do silkies ALWAYS get picked on?

[aubreynoramarie]

i just introduced 2 three month old silkies to my seven week olds. (ones an e.e and the other is a nhr) the silkies are a little larger than the seven week olds, but i just watched the seven week olds out there picking on my new silkies

i feel so bad for them! they arent even fighting back, theyre just huddling together and running away. i thought my two girls were docile and now i see that they are not. what can i do?? will this end badly? if so i am keeping the silkies and just getting two more (assuming all silkies are as wimpy as the two i just brought home...) which stinks because i have grown to like my nhr and my e.e.

advice?

 

[DragonEggs]

It's the natural pecking order working itself out. Your silkies are in a new enviornment and are a little scared. Yes they are docile but my silkie rooster is the dominant roo of my flock, even though all the other birds are more aggressive. As such his favorite females get priority over the others. My yokohamas are the biggest birds in my flock and are so docile they were at the bottom of the pecking order for their first few days. Even my tiny seramas would pick on them and scare them off. Now that they've gotten use to the place theyre standing up for themselves.

As a general rule crested breeds will get picked on a bit more by non crested breeds just because they look different. Lucky for me my silkies pretty much raised all my other birds so they don't get picked on. Give it some time, it should work itself out. The best time to introuce new birds to each other is at night when everyone is roosting. This way they all wake up to one another and its like "Oh, have you been here all this time?" and it's more natural for them.

Just be careful. Silkies have a soft spot on their head where the crest grows and a couple of good hard pecks (which I dont think you have to worry about from your young ones) can actually kill a silkie. If they still haven't adjusted in a few days come back here for further advice.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

thanks, ill pull em out of the pen right now and re-introduce them in the middle of the night...

 

[dieselgrl48]

I never had as much trouble with silkie's as I did Polish chick's.Once I started hatching so many of those I usualy had a seperate brooder set up for them.I raised my peanut silkie hen and showgirl in with 5 GIANT frizzle/cochin's.They were brooded together since they hatched at same time and did really well but kept a close watch on them for the first couple of week's.The frizzle's and cochin's still sleep and roost with them and they hang out all the time.The big one's just TOWER above Tiny the peanut and they seem to kinda protect her.

 

[gritsar]

New to having silkies, but not new to having chickens. I think the problem lies in the fact that the silkies are the new ones, not that they are silkies.
My two silkies are in the brooder with 30 other chicks, of which 19 are larger but younger meat birds. The silkies are doing just fine and in fact one of them (the little cockerel) loves being with the big birds:

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Silkies are the "nerds" of the chicken world

 

[silkieowner]

silkies are prone to getting bullied i had 3 silkie hens and my rooster in with my mums light sussexs,buff orpingtons and my barred rocks, Well i had to sperate my bantams from the bigger birds as they wouldn't allow the silkies to eat much food. Everytime they were at the food dish the sussex chased them away. They could be out in the yard and the silkies in the run and still the sussex would run in and chase them away, The sussex also picked fights with my silkie rooster. So for the safety of my silkies we made another pen for them and now there happy as larry. The next day after being put in there new pen 2 of my silkies laid there first egg.

From now on i will not house smaller birds in with the larger ones as i find the larger ones much more aggerssive. When my silkies were housed with them twice a day i had to chase the larger birds out of the coop/run and shut the door just so the silkies could get something to eat. It didn't matter how much feeders i had in the pen either they still chased the silkies away.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

well that stinks. especially since my silkies are bigger than my e.e. and my nhr! (one month older too). darn, do you think theres hope? does anyone have silkies that they didnt raise with other chick? i mean that they introduced to a flock and are fine?

 

[sourland]

Your first chickens are protecting their turf against the interlopers (newly added silkies.) Silkies because of their crests and generally mellow temperments are more prone to being picked on. Do you have enough space and places where the silkies can hide from the others?

 

[aubreynoramarie]

yes, they can hide, im just worried because i got two of them and one of them is going to another bycer in my area. im sad to think about when they wont have eachother to hang out with

i guess i just might have to have FOUR chickens instead of three *fake sad face*