Introducing silkies to the flock

[Jhon Arbelaez-Novak]

Hello!

I currently have 9, 8 week old pullets, 1 full grown brahma (my first and my baby girl), and 4 full grown silver wyandottes. One of my pullets is a little black silkie. She is adorable! But being a a bantam, she is half the size of my other pullets. I would like to start introducing the pullets to the big girls, but I'm afraid of how my little silkie will do. She is still pretty small. I have had them all in the coop (separated by a divider of course), and the big girls don't seem to mind the little ones. They have not tried to attack them or peck them, and when I held one close to my brahma, she walked away as if she wasn't interested. I'm confident the big girls won't attack the pullets, but I am concerned for my silkie since she's so small.

Any advice on how to deal with this situation?

Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My advice is to get more silkies and keep them separately from larger breeds. Silkies are often bullied and harassed due to their odd behaviors and fluffy crests, and are best kept with other silkies or other gentle bantam breeds.

 

[Sricher91]

My advice is to get more silkies and keep them separately from larger breeds. Silkies are often bullied and harassed due to their odd behaviors and fluffy crests, and are best kept with other silkies or other gentle bantam breeds.

What if you get silkies and raise them with another breed since day 1? We are getting 6 Dominique’s and someone is offering to give us 3 silkies they will all be around 3 days old when we get them. Is there still a chance they’ll get picked on?

 

[Jhon Arbelaez-Novak]

My advice is to get more silkies and keep them separately from larger breeds. Silkies are often bullied and harassed due to their odd behaviors and fluffy crests, and are best kept with other silkies or other gentle bantam breeds.

I've had her with my other 9 (mixed breeds, including 2 buff brahmas), and she's never had a problem. I'm not concerned about the breeds, just introducing them to full grown hens.

 

[Jhon Arbelaez-Novak]

What if you get silkies and raise them with another breed since day 1? We are getting 6 Dominique’s and someone is offering to give us 3 silkies they will all be around 3 days old when we get them. Is there still a chance they’ll get picked on?

I think they'll be fine .

 

[Broodygranny]

You can never tell how it is going to turn out. They may be fine, or they may attack her. I have had a small bantam hen escape her separate pen, and the larger hens killed her. I have also had small hens that go along fine with the bigger breeds. I think it depends on the temperament of the chickens, and the amount of space. If you have lots of space, and your chickens are pretty calm, it may be fine.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

What if you get silkies and raise them with another breed since day 1? We are getting 6 Dominique’s and someone is offering to give us 3 silkies they will all be around 3 days old when we get them. Is there still a chance they’ll get picked on?

Things change as birds sexually mature. It can work but when it doesn't the silkies pay the price. I prefer to be more cautious. My large breed birds will chase my bantams off, not all the time but enough that I'm thankful the bantam have their own coop and run to fall back too when the bigger birds get rough. Have a backup plan if you see troubles.