Introducing a silkie bantam to my larger breed chickens ?

[connor97]

A pet store will be getting adult silkies in February and I really want to get one, but I'm afraid it will be pecked on by the others. The advantage of getting it now though is that my chicks are only 3 weeks old now, so by February they will still be small. Do you think the silkie hen will be okay on her own, or should I get two? The problem is that I already have the maximum amount of chickens and I was going to sneak in the silkie since they are small anyway, so I would prefer to only have one so it is less chickens so the city won't cause any problems. My breeds of chickens I have are 2 easter eggers,1 barred rock, 2 buff orpington, and 1 rhode island red if the breeds make any difference on their temperament with smaller chickens.

 

[Bunnylady]

I think you are right that a Silkie would get picked at by the others, at least when they mature. If you were talking about introducing a single Silkie to an established flock of adult birds, I'd say "no way!" Whenever I have put birds together, I prefer that each has at least one other bird that it is already familiar with. If nothing else, the negative attention can get spread around a bit, and it's less likely that serious damage will get done before I notice it! But I'm not sure in this case that 2 or more adult Silkies might not gang up on the young birds that you already have. Mixing ages is always a little chancy.

The numbers thing gets a little "iffy" too. As an old hand with "Chicken Math," I know that you really don't have any chickens yet, and even if/when you acquire some Silkies, it will still be debatable whether you have any then (does a Silkie ever really count as a chicken?). Whether you could get away with one more, or a couple more actual birds than what the city allows would probably depend on whether you are on good terms with your neighbors.

Are they on the list for fresh eggs yet?