I have a buff silkie that I have no clue whether it is a boy or a girl. Some days I would swear I saw "streamers" and other days I would think I imagined them. It is now 21 weeks old, and no tell tale egg or crow to give me a hint.
I had it in my "for sale" pen until I could figure it out. Then we had a nighttime attack that killed 3 little cockerals. Fearing for it's life, I decided to move it to my "bantam keep" pen. They were all in the brooder together and have only been seperated about 3 weeks so I was hoping there wouldnt be any issues putting it in the other pen. I also hoped it might finally give me the answer to whether it is a he or a she.
I waited until about an hour before bedtime to put her in the coop. The resident roo immediately mounted it about 4 times then he went about his little roo business. Silkie then went out into the run where it was immediately pecked by the head pullet. Blue Roo immediately stepped between them to seperate the pullet from Silkie. Everytime head pullet tried to get around him, he would move to stay between them. I think she got about 2-3 more pecks in before she gave up and she led her "accepted" followers into the coop. Blue Roo followed and Silkie followed him. They all settled on the roost except Silkie who sat on the floor. I figured Blue Roo had it all under control for the night, so I left them until morning.
Next morning, I go out to find Silkie huddled in the corner of the run. All if its feathers on it's head and neck have been pecked off and it has a shallow wound on it's neck. The Silkie is now in the isolation cage in my bathroom. I cleaned off the blood and have been putting neosporin on it every night. The wound seems to be healing nicely and if everything continues to go well it will go out next week into the "brooder coop" with the super sweet frizzle and the teeny runty OEGB and possibly the runty frizzle if it turns out to be a pullet too. The Brooder Coop with officially be renamed the "oddball hen house" since it will house all the misfit pullets. Wish us luck.
Lesson learned.. even a seperation of only 3 weeks can change flock dynamics into dangerous situations for the poor little "oddball" chickens.
I had it in my "for sale" pen until I could figure it out. Then we had a nighttime attack that killed 3 little cockerals. Fearing for it's life, I decided to move it to my "bantam keep" pen. They were all in the brooder together and have only been seperated about 3 weeks so I was hoping there wouldnt be any issues putting it in the other pen. I also hoped it might finally give me the answer to whether it is a he or a she.
I waited until about an hour before bedtime to put her in the coop. The resident roo immediately mounted it about 4 times then he went about his little roo business. Silkie then went out into the run where it was immediately pecked by the head pullet. Blue Roo immediately stepped between them to seperate the pullet from Silkie. Everytime head pullet tried to get around him, he would move to stay between them. I think she got about 2-3 more pecks in before she gave up and she led her "accepted" followers into the coop. Blue Roo followed and Silkie followed him. They all settled on the roost except Silkie who sat on the floor. I figured Blue Roo had it all under control for the night, so I left them until morning.
Next morning, I go out to find Silkie huddled in the corner of the run. All if its feathers on it's head and neck have been pecked off and it has a shallow wound on it's neck. The Silkie is now in the isolation cage in my bathroom. I cleaned off the blood and have been putting neosporin on it every night. The wound seems to be healing nicely and if everything continues to go well it will go out next week into the "brooder coop" with the super sweet frizzle and the teeny runty OEGB and possibly the runty frizzle if it turns out to be a pullet too. The Brooder Coop with officially be renamed the "oddball hen house" since it will house all the misfit pullets. Wish us luck.
Lesson learned.. even a seperation of only 3 weeks can change flock dynamics into dangerous situations for the poor little "oddball" chickens.
