Convince me i need silkies

[ChickenCanoe]

Silkies are excellent brodies and fairly good mothers. That said, no one needs silkies. For my liking they are just too needy and vulnerable to predators. A friend who raises them calls them hawk bites. Ugly thing.

 

[fluffycrow]

Silkies are excellent brodies and fairly good mothers. That said, no one needs silkies. For my liking they are just too needy and vulnerable to predators. A friend who raises them calls them hawk bites. Ugly thing.

It's really interesting how some people's experience with silkies is that they're relatively smart, can free range, don't need extra care etc and the other side says that they're a free meal for predators, sort of like a very demanding ball of fluff. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of extra care besides a trim and nail care would they require?

 

[MaritimeFlock]

I have been interested in getting some silkies for some time now. Apart from their looks, there is one other thing I really like about them, well actually more like two. How docile they generally are, and their broodyness. I particularly want them so that I can place my aseel eggs/chicks that the aseel can't keep warm in their care, as they are excellent mothers, like the aseel. The other main reason I want them is so that I can mix them with my current birds to add a little more sustainability to them, and by that I mean going broody a little more often and also being accepting towards their flockmembers. I have some questions/requirements though. I free range my chickens, so it would be a plus if they were good at hiding from and detecting predators. Another question is how long does it take for them to mature. Anyways, anything you know about their temperament, care need etc is welcome

I have three males, three hands, and eight silkie chicks. The babies are about a week old now. My silkies make up more than have my flock. These are absolutely wonderful! Our boys are great protectors. And the ladies are amazing mama’s. They can hold their own, and don’t allow to be bullied. I find the aren’t hardy in the humid heat. They need helping colding down. I often provide stress aid electrolytes daily along side their regular water on those hot days.

 

[fluffycrow]

A silkie crossed to anything with normal feathers will produce normal feathered offspring that carry a silkie feather gene

Ah got it, it's a recessive gene. So two carriers would produce a silkie feathered bird. What about the other traits?

 

[fluffycrow]

Omg I totally forgot might be more like my rooster than I'd like to think

If anyone believes another breed would be better suited for my needs/flock, please mention it, and say why you would think it would be a better choice for my situation

I made this thread mostly to learn if silkies are the right breed for my needs, so if anyone think another breed would be best, please say so! Nothing is yet set in stone, and I'd much prefer getting a breed that fits my needs, because even if I don't particularly like them visually, I will grow to love them since they won't give me any problems and will help me, rather than buying silkies and then resenting my decision

 

[Amer]

I don't remember if I have mentioned it in another post, but if anyone has experience with crossing silkies, I would love to know the outcome, everything from feather type, color outcome, general appearance, behaviour, braincell capacity, broodyness etc

Sorry if my posts on this thread are sometimes a mess

Once my brother was careless in collecting hatching eggs and put the Silkie egg from the general flock in with the hatching eggs, marking it as a bantam Buckeye. Well… it turned out to be half Buckeye, anyway. I was quite annoyed about the invalid chick but he was quite happy about his mistake and thus “HairyBuck” was born (he calls Silkies Hairies.) She turned out to be a pullet and lives in our flock to this day.
Normal feathers, crests, Silkie combs, (beards if bearded Silkie), and five toes are all characteristics of Silkie crosses. Black skin (fibromelanism) will also be inherited if the other parent is slate legged or if the cross is a Silkie male over a light shanked female which will result in sexlinks, fibro pullets and light skinned cockerels.
Color is obviously dependent on the color of the parents. My HairyBuck is an uneven orange color with black lacings. The mother Silkie was white so I guess she must’ve been partridge beneath.
So far she seems like a very average chicken. The Buckeye males seem to like her since she is their size. And she has never gone broody, but she was only born last spring.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are you just looking for birds that can brood and free range?

 

[deidreg]

It's really interesting how some people's experience with silkies is that they're relatively smart, can free range, don't need extra care etc and the other side says that they're a free meal for predators, sort of like a very demanding ball of fluff. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of extra care besides a trim and nail care would they require?

They can't dry off as easily because of their fluffy feathers. If it's cold, they may get hypothermia. My girls usually don't get wet, but I have dried them a couple times before they went to sleep. They seemed to enjoy my hairdryer.

 

[fluffycrow]

Are you just looking for birds that can brood and free range?

That plus calmer all around personality and on the smaller side of things. Another thing I'm looking for is longevity, and I mean that in two ways. I have many egg layers in my flock, and have had over the years, so I'm not in any need of more, I would rather a hen that lays 3 times a week over the course of 5 years than a hen that lays 6-7 a week and stops completely at 2. In addition, I want hardy birds

 

[fluffycrow]

Are you just looking for birds that can brood and free range?

But those are definitely the most important traits, a bird that goes broody really easily. The other traits I have listed them from most to least important (apart from hardiness, but that I also clarify it with free ranging ability as they won't be able to survive for long)