Charri and Jack

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Charri

Charri

Hatching
Joined
Aug 21, 2016
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Location
Chesterville Maine
Good Afternoon from Maine. We are the new proud owners of 3 Black Silkies, this is our first time raising chickens and I know we have many questions we hope to get answers to. We are very excited to get started and hope to find out what sex we have. Wish us luck and education.
 
Greetings from Kansas, Charri and Jack, and :welcome. Great to have you aboard. Here are a couple links you might explore. The Learning Center is packed with great info to get you off to a fast start. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
When you chicks are a little older and you're still unsure on gender, you can post a pic or two here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this
Finally, if you want to chat with some locals you can locate the Maine thread in this link
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you
Good luck and best wishes! :)
 
welcome-byc.gif
so glad you have joined us.

Hope they turn out to be what you wanted ( I assume girls).
 
Thank you very much, we are excited to learn as much as we can. We bought a coop from Tractor Supply and they won't climb the ladder to go upstairs, they free range during the day and go back to the coop at night but will not go upstairs yet. Do you know if they will go up when it gets colder out or do we have to introduce it to them? This is where the nesting boxes are. So much to learn but we love watching them and the dog is better than I would have ever thought with them.
 
Thank you, yes we are hoping for girls and I will take some pictures because we really have no idea. The farmer we got them from thought they were girls but.... who knows for sure. They are so fun to watch. We let them free range during the day in our fenced in back yard and they do go to the coop at night and we shut the door to keep them safe. They have not gone upstairs yet, do you know if they will do this on their own or do try to teach them? That is where their nesting box is and we think it will be much warmer in the winter up stairs.
 
Charri said:
Thank you, yes we are hoping for girls and I will take some pictures because we really have no idea. The farmer we got them from thought they were girls but.... who knows for sure. They are so fun to watch. We let them free range during the day in our fenced in back yard and they do go to the coop at night and we shut the door to keep them safe. They have not gone upstairs yet, do you know if they will do this on their own or do try to teach them? That is where their nesting box is and we think it will be much warmer in the winter up stairs.
Click to expand...

You can post pics under "what breed/gender" forum to get guesses on sexes - but it does depend on their ages to get the final correct opine.

Those kit coops are often really too small for what the manufacturer's quote - a pic with dimensions under the Coops forums can give you some opines with the breeds and number of chickens you have.

But even with a large coop, many don't know to go into the coop by theirselves or if the ladder is too steep for them to climb they won't ( slope should be much less than 45 degrees).

We had to lift ours each nite into our coop for several days and a low wattage bulb inside the coop taught them to go in on their own - once inside and on the roosts we turned off the light. After a few nights of that, they learned to go in on their own without the light.
 
Silkies don't really have the right feathers to fly tho, they can jump high. Some prefer to lay in a heap in the corner rather than using a roost. If they have large crests and beards it obscures their vision so they don't seem as alert as other breeds. This also makes them a sitting duck for predators.

You may also want to check out the "Silkie thread," to learn more about the breed.
 

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