16 day old silkie chicks

[Christine12]

Can anybody help me with my query. I have 9 silkies I hatched from an incubator and they are now 16 days old. I have them in a brooder and they seem to be growing well and seem happy. What I want to know is it normal for them at this age to virtually fly which some are attempting, it seems to get out the brooder? It is 18 inches high and sometimes they nearly make it. They are an active bunch. Also I live in UK and temperature here is about 19c and I obviously have their brooder plate on 24 hours but they certainly are not cold as walking about, playing in the bedding etc. I read temperature needed to be higher but they don't seem to mind it at all cooler than recommended. I had central heating on at one stage and it was too hot and I knew this as they went to the other side of brooder from the plate until I turned the heating off. I have given them the odd treat of egg yolk, they always have chick crumb and water available. I have also given them tiny amounts of brown rice with chick grit which they love. Sorry for all the questions but new chicken mum here and I am besotted by them.
Thanks

 

[Kiraeh]

Sounds like they're doing well. I find the temperature guidelines to be somewhat conservative also- both sets of chicks I raised rejected the amount of heat the guidelines said they needed. There's a lot of variation between breeds/individuals in terms of how fast they feather and how hardy they are. You're better off giving them access to somewhere warm and letting them tell you what they like. There's also a big difference between 20° outside with a breeze and 20° in a draft free brooder in a climate controlled house.

Regarding flying, the next couple weeks are likely to be the best they'll ever be at it. I don't think my ten week old silkies could do that height. Six inches is about as high as they can hop, they don't even try for more now.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Brooders should always be covered with wire mesh for safety. Silkies don't really fly but they can still jump.

With the heat plate, that should be their sole source of heat. No additional heating is necessary. Always better to go by what the chicks are telling you (i.e. walking away from heat source) over what the number on the thermometer says.

 

[Christine12]

Thanks the brooder is covered with mesh, they try to fly/jump out when I take it off to feed them. Their brooder is 48" x 36" and height is 18", they do fly, started to wonder if they are silkies. I am a first timer, I am sure they are. Will post a photo for clarification. Also not sure of some of the colours.

 

[Ryguy3684]

From 2 weeks on, every time I would remove my brooder top, 5 of mine would instantly fly up and perch in the thin, cardboard brooder wall panels. Luckily, mine were in the bathroom, so they couldn't go far.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thanks the brooder is covered with mesh, they try to fly/jump out when I take it off to feed them. Their brooder is 48" x 36" and height is 18", they do fly, started to wonder if they are silkies.

It doesn't have to be "flying," chickens can jump pretty well. As long as it's covered when you're not supervising, it's fine and normal for them to want to hop out - just wasn't sure if you had a cover at all on it.