Definitely not an Olive Egger!

[ChicnRitch]

I got this little bugger mixed in with Olive Eggers I purchased from my local feed store. Very quickly I noticed this baby was not growing as big as the rest..then I noticed what I thought was something stuck to it's feet...wait. are those feathers?!
So I'm almost certain this is a pullet...and after from researching, I have a guess...but still not sure...what do you think??? Here 'she' is at 7 weeks.

 

[newchickychick]

an utter chicken novice here, but some sort of silkie/maybe silkie cross? I’ve not seen them too young often yet. But she sure is cute!

 

[FattyChickens]

This is 100% a silkie. They are very hard to sex, but I'm seeing quite a bit of comb growth for 7 weeks (a roo's comb will be about 2-3x that big when mature) so you might have a cockerel on your hands.

 

[ChicnRitch]

This is 100% a silkie. They are very hard to sex, but I'm seeing quite a bit of comb growth for 7 weeks (a roo's comb will be about 2-3x that big when mature) so you might have a cockerel on your hands.

I love this little bugger...but i have a flock full of regular size hens...so it sounds like I'll need to re-home the sweetie regardless...I don't know a thing about keeping silkies

 

[SnackMeat]

If they are raised together there doesn't seem to be issues. I have a mixed flock of young birds, silkies and Polish up to half Brahma/EE. It seems like so long as they are raised from a young age together even if a few weeks in age apart, there doesn't seem to be issues.

We did have to camp freezer one bully but he was going after one of the bigger birds. And then we relocated two other kind of jerk-y birds who were clearly turning in to roosters. But none of them ever picked on the bantams.

I do sometimes see the silkies and Polish foot boxing in the morning with similar sized chickens for pecking order stuff but it's like five seconds of chest posturing or foot scuffling and then done.


It is a risk because of their vaulted skull so you should be aware of that. But from what I've read (since mine are all two months or younger) is that they can coexist in a flock.

Other than that the only thing you have to be careful of is that they get colder quicker, especially if wet. If caught in the rain they probably need some extra TLC. And you have to give them foot baths occasionally because the feather around their feet gathers muck and then gets hard. Too hard and it can break off painfully.

 

[ChicnRitch]

If they are raised together there doesn't seem to be issues. I have a mixed flock of young birds, silkies and Polish up to half Brahma/EE. It seems like so long as they are raised from a young age together even if a few weeks in age apart, there doesn't seem to be issues.

We did have to camp freezer one bully but he was going after one of the bigger birds. And then we relocated two other kind of jerk-y birds who were clearly turning in to roosters. But none of them ever picked on the bantams.

I do sometimes see the silkies and Polish foot boxing in the morning with similar sized chickens for pecking order stuff but it's like five seconds of chest posturing or foot scuffling and then done.


It is a risk because of their vaulted skull so you should be aware of that. But from what I've read (since mine are all two months or younger) is that they can coexist in a flock.

Other than that the only thing you have to be careful of is that they get colder quicker, especially if wet. If caught in the rain they probably need some extra TLC. And you have to give them foot baths occasionally because the feather around their feet gathers muck and then gets hard. Too hard and it can break off painfully.

Wow, thank you so much..."Lil-bit" it tough...was the first to venture out into the real world...the first to peck at new treats... But I have EEs & leghorns that are a year old...thats what i was really worried about. so far no real issues...they have a lot of room to spread out...and Lil-bit is growing up with BCMs, OEs and JGs! We'll see how things go. I may be reaching out for more advise!

 

[SnackMeat]

I think so long as there are a bunch of similar aged ones to sort of get lost in the crowd with, it is most likely fine. Absolutely keep an eye on it, especially if there are other roosters.

But I have two silkies, and judging by the crests at 7 weeks, one is probably a rooster and one probably a hen (though who knows.) even with the problematic early-roosters being butts, I don't think I ever saw the silkies be targets, only similar sized birds.


I would keep the silkie for now and reevaluate over time, and also depending on how many roosters you wind up with. The nice part about a silkie roosters is that while some are loud, they shouldn't be nearly as loud as a full sized rooster. So if you want a quieter rooster for breeding, silkie crosses are definitely a thing.