I'm granny jen; living with my daughter and grandchildren in eastern ontario on two acres. We are new to poultry, having acquired chickens geese and a duck through animal rescue and fostering - normally dogs, but the occasional raccoon, snake, pony etc. Our initial arrivals were charming, but we failed as rescuers. Our two Geese ran away to the nearby lake and lived happily ever after. Our two initial chickens were eaten by a very hungry raccoon. So we are wiser and sadder; with three young silkie bantam's (unsure of gender) about 3.5 to 4 months of age, and a young duck of indeterminant age, gender and type. Our duck is particularly confusing. He looks like a female and sounds like a male. He is a buff or campbell, but as he / she is a rescue, we have very little to go on. Hopefully time will tell. My daughter connected me to Backyard chickens, and it has so afar been pretty interesting. In other parts of my life I am a child psychologist, and grow flowers, vegetables and heritage beans and tomatoes, rad a lot, paint, and sew (in the winter). I look forward to having lots of support from you. Jennifer G
Hi Jennifer Glad you could join us here! I'm sorry to hear about losses to a raccoon, it's always very sad when we lose flock members. It sure does sound like you have a lovely place and it's great that you rescue animals. You could post some pics of your silkies in the what breed gender section of your Unknown silkies ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this The duck section would be great for you to check out for help with your duck ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks I'm sure the keepers there will be able to help you with all your duck questions. Wishing you the very best of luck for the future and enjoy BYC
Howdy from Kansas, grannyjen, and . Pleased you joined us. Looks like Yorkshire Coop has you hooked up with links so l will just say best wishes and good luck!
sorry for the loss to predators. Please check out the predator threads for advice on how to help prevent further attacks. Once a predator is lucky, it/they will keep coming back till there is nothing left - unless you stop them or outsmart them. Silkies are extremely vulnerable to predator attack. Their crests and beards obscure their vision and they are not flyers, though they can jump high. This makes them a sitting target. They are best kept in an enclosed, covered run .