Getting two silkies. What do I expect?

[silkiechicky88]

I'm getting a buff silkie and a blue silkie chicks. I'm going to be a first-time chicken owner come springtime.What do I do. They are going to both be show hens.

 

[Pyxis]

Silkies are great, I breed them myself. I just wanted to let you know that buying two chicks from show lines does not guarantee you're going to end up with two show quality hens. If you want some really nice hens to show you're probably going to want to buy quite a few chicks and then keep the best back for showing. If you mean you're just buying two and are showing them for fun, then you can disregard this

I also notice you said hens - silkies are very hard to sex, and especially with buying chicks there's no way to tell you're getting females, so you should prepare for a possible rooster. If you're buying from a hatchery that sexes them, silkies are very small and hard to sex so even hatcheries aren't that accurate. And hatchery birds aren't good quality, so in that case they won't be good show birds (again, if you meant you're just showing for fun and don't care that you won't win, don't worry about this).

If you need basic chick raising info, the Learning Center is great and has all the information you'll need! We are also all always happy to answer any questions you have.

 

[silkiechicky88]

I'm in town so I can't have a rooster plus I'm only eleven and mom and dad said I can only get two because they'll be with eight other chickens that we're going to get.

 

[silkiechicky88]

thanks for the advice.

 

[Pyxis]

You're welcome and good luck! I'd just have a backup plan in case you end up with a rooster, or you could buy some adult hens

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Pyxis has given you some good advice. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is loads of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in showing your Silkies.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

What breeds are your parents getting? Silkies tend to be very docile and because they look so different from other chickens, they tend to get bullied. Integration between new sets of birds needs to be a slow, careful procedure. Otherwise chickens set up a certain pecking order and ones at the lowest end generally get attacked. 2 silkies would not do well against 8 chickens of other breeds.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[silkiechicky88]

we're not sure what other breeds we're getting until we get them