Are Silkies generally "slow"?

[CamdenLab]

I have nine chicks about six weeks old. The Silkies (Laverne and Shirley -- though I suspect Laverne is a Lenny) are actually a week older, so seven weeks.

They are getting the hang of going into the coop at night by themselves -- slowly. Night before last my Amerucanas were the first up the ladder squawking to the rest that it was time for bed, but I still had to handle them all. Last night the Amerucanas did the same thing, but then my Dominique, Cucko Maran, Buff Orpington, and Buff Rock all started following. Going to bed is apparently traumatic because it causes everyone to squawk then they pile all over each other and continue squawking for about 10 minutes before everyone is completely silent for the rest of the night. Weird.

Anyway, the chicks were all inside and the two Silkies and my Blue Cochin were in the run scratching and grooming themselves. The Dominique and the Buff Rock all came back outside, screamed at them, then put themselves back inside. They didn't even seem to notice as they were grooming and preening themselves. I ended up having to put the Silkies and the Blue Cochin inside by hand again.

Are these breeds just slower than the rest because they are somewhat exotic?

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Have you ever actually seen them use the ladder? Is it like a ramp or does it have steps that require jumping? Silkies in general are not the best at this. I trained mine to use a fairly steep ramp but it look a bit of effort. I lend them up by very slowly putting live mealworms on every few steps so that they could slowly follow me up. It took a few tried everyday or several days before they would climb up at night on their own. Before that they did not use it at all and would sleep under it.

Some silkies will roost but many do not and prefer to sleep on the ground. They can not fly at all. They tend to have poor vision, especially the heavily crested or bearded kinds so if it is dark in the coop and they have to jump a bit they may or may not be able to do it or be a bit afraid to.

Make sure they can physically use the ladder. If not perhaps let them be and see what happens and where they decide to sleep and adjust the situation as needed. You may need to alter or set up a bit or at a little light inside in the evenings. I did find that they seemed to be the last to go to bed at night.

 

[CamdenLab]

Yes, it is the ladder type. I have not seen them really use it like it's supposed to be used though.

Part of the problem is that the Amerucanas (two) are first to go in and they want to sleep in the doorway so the rest of the chickens line up on the ladder and chirp loudly. Lately I've been going in and shoving the two inside so the rest can get in. I actually too a video of the night time chaos last night, complete with a hummingbird feeding right outside of the coop, which seemed weird because of all of the commotion.

It's getting better, but yes, the Silkies and the Blue Cochin are last to bed. The Buff Rock is in and out trying to get everyone settled. Apparently she's the "mom" chick. Seems like a lot of work to me.

 

[Eggsoteric]

I can relay some observations of my Silkies vs. my standard chickens. I have one coop that houses 2 Silkies that are separate from the standard-size chickens and I have 2 Silkies that were raised with and are housed in another coop with a few standard-size chickens. Both coops have ramps; both ramps are not on a steep incline (to accommodate the short little legs of the Silkies). The 2 Silkies that are housed with standard-size hens are always the last to go into the coop; this is because the other hens do have a tendancy to bully them so they tend to wait until the other hens are settled before going in. Because of this, I plan on integrating the 2 Silkies in the one coop with the 2 Silkies in the separate coop. So, in a nutshell, my two cents worth as to why it could be your Silkies aren't going into the coop is a) ladder vs. ramp or b) your standard-size hens may be bullying your Silkies. Also wanted to add that only one of my Silkies roosts, the other three prefer to sleep on the ground level of the coop.