I'm quoting this article from Pine Hill. Its very well stated!
Pine Hill Silkies
Like Page
· March 5 at 5:06pm ·
I get asked this question all the time… why don’t you sell silkie hens? Well, let me answer that question publicly, and on behalf of (most) all silkie breed...ers.. It’s just the nature of the breed.
1) Silkies are naturally very slow to mature. It takes a silkie chick 5 - 8 months to reach maturity. In comparison, a meat/production bird is ready for market by 6 weeks of age. A 6-week old bantam silkie is just getting old enough to wean off of heat lamps and is about the size of a 2-week old LF bird.
2) Silkies are not known for being great egg layers… Many hens will only lay about 30 - 40 eggs per year, taking many breaks in between to go broody, which stops egg production for weeks to months at a time.
3) It is very hard to determine a silkie chicks sex until they reach maturity… As stated above, that can be half of a calendar year. Not only are they slow to mature, their walnut combs look identical at a young age.. meaning a boy chick looks just like a girl chick. In comparison, a single-comb breed cockerel's comb will stand up higher and be redder in color in as little as 2 weeks of age. That allows a breeder to cull out all the boys from a growout pen, allowing extra space for just females… Not so in silkies. They truly all look alike.
4) The only reliable, proven way to sex a silkie is a DNA swab test. Currently, the cost of each test is at least $25.00 for each bird tested. This makes it very cost prohibitive… Most DNA sexed silkie pullets sell for $75.00 each. If someone tells you they can sex a 2 month old silkie, they may also try and sell you ocean front property in Arizona. Buyer beware.
5) Pen size makes raising a large number of silkies difficult for the backyard breeders… Because boys look just like girls, breeders are forced to feed a mixed flock of birds until sexual maturity - around 6 months of age.. That’s a lot of feed, shaving, medical attention (mite treatment, wormer etc) and space, for a long period of time.. *With absolutely no guarantee that any of the grow-outs will be female.
Currently, my largest grow-out pens will hold about 10 full sized silkies … Given a 50/50 ratio, (often is 3 to 1 boys), at best half the pen will end up being boys, That’s only 4 - 5 pullets out of every 10 birds.. If I hold back 2 or 3 pullets for show or to replace my own stock, that leaves 1 or 2 birds to sell and around 5 or 6 cockerels (that I can’t give away because nobody wants boys). So breeders, like myself, will sell pairs on occasion, but even then, I just don’t have enough stock to supply all the requests for hens and pullets.
My advise is to purchase a bunch of silkie chicks, from a reputable breeder and raise them out just like I have to do.. Cull your cockerels and keep your pullets and in a year's time… you’ll have hens… That’s what us breeders have to do… It’s slow, it’s costly, it’s a lesson in patience.. But in the end, you’ll have silkie hens that suddenly are a hot commodity!
Pine Hill Silkies
Like Page
· March 5 at 5:06pm ·
I get asked this question all the time… why don’t you sell silkie hens? Well, let me answer that question publicly, and on behalf of (most) all silkie breed...ers.. It’s just the nature of the breed.
1) Silkies are naturally very slow to mature. It takes a silkie chick 5 - 8 months to reach maturity. In comparison, a meat/production bird is ready for market by 6 weeks of age. A 6-week old bantam silkie is just getting old enough to wean off of heat lamps and is about the size of a 2-week old LF bird.
2) Silkies are not known for being great egg layers… Many hens will only lay about 30 - 40 eggs per year, taking many breaks in between to go broody, which stops egg production for weeks to months at a time.
3) It is very hard to determine a silkie chicks sex until they reach maturity… As stated above, that can be half of a calendar year. Not only are they slow to mature, their walnut combs look identical at a young age.. meaning a boy chick looks just like a girl chick. In comparison, a single-comb breed cockerel's comb will stand up higher and be redder in color in as little as 2 weeks of age. That allows a breeder to cull out all the boys from a growout pen, allowing extra space for just females… Not so in silkies. They truly all look alike.
4) The only reliable, proven way to sex a silkie is a DNA swab test. Currently, the cost of each test is at least $25.00 for each bird tested. This makes it very cost prohibitive… Most DNA sexed silkie pullets sell for $75.00 each. If someone tells you they can sex a 2 month old silkie, they may also try and sell you ocean front property in Arizona. Buyer beware.
5) Pen size makes raising a large number of silkies difficult for the backyard breeders… Because boys look just like girls, breeders are forced to feed a mixed flock of birds until sexual maturity - around 6 months of age.. That’s a lot of feed, shaving, medical attention (mite treatment, wormer etc) and space, for a long period of time.. *With absolutely no guarantee that any of the grow-outs will be female.
Currently, my largest grow-out pens will hold about 10 full sized silkies … Given a 50/50 ratio, (often is 3 to 1 boys), at best half the pen will end up being boys, That’s only 4 - 5 pullets out of every 10 birds.. If I hold back 2 or 3 pullets for show or to replace my own stock, that leaves 1 or 2 birds to sell and around 5 or 6 cockerels (that I can’t give away because nobody wants boys). So breeders, like myself, will sell pairs on occasion, but even then, I just don’t have enough stock to supply all the requests for hens and pullets.
My advise is to purchase a bunch of silkie chicks, from a reputable breeder and raise them out just like I have to do.. Cull your cockerels and keep your pullets and in a year's time… you’ll have hens… That’s what us breeders have to do… It’s slow, it’s costly, it’s a lesson in patience.. But in the end, you’ll have silkie hens that suddenly are a hot commodity!
