Free-range Silkies owner who buys eggs on eBay

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drumstick diva said:
Welcome to BYC. I am surprised you are able to free range silkies. Due to their big crests obscuring their vision - they usually fall prey to hawk attacks or ground predators.
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We have a 125' tower for internet with 9 guy wires spanning out, plus lots of trees that help. We have a Border Collie that keeps the varments away. We have farmer fields on either side of us, so when they stray to either, I try to shoo them back. I rarely see hawks. Over the four years, we've had a couple go missing that I assumed either a hawk or possibly a fox, raccoon, or skunk snuck in unseen by our dog. They do hang around close usually as they are used to me coming out several times a day to give treats, but overall this is a very safe place for them. At night they are secured in a very nice coop with 6 solar motion lights scaring away anything. I had a deer camera on their coop area for a year and never saw anything.
 
N F C said:
:welcome

Congratulations on your Silkie hatches!
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Thank you so much. That's the "momma" I'm holding that took no more than a day to say they were hers and plopped down for 22 days. She's a good momma too. Yesterday was the first day she went back to the coop to lay an egg and they don't wait around, but come out and forage for themselves. It's fun to watch.
 
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Debbie292d said:
I don't do anything about cleaning as the dew or the rain apparently keeps them clean as they always are. We let them out of the coop very early and the silly things will stay out in the rain provided there's no wind. Talk about "bad hair day" when a silkie chicken is wet!
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How do they do in Winter? I went to Ripon College for undergrad, so I know how cold it gets up there. I'd like to get Silkies for my daughter. I think they fit her personality and she'd love them, but I'm afraid they might all die in the Winter. We're West Of St. Louis, Zone 6B, so generally about 10-15 degrees warmer than you. We get the warm air from the Gulf some of the time. But every winter we do get 2, one week periods of bitter cold. They will probably be housed in our barn, with horses, so they heat the air some. We predator proof the stalls, including the top, with 1/2" hardware cloth on the outside. Then we use 1/4" hardware cloth on the inside, on all sides, because I loathe snakes and Missouri is a snake Heaven. It would be really sad to get them and have my daughter get attached and loose them all....
 

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