Thank you for posting. I was looking for an honest critique. I did not want an ooh pretty birdie response. His come is darker in person. Pictures can do weird things to colors. He does have correct toes etc.
Silkies are pretty defenseless against bullying by bigger birds. Be careful if you are planning on putting them in the same pen. Silkies with really big top knots are the most vulnerable. A really strong peck by a big bird can kill a silkie youngster pretty easily.
Wild birds, mosquitos, flies, rats, mice, squirrels, mites, ticks, snakes, dogs, cats.... Anything that can move from one farm to another can carry diseases to your flock. I spoke to a guy in the midwest who has 3000 birds. His biosecurity consists of culling sick birds and disposing of them in...
Anyone ever hatch a Silkie chick that looks like this?
I have a white rooster and a black rooster over a pen of blue, black, splash and white hens. I know the white rooster is blue base because he has a blue chest feather.
I am not sure what your breeding goals are, but you need to buy the best rooster you can possibly find. He will influence the whole next generation. A hen can only influence a relatively small number of potential chicks compared to the rooster. If you have 5 hens, his genes are handed out to...
It depends on the quality of the bird's genetics and his color/conformation. You can find hatchery/average quality Silkie roosters for free on craigslist pretty much all the time. A well bred show bird that is in peak form might bring a price of 100 and up.
You can use dry ice. Take a bucket with a sealing lid. Put some dry ice in a margarine tub with holes poked in the lid for the carbon monoxide to escape from the dry ice. Place the tub of dry ice and the chick in the bucket. Seal the lid and wait about 5 minutes. They just fall asleep.