Are Silkies, Well, Strange?

[Brian]

This is the first time I've had a silkie. I've had chickens for many years. For most breeds, I see little difference in behavior, with most breeds exhibiting basically pretty similar behavior. I find more variety in the indivuals than in the various breeds. But silkies! My girl is 5 months old. she arrived with her 28 cohorts in a cardboard box, shipped from Ideal Hatchery. From the beginning her behavior has been different than the others, and different than any other breed I have owned.

The good: she has no fear of humans, and could care less if you pick her up. Very very tame!!! She loves her head pet. she is sweet, never flighty or anxious, and seems to never be in a hurry to go anywhere.

The bad: she seems to lack certain basic instincts, like being quick on the draw to eat...to get to food first. I can throw scratch down for the flock, and she is so slow to pick it up, others often beat her to it, and they certainly out-eat her. If a predatory were to ever get in the enclosure, she would be the first to get caught. Honestly...she probably just stand there. I often wonder if he has limited vision.

The strange: she moves sort of slowly, sometimes as if she is somewhat retarded/oblivious to the world around her. The entire flock will go to roost at night, and she'll be the last to come in the hen house...and when she does, she doesn't roost with the others. She sleeps in a nesting box that is closer to get up to. I don't even know if she can fly up to the lowest rung of the roost at 3'.

If you own silkies, have you experienced this sort of different behavior also? I'd love to hear your silkie stories.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Totally normal silkie behavior.

They can't see well, don't get the treats on the ground quickly, don't like ramps or roosts very much (they can be trained, however).

Silkies like to cuddle on the floor in shavings.

(You don't want her 3 feet up unless you have steps up as she will fall with a horrible thud and possibly hurt herself.)

 

[4hchickmama]

Yep...totally normal for silkies. My orpington, rock, polish, and cochin come running when they see me with treats. My silkie will slowly meander in my general direction at a leisurely pace. She will also not move out of the way if you are trying to move the coop (ours is on wheels) or if something gets in her way. She LOVES to have attention, but is slow to get there. I often have to pick her up from UNDER the ramp to the nesting boxes and put her in with the others. Shes...special...but we lover her to death.

 

[stefzbiz]

Yes, they are a bit odd, I have one on a imaginary nest- no eggs in it at all, but she is going to hatch it come heck or high water. She also roosts in that same nest box, but my other girl is always first up in the roost she is the queen though. They wont ever get out of the rain. I do have to trim around the eyes of one or the fluff completely covers her eyes. Either way she gets confused and just stares at things. Funniest birds ever though, wouldn't trade them for anything ever!!

 

[flower]

Brian Silkies ARE special. They do need the fuzz clipped from their eyes. I do that for my Polish also. But silkies can be slow moving and are stubborn at that. They can not fly and need to roost on the ground or just a few feet up from the ground/ But they will climb a ladder so that they can be with the rest of the flock. I have not had many but do have a larger blue silkie as my main rooster at this time. He is a hoot. Tries to protect his girls and be agressive. But how aressive can a three pound ball of fluff be ! I have heard some wonderful stories about their bravery when their chicks are in danger. I would always want some in my flock.

Did you ask for your Silkie when you placed your order ?

 

[jak2002003]

I always had Japanese Bantams and then added a pair of silkies to the flock. Yes they are strange - and I think low on the intelligence front too - well my 2 are.

They have no fear of anything - so if a dog or other animal comes into the garden they just walk up to it! My other hens will fly up onto the wall or run back into their run.

When free ranging one of mine keeps falling into my fish pond and can not get out. She swims into the deep end and into the one corner that had a seep side. The rest of the pond is easy to get out of. She has fallen in many times and never learnt not to try to walk on the top of the water lilly pads!

I thought it might be because they can not see, so I trimmed the feathers away from the eyes. They still do the same things.

They also get crazy moments when something upsets them and they start sprinting around the garden in random directions and are most upset. I still have not worked out what upset them - the other chicks just look at them as if they have gone crazy.

 

[fiveladybugs]

Oh that's total normal Silkie behavior. We always laugh because right now we have our three SIlkies housed with three standard pullets and everytime we let out to free range, the Silkies can't seem to figure out how to get out of the pen. And yep, the other three always get to treats before them unless I physically put it down in front of them & run the other three off. I can't help but love them though!

 

[Brian]

Brian Silkies ARE special. They do need the fuzz clipped from their eyes. I do that for my Polish also. But silkies can be slow moving and are stubborn at that. They can not fly and need to roost on the ground or just a few feet up from the ground/ But they will climb a ladder so that they can be with the rest of the flock. I have not had many but do have a larger blue silkie as my main rooster at this time. He is a hoot. Tries to protect his girls and be agressive. But how aressive can a three pound ball of fluff be ! I have heard some wonderful stories about their bravery when their chicks are in danger. I would always want some in my flock.

Did you ask for your Silkie when you placed your order ?

Oh, yes...ordered a single straight run silkie chick in the blue color. She arrived cold, and separate from the others in the box. She was close to death, but putting her under a lamp saved her. I have several tame chickens, several of which jump in my lap for attention, but I've never encountered a chicken that is so easily handled or so novel in its behavior. I think I will always have a silkie from here on. I'm already planning my next one!

Do the silkie roosters crow like other breeds, or are they quiet?

 

[Brian]

Thank you, all, for your replies. Okay, so I won't worry that my silkie is a nut-job! Silkies are so unique. I want to get a couple more now.

Brian

 

[amorrill]

Haha, I have a Silkie mix, and while she is my favorite bird, I've always thought she was a bit "touched". I didn't know if it was her fluff in her eyes, or if she was just a bit of a ditz, but I'm glad to hear it's normal behavior for her breed. My boyfriend likes to pick her up and lick his fingers and slick her "hair" back so she can see. He is a big boy, so it's a pretty cute site.