Hello! Kinda new with the chickens:D. Just a couple questions

[badidea04]

So i bought 7 silkie chicks june 13th and they are getting a nice size now. I have 3 roosters and 4 hens. I love how all my roosters look and ive been told that you can only keep one or two. I eventually want to hatch some baby chicks and just see the awesome life process but i wanta make sure everything would run smooth. I have an 8x16x10 coop for them and they free roam during the day for about a good 2 hours. They dont fight or anything. Inside the coop i have two mini coops and then when long big coop thats the length of the whole wall. There is hay on the ground and hay in each coop. I live in Michigan and cant wait for them to take off. Also how are silkies in the winter? I have a heat lamp in there running at night and they just huddle up every where. I have made it this far so i would basically like to know how to continue this awesome process. I have 1 silver male, 1 silver and orange male, and one black and orange male. Then 1 black and silver hen, 1 white, 1 splash, and 1 black and orange female. Thank you


Jake

 

[sourland]

Glad that you are enjoying your birds. Your roosters may or may not continue to get along. If they start fighting as they mature, you may have to get rid of one or more. A bigger problem that may present is the overmating of your hens. Again, if this happens you may need to get rid of some of the roosters. As long as your coop is dry and draft free your silkies do not need a heat lamp. They have their own home grown feather insulation.

 

[Folly's place]

Cute birds! Just a comment about their housing; chain link fencing won't keep small predators out. Hope they're inside a secure coop at night at least. I'd add hardware cloth over the chain link, at least on the walls, and secure the run from digging critters if you haven't already done that. Mary

 

[badidea04]

Yea. We attached two layers of chicken wire to the bottom then buried the whole thing about a foot down. It's own coop Knox lol. I also have an old circus tarp that I'm wondering if I need to put it on top. Also how long does it take for them to start laying if I got them mid June?

Jake