Hello I’m interested in adding some silkies to my flock but I’m unsure of how they do in a mixed flock all standard size. I posted a thread yesterday but didn’t get much advice so I thought I would ask here. Are there special things about silkies that I need to know in advance? I don’t have any birds with feathered feet! And I don’t know why but that makes me nervous like do their feet stay dirty? Are they harder to maintain? Do their feathers around the eyes have to be trimmed for them to see? Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Debbie's Silkies
- Thread starter Debbie292d
- Start date
I had 3 Silkies but had 2 re-home 2 after 1 died from a Weasel attack (my mistake).
In the 2019-2020 time-frame I had my best-ever chicken coop, with the birds roosting about 9 1/2 feet off the ground.
That included 1 Silkie, who made the trip up to 9 1/2 feet in little jumps, related to her burning desire to be with the flock (of normal size chickens).
Eventually I re-homed 2 of the Silkies. There was a little black one that the Roosters loved a little too much. I had to make a "chicken tractor" type thing so she could be outside but not get attacked.
Where I live there are a lot of predators. Generally I need pets who can fly. But I still like Silkies !
It all depends on the personalities in your flock. My large fowl and smalls get along, but my flock is very docile and laid back. My standard rooster is huge and he doesn't care about the bantam girls, nor does he bother with the roosters. I'm not certain he even considers them the same species.
As far as the feet, I have standard and bantam chickens with feathered feet and that does require some maintenance, especially if it is muddy for several days in a row. My only "silkies" are mixed so I don't consider them true silkies. They roost with everyone else.
My Silkie's feet were always clean (for a chicken). I think what helped there is that they were sleeping in an "outdoors coop" (no walls). And then free-ranging.
So they got a lot of exercise and their tiny wings were sometimes able to help them, temporarily, fly/ hop.
They need to be in a situation where they are protected from neighbor's dogs - Always - and able to cope with local predators by "following the flock".
Once I let a Cornish hen join the flock. I made a mistake, she was sleeping basically on the ground. Something chewed her head off, possibly the weasel.
I think one interesting challenge is to train a heavy muscular bird like the Cornish Hen to fly.
So they got a lot of exercise and their tiny wings were sometimes able to help them, temporarily, fly/ hop.
They need to be in a situation where they are protected from neighbor's dogs - Always - and able to cope with local predators by "following the flock".
Once I let a Cornish hen join the flock. I made a mistake, she was sleeping basically on the ground. Something chewed her head off, possibly the weasel.
I think one interesting challenge is to train a heavy muscular bird like the Cornish Hen to fly.
- Thread starter
- #795
I'm glad others posted as I have no personal experience with mixing breeds.
One thing I know I've read from others is there's safety in numbers, so I wouldn't just get a couple of silkies, I'd get about a half dozen or more of them so if they don't blend too well, they have their own little clan that can wander around together. At night, I doubt there'd be an issue, but when they wake up if they are locked in together for a while, then there could be.
If you get the pet quality, those are usually not vaulted or have crests instead of so poofy, and no eye problems.
The fancier ones I do occasionally trim around their eyes. We used to use kitchen scissors but hubby came up with the greatest thing that works and they love it, his electric razor.
No, their feathered feet don't cause a problem. In fact, they insulate their toes in the winter so they can walk on snow/ice better.
Here is a satin silkie hen that's crested.
Here's a pet quality momma hen we started with. Her poofy head wasn't so poofy so she never needed trimming.
The "pet quality" as you can see are beautiful too, just not as stunning as our fancier, show-quality ones like Marsha, who does need her eyes trimmed every few months.
- Thread starter
- #796
We had visitors this morning.
Our dogs (border collie and corgi) were going nuts. I looked out my window and saw the border collie's hair was up, and the corgi ran back toward the house, and barked from there. Then we saw it. The 4 cubs must've been coming up the hill when the dogs scared them so they climbed a tree. Momma came out of the woods and was trying to coax them back down. We got the dogs in the house and then they came down and they left for back in the woods.
Our dogs (border collie and corgi) were going nuts. I looked out my window and saw the border collie's hair was up, and the corgi ran back toward the house, and barked from there. Then we saw it. The 4 cubs must've been coming up the hill when the dogs scared them so they climbed a tree. Momma came out of the woods and was trying to coax them back down. We got the dogs in the house and then they came down and they left for back in the woods.
Thank you for replying back and telling me a little about them. I was definitely planning on a good number of them. Just not sure how my big girls would treat them. I’m definitely not worried about my Easter eggers, Orpington, or australorps they are all laid back but it’s the Wyandottes that I worry might bully them. I’m considering building a separate pen and run just for the silkies. But my husband is gonna kill me! He’s done added on twice already lol
Chicken math is real!
- Thread starter
- #798
You may not need it. But if you're getting chicks or hatching eggs, you'll need somewhere for them to grow out to about 4-5 months, so maybe that'd work for that then.
Fabulous pictures!
- Thread starter
- #800
Thank you. Most were out our kitchen window but then I stepped out on the deck to snap a couple really fast, then ran back in. Then I looked.
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