5 straight run white silkies

[jeremy]

I'm considering ordering 5 white silkies in my chick order. (that's still unfortunately a few weeks out.) I'll be ordering these chicks from MMcM hatchery. Does anybody have any experience with McMurray? Unfortunately the only do straight run bantams. Out of the 5 chicks, to those who've ordered silkies from MMcM, what's the probability of at least 2 pullets? I don't want to end up with a handful of adorable roos...

Thanks for anyone's expert advice!

 

[newdock]

I realize I had crappy luck, but I got 5 white silkies (chicks) from a local guy and got 4 roosters and one hen.....bah!

We have a lot of hawks and other birds of prey in our area and the white birds are always the first to get taken. I have since given up on white....

 

[jeremy]

Oh no! Those odds aren't promising. I'm honestly hoping to at least get 2 pullets out of the mix.

On a side note- hawks target white birds first? This is disappointing news as well. I raise Delawares and would be devastated if one of them got attacked/carried off.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[chickeydee]

order the pullets that way you ae sure to get girls .

 

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

Quote:
The whites are more easily seen from the eyes of a hawk; they do not blend into their surroundings as well as the others do.

 

[newdock]

I assume the whites get taken more easily because they are very easy to see from the air. It has been my experience that the white birds get taken by hawks much more often than ones that blend into the ground a bit more....

I have my run covered now, but it means that I can't let them out to free range without taking a risk. The birds of prey seem to have figured out that our house is a fine dining establishment!

 

[jossanne]

Your odds to get girls from McMurray are 50/50. Since they don't do any sexing of bantams, they're not going to jip you and only send roosters because that's what they need to sell. I'm not saying that McMurray would jip anyone, I really like McMurray, but I have read posts on here by people who think they've been jipped by hatcheries in numbers of roosters. Your chance of getting pullets is pretty fair, and you will likely get two or more.

Please post pictures when you get them, and keep us posted as they grow. I'm curious about what McMurray's silkies look like.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
the hatchery i'm ordering from doesn't offer sexed bantams... if they did, i probably would just order females!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
hm. i thought about ordering 5. now i'm thinking i'll up that number to 6 and see if they 50/50 ratio works out.

I plan on starting a thread on the forum/my blog that tracks all the chicks growth progression week by week until POL. I've seen it done here on the forum and think it's really cool!

I'm interested in seeing MMcM's stock as well, I've heard that they are a decent hatchery. I'm not getting these birds for show purposes, just backyard flock pets, so whatever the result (as long as the do at least look like silkies) I'll be more than thrilled to add them to my flock!

 

[jossanne]

What else are you going to add to your order to meet the 25-chick minimum? I've gotten two orders of Rainbow Layers from McMurray, and have been thrilled with all of them but the Rhode Island reds. They were flighty, and spent all their time picking feathers from the other birds. I sold them at 16 weeks.