I never had plans to get any Silkies, but I got extra "bonus" eggs from someone I ordered from. (Who can stand NOT to try incubating a new type of egg when you're getting ready to set a bunch?!!! I know *I* can't.)
I hatched one little pullet from the couple extra silkie eggs he sent. She was an adorable little chickie, but not (as I'd heard the breed was like) extra docile or friendly. She was fine, very cute. My daughter loved her. She looks like something out of Dr. Seuss.
However, as she's grown, the little pouf of feathers on her head has gotten so thick that it's a wonder she can see at all. She's quite friendly now. She never comes running, but sidles over and picks around my feet when she realizes I'm there. She'll allow me to pick her up with no fuss at all, and will wrap her little toes around my fingers almost like a budgie. She sits with me until she notices I've lowered her down, and then she daintily steps back onto the ground (most of the time). Sometimes she seems to prefer the warmth of my hands.
It's my opinion that Silkies are so "docile" because they're often mostly blind.
Seriously, though, when you're keeping a bird calm, you keep it in a darkened place so it can't see. Even though I didn't order Silkie eggs, and had no intention of getting any Silkies to begin with, our little one won us over, I admit. I even purchased more (on purpose!), even though I'm half afraid of flying predator issues with vision-impaired little birdies.
I'll never raise any in quantity, but the idea of having a little broody or two to hatch eggs (of my main breed) for me is appealing. Hopefully, keeping one of the Silkie roos won't cause any problems (my other roosters don't seem to pay them any attention at all). We'll see.
I guess what I'm getting at is that they ARE sweet little birds with a high entertainment value. (We refer to our newest ones as Thing One and Thing Two.) Since I wasn't limited to just a few birds, it was fun for me to have them.
I hatched one little pullet from the couple extra silkie eggs he sent. She was an adorable little chickie, but not (as I'd heard the breed was like) extra docile or friendly. She was fine, very cute. My daughter loved her. She looks like something out of Dr. Seuss.
However, as she's grown, the little pouf of feathers on her head has gotten so thick that it's a wonder she can see at all. She's quite friendly now. She never comes running, but sidles over and picks around my feet when she realizes I'm there. She'll allow me to pick her up with no fuss at all, and will wrap her little toes around my fingers almost like a budgie. She sits with me until she notices I've lowered her down, and then she daintily steps back onto the ground (most of the time). Sometimes she seems to prefer the warmth of my hands.
It's my opinion that Silkies are so "docile" because they're often mostly blind.
I'll never raise any in quantity, but the idea of having a little broody or two to hatch eggs (of my main breed) for me is appealing. Hopefully, keeping one of the Silkie roos won't cause any problems (my other roosters don't seem to pay them any attention at all). We'll see.
I guess what I'm getting at is that they ARE sweet little birds with a high entertainment value. (We refer to our newest ones as Thing One and Thing Two.) Since I wasn't limited to just a few birds, it was fun for me to have them.
