I Think Those Fluffy Silkies Are More Cold Hardy Than We Tend To Think

[Frannabelle]

Aren't bantams the best? Plus, they're so small you can have more!

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I have 3 silkies in my mixed flock of layers.

It's not as cold here as many places but it's been getting into the teens at night. I built my coop for hot weather, not cold. Ceilings are high and ventilated. The walls are not insulated.

Everyone is just fine. I admit too that I worry about about my most broody silkie. She absolutely refuses to get off the nest and doesn't move except to adjust the eggs or pull them back under her. I have another half-hearted silky broody who usually spends nights in the nest beside her (especially if she can steal an egg or two) and often the young sex-link pullet she hatched for me a few months ago piles in as well, so I think they are cosy at night.

But yes, I find silkies to be as hardy and adventuresome as any of my standard layers. In fact they are often braver (or more foolhardy, can't decide which!) but they are outstanding. Maybe I just got lucky, but my girls lay almost as well as my standard layers, when they aren't broody. Their eggs may be smaller, but the yolks are just about as large as the bigger eggs. All in all I'm very pleased with them and experimenting with adding their genetics in with my laying flock. In fact my broody is setting on a clutch of all silkie eggs this go-round (RIR is the daddy).

 

[shchinchillas]

Our silkies are treated no differently then the rest of the flock. They are in a covered/closed in barn, however it is not insulated and they do not have a heat lamp that they can lay under. We were into the negatives this weekend with no issues. The only heat lamp that is hooked up has their waterer under it so it takes longer to freeze. They are in an area of the barn that is so large the heat lamp on the waterer does not make a difference with the overall temp...

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Yes, mine are also handling the cold just fine. We had quite a wind-chill here today, too. No insulation in our small coop, no heat lamp or artificial heat. Everyone is thriving.