate silkie setup in their existing coop? I'm learning that the silkies I had years ago that roosted were a bit of an anomaly. I don't have room to build extra coops in my run space, and I can expand my run due to terrain. My coop is fairly large, and I could potentially convince my hubby to build a nesting area for them so they're not at the mercy of whoever is sleeping above them, and maybe my nesting boxes can stay clean too.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions!!

I'm sure others with more silkie experience can offer better ideas. Of my 4 chicks, one was a silkie. It turned out to be a cockerel and I had to re-home him by local ordinance. While he was in the coop, he would not hop up the 14" to get to the roost bar. I ended up building a small roost platform that sat on the ground. I placed that in the corner where he typically huddled down to sleep and he started roosting there. Then, I gradually moved it to another spot in the coop so that he would not get pooped on by the hens. The roost platform worked for while I had him and went with him when he got re-homed.

 

[Aunt Angus]

My Silkies are right in with my main flock now, but I did have a separate area in my run before I figured out that they would be fine with the big girls.

I made a "mini coop" for them that was elevated. It was right outside my big walk in coop but in the same run. Then I partitioned off part of the run using welded wire fencing. I only have 2 Silkies, though, so it was easy.

Are your Silkies not able to be with the main flock? I've heard that that's pretty common.

ETA: My roosts are lower than most, anyway, as lowering them eliminated bumblefoot in my larger chickens. My roost is 9" off the ground. I also used a child's step stool for them. The stools were easier for them somehow than a ramp, and they took up less run space than a ramp would.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Does anyone have a separate silkie setup in their existing coop? I'm learning that the silkies I had years ago that roosted were a bit of an anomaly. I don't have room to build extra coops in my run space, and I can expand my run due to terrain. My coop is fairly large, and I could potentially convince my hubby to build a nesting area for them so they're not at the mercy of whoever is sleeping above them, and maybe my nesting boxes can stay clean too.

I'm open to ideas and suggestions!!

I used to, unfortunately some passed and i had to give away one. Now im silkie-less.

Heres some ideas & what i did.

I had a coop like this, from TSC

Obviously, no clue who the heck invented that thing but its rubbish.

I think i should start off by saying the nesting box was trash, the roost was trash, the run was trash, basically all of it. But it didn’t take much to fix it up and make it fit your chickens overall needs.

If your housing super teeny chickens like seramas, i know the coop would work a lot better, but my serama loved to roam, so still, you would still need to expand the run. My sebright and japanese ones however love (love!) to climb, so you still have to add on.

The coop is a confusing thing to explain, because i got it for a decent price compared to most coops, and its actually pretty functional for the closing walk in doors for the nesting box (a lot don’t have that!) and some other features. But awful for other reasons. A lot of chicken owners have this coop, but you would need to have multiple or add on for it to be good.

basically, i converted that to a much better coop and bought a small coop to put inside the run area. This will not work without adding onto the run.

Another thing, i do know what you mean for silkies just not roosting and climbing like all the others, i did more of a staircase deal for my ramp, and had it not very steep. Then the nesting rods not super high.

So sorry for my ramble.

 

[Chicken poppy]

My Silkies are right in with my main flock now, but I did have a separate area in my run before I figured out that they would be fine with the big girls.

I made a "mini coop" for them that was elevated. It was right outside my big walk in coop but in the same run. Then I partitioned off part of the run using welded wire fencing. I only have 2 Silkies, though, so it was easy.

Are your Silkies not able to be with the main flock? I've heard that that's pretty common.

Silkies not being with a main flock is extremely common. Mine couldn’t.
They usually get picked on bad, and they aren’t very good at climbing high rods or ramps or whatnot.

Usually, their cotton puff on their butt and their head puff gets picked on pretty bad, which could lead to injuries.

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

I have a couple of silkies and they always roost with the others. My coop has a stone foundation and they hop up the rocks like a ladder, 4-6"(10-15cm) per level, to get up.
I do also have one duck who insists on using the chickens' coop when I let them free range. She has a little box under the roost bar so she doesn't get pooped on when I don't feel like fighting her over it.

 

[YarrowFarms]

I'm sure others with more silkie experience can offer better ideas. Of my 4 chicks, one was a silkie. It turned out to be a cockerel and I had to re-home him by local ordinance. While he was in the coop, he would not hop up the 14" to get to the roost bar. I ended up building a small roost platform that sat on the ground. I placed that in the corner where he typically huddled down to sleep and he started roosting there. Then, I gradually moved it to another spot in the coop so that he would not get pooped on by the hens. The roost platform worked for while I had him and went with him when he got re-homed.

I'm sorry you couldn't keep him, I hate laws like that.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Silkies not being with a main flock is extremely common. Mine couldn’t.
They usually get picked on bad, and they aren’t very good at climbing high rods or ramps or whatnot.

Usually, their cotton puff on their butt and their head puff gets picked on pretty bad, which could lead to injuries.

I'd heard that before. My two are not even the bottom of the pecking order.

I wonder if it's because my flock are all different breeds, so no one looks the same as any others. No one stands out because they all stand out. Or maybe because my top hen don't put up with no guff. She's a serious bird.

Here's my mini coop. It was really just a wooden box. There was a very low roost inside because they were so very young at that point, and I planned on adding a nest box later. And I included the only pic of it set up in the run that I could find, but it doesn't show the step stool.

In the 2nd pic, you can see the door to the walk in coop just next to the mini coop. This set up worked well. And I wished I'd kept the mini coop when we moved, but I left it because it wouldn't fit in the truck. Boo.

I just remembered that I made this coop for free with materials left over from my main coop build and with a dismantled hot tub surround that my neighbors were replacing. Haha! I was so... energetic then. Now I'm like, can we just buy it? Smh.

 

[Krugerrand]

I'm sorry you couldn't keep him, I hate laws like that.

Thank you! I got pretty lucky. I had a new home for him 3 days after he first crowed. It was probably for the best. Raising chicks was a good experience for the kids. But, if we ever make any additions, it has to be a pullet.

 

[YarrowFarms]

To answer all the questions and possibly clear up some things, my existing coop is basically a 8x8 shed I can walk into. We have roosting bars at 5' on two sides and about 2.5' on one. I think I can install a shorter roosting bar in one corner if they'd use it. But if they don't I don't want them pooping up the nesting boxes. I have 7 silkies, and you know they'd spread out over at least 3 boxes and I honestly do not have the time to clean out all those nesting boxes every dang day.
The chickens all get along well. The silkies end up at the bottom of the pecking order, but they're generally left alone by everyone else. I'd prefer not to add an additional coop, I just want them to have a place to sleep without getting pooped on. There's nothing much more pathetic than a snowy white silkie with a big nasty brown gloop on its back.