Hello, I live in the high desert in CA and I have a few silkies and a few mixed breed roosters. They are all pets as I don't eat meat. I have been reading BYC information for a long time and I guess I just found out there is a membership so I am new to all this. I am interested in adding a few more hens to my very small flock. I would like a few heathy silkies or sizzles hens.
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help. Sounds like you have a lovely flock! I love silkies! If you plan to add to your flock there are a few things to consider. 1.) You have to quarantine the new birds for at least three weeks to insure they are not sick. 2.) You need to introduce them all properly and slowly. I've found that the "see but don't touch" method is the most effective. This involves placing a barrier in-between the two groups of birds so they can't peck one another but are still meeting each other. After one or two weeks of this you let them be together. Be sure to provide them with lots of space and feeders and waterers. 3.) Know that it'll be stressful for about a month. You won't be getting many if any eggs during this hard process. But if you introduce them correctly, they will all get along in time. Good luck and welcome to our flock!
Thank you so much, I just bought 4 silkie hens, thankfully they were quarantined. I will be returning them to the breeder tomorrow because two are showing early signs of URI. The breeder agreed to take the chickens back. I've had them about <30 hours and I feel heartbroken. The breeder assured me that the chickens were heathy so when I called her she was very sorry that this happened. The breeder will be able to treat these hens but I am passing on any further purchases from this breeder. I am pretty frighten to purchases chickens with all the diseases and such. So, that is one of the many reasons I joined this group....therapy. I bleached (10%) everything that may have contact (from me). I changed clothes and shoes but mostly avoided my heathy birds. Is there anything else I should do once the chickens are gone beside bleaching the hen house and pen? The pen is brand new (my Christmas present). I feel so terrible! I was very careful and spaced the new chicken far from my flock. How long does the virus last once the chickens are gone....I know there are several different URI. The two sick chickens have discharge from nose and one from an eye. I am so bummed. All the breeder's chickens looked healthy, as far as I could tell. The four I bought, were in a separate pen and I did notice one looked dirty (face and head). I should have passed. After I got them home, I cleaned them up so they looked better but they were sneezing and scratching their face. They are super cute non-beardered silkies 4-5 months. I hope they make it. I guess I was too happy, too emotional, to think. I am pretty depressed about this whole situation, time and money, but mostly I feel bad for these chickens. Thanks for the help.
Sorry your new silkies didn't work out. The one in your avatar is very nice. There are several dedicated silkie threads on BYC, some by color ie, "Nothing but Patridge silkies," Paint silkies," etc. My favorite is 'SILKIE THREAD," if you put that in the search box it should pop up.
Welcome to BYC. I'm glad you decided to join our flock. A lot of us were lurkers before joining. ) X2 on drumstick diva; I'm also sorry that your Silkies didn't work out. Mountain Peeps and drumstick diva have given you some good advice so I'll just say, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting some more Silkies.