Finally!!! My Silkies :)

[BooBear]

Bearded chicks have fluffier cheeks. The crested chicks have a bit more top on their heads.
Hatchery silkies tend to have a small crest on top with very little fluffy cheeks.

 

[Equest94]

^^^ Thank you


I didn't realize there were so many different kinds of silkies. I've heard of the bearded, non-bearded, and the showgirl (which is really a cross) and now crested. Are there more varieties? Whick kind are hatchery chicks normally labeled as - non-bearded?


Sorry, as I have mentioned I'm new to this breed, so I apologize if I sound a bit naive.

 

[JulieNKC]

Hatcheries sell both bearded and non-bearded. I can't tell if yours are or not. I believe bearded are more common, so bet yours probably are though. I think you have 3 white silkies and one buff. You should know for sure in a few weeks when they feather out more. All silkies are crested, hatchery silkies crests just aren't as poofy as show quality silkies'.

 

[Equest94]

Thank you for clearing that up! As much as I hate seeing them grow so quickly, I am anxious to see what they will turn into

I have another [stupid] question:

I only raised chicks once before (the other times I bought adult birds). Well, lately I've been noticing that my chicks are starting to jump around and bump into each other. I don't recall if my previous batch of chicks did this too (it's been so long). I know that all baby animals tend to run, play wrestle, stretch, etc, but is this the first sign of rooster behavior? I know that roosters will act more aggressively and challenge each other but I have also seen my hens act a bit like this to each other when they try to switch up their pecking order/dominance - I'm just not sure if female chicks are already this in-tuned to dominance roles at only a few days old....

Just wondering if this kind of behavior most likely indicates they are roos or if this is common for any gender of chick - ???



The other thing is, while trying to research more about the silkie breed, I stumbled across a website that said that silkies tend to have "reversed gender maturing rates." Like, in most breeds, the males tend to get bigger quicker, they tend to develop their feathers earlier, their combs and wattles tend to grow bigger and at a faster rate then the females' etc. This site said that in silkies, it's the pullets/hens that tend to mature faster.... Is this true?

 

[BooBear]

Mine grew about the same rate until the boys just grew taller than the girls. The boys did seem to get their feathers slower which I thought was normal as it was the same way with my Wyandotte chicks.
My 5 are now 15 weeks, soon to turn 16 week this Saturday.

Cinnimon is the biggest boy in the group with the prettiest coloring. He is the head of the Silkie gang. (I can cuddle him which is so cute. My big Wyandotte rooster won't let me cuddle him.)
Lola is the second in command boy in the group and has been getting more rooster colored type feathers in recently.
Shrek is at the bottom and is solid black. Poor Shrek has a defect that kept him the same size as the girls. His spine has grown in a curve like sculirosis (sorry for the misspell). He also was the slowest in getting his feathers all in. Despite this defect he runs around doing chickie stuff with the rest of the group.
Rita is one of the girls and is my sweetiest Silkie.
Blueberry is the other girl and is more of a pistol. She does not like to be handled.

This is my first group of Silkies and they are just so adorable.

 

[Elite Silkies]

You'll have to wait a couple of months before you will know the sex. Pet quality are sexable at younger ages, and breeder/show quality takes quite a while before you can sex them. Yours are bearded.

Here are some pics of bearded and non-bearded in both showgirls and silkies.

Non-bearded Showgirl

Bearded Showgirl

Bearded Silkie Hens

Non-bearded Lavender Silkie (she was about 4 months old in this pic)

 

[JP101010]

Johny( white silkie Rooster) and Miss Red (RIR)


Poor Johny , he is being harassed daily by the other (mean) silkie rooster , Steadman

how should i go about getting peace- they are in seperate coops at night and in the fenced in back yard by day.
any suggestions?( other then rehoming or eating them)

 

[Equest94]

Wow! Beautiful birds! Thank you for posting and for sharing additional info. It really cleared a lot up for me.




JP - as I have mentioned, I have a similar situation. My "normal" hens have been picking on my Polish hens non-stop (and I assume they will do the same to my silkies once they are old enough to be outside). I'm in the process of building a new coop - a larger shed that will have a fence split down the middle, plus a run that will also be split. I'm planning on keeping my larger and more "common/normal" breeds on one side and my smaller and more "exotic" breeds on the other. I'm just sick of having beautifully fluffy-feathered birds plucked bald by my others, so separated they shall be!

I know roosters will normally fight if: they have NOT been raised together, if they are establishing dominance, if there isn't enough room, and if there isn't enough hens to share between them, etc

If it doesn't seem like they'll be able to work out their pecking order, you're probably better off keeping them in separate coops and separate runs before one gets seriously hurt. Split the hens between them and call it that... Idk, maybe someone will have another solution for you - ??? I hope everything works out; best of luck.

 

[Equest94]

Today, the sun is coming through the windows of our house - omg so nice and warm! I decided to bring my chicks down to our mud room so they could run around, explore and stretch. They had a ball!



My first batch of chicks I had, I bought directly off a farm. These were the most friendliest birds I have ever had and they seemed to have imprinted on me right from the start. I even got a polish pullet from the county fair this past summer. She was already pretty big (maybe 8 weeks old at the time). She seemed to imprint on me too even though she was already older. I'm pretty sure she came from a breeder so she was farm raised too...

The silkies I have now don't seem to care about me so much. They don't mind me holding them or working around them, but they aren't ones to cling to my side, climb on me, or follow me around. I bought them from Tractor Supply, so I'm pretty certain they were hatchery raised with minimal human contact. I've had them for a week, I can't imagine they were any older than a few days when I bought them (they're just getting their wing feathers and some tail shoots now)....

Is this just the way the breed is or is this because they were from a hatchery? Is there anyway I can still imprint them or did that chance sort of past by already?

I've heard silkies were one of the most friendliest cuddliest breeds; I want to make sure I have human-friendly chickens that will stay around and not try to run off.

 

[Equest94]

Ok, finally decided to download my pictures off my camera and of course I had more chickie pics on there, so I figured I'd share a few again...

^^^ "... It's an ancient Chinese art, and everybody knew their part. From a faint into a slip, and a kickin' from the hip! Everybody was Kung Fu fighting! [Hi'ya!]... "


We had a surprisingly very warm day last week, so I let the babies out for a bit. Their first time outside (and not really quite sure what to do with themselves):

^^^ "I hope they don't notice me inching over..."

^^^ "Ok, can't resist any longer! Must count, sniff, and attempt to give kisses to each and everyone of them!"

It got a bit colder later on in the week, so the closest to outside they got was in our mud room:

^^^ They finally learned to trust me and take food from me. I may not be their "mom" like I was to my first set of chicks, but I am definitely their "YAY! Super-awesome treat lady!"



And now for the more recent.... They are getting U-G-L-Y!!!! I have no idea what to classify them as - birds? rabbits? hairless rats? LOL! Their 'preteen' stage definitely is not a good look on them - talk about shabby:

^^^The one on the right has got to be the ugliest one I have ever seen, but it's my favorite - it seems to be the most personable out of the bunch so we have bonded quite a bit.

And just for the sake of saying this - ALL of them are coming in white. I really thought I might have some different color birds... (well 2 white, a buff, and maybe a really light self-blue), but no... Anything they can do to make things harder on me

I guess I'll just have to tell them apart by looking at their feet, lol.

I know I have one bearded for sure, the other three, I'm not so sure about - they seemed to have gotten a lot less "puffy-faced" these past few weeks (unless the other one is just overly puffy - ?).

It's hard to tell for sure right now, but I've also noticed that 2 seem to have pea combs and 2 have some sort of raised comb...

I know my chicks are FAR from what's ideal/standard for the silkie breed, but I still love them to death. They are so much fun to have around!