Isa brown/silkie

[hookie]

We have 6 isa browns that are happy and healthy. My daughter's friend want to give up her 2 silkie chickens. I think she said they are 12 weeks old. Does anybody know if these two breeds get along.
Our ladies are about 8 months old.
We have plenty of coop and run and plan Joe n getting 4-6 chicks in the spring.

 

[kelzey]

i would personally be kind of worried that your older girls would pick on the young ones, because of ratios and such, and currently the silkies would be too young to add in with your other ones i think. do you know if they are pullets or cockerels? if you have pictures, people here could help you figure it out

 

[Chicken12367]

We have 6 isa browns that are happy and healthy. My daughter's friend want to give up her 2 silkie chickens. I think she said they are 12 weeks old. Does anybody know if these two breeds get along.
Our ladies are about 8 months old.
We have plenty of coop and run and plan Joe n getting 4-6 chicks in the spring.

I've found that my ISA browns are very aggressive towards new members of the flock (yours might be different). Last year I added 2 new hens that I hatched, I made sure that they could see each other and that they were roughly of the same size. There was also a cockerel that I added and they had no problems with him. But the two new girls were constantly getting chased at the beginning. They're okay now but the ISA browns are still sometimes aggressive towards them and occasionally chase them around to let them know who's boss. I think adding 2 silkies to a flock of ISA browns would be difficult at first but it is possible, because silkies are know to be calm and docile I'd expect them to stay at the bottom of the pecking order. Try putting them in a smaller cage within the run and let them see each other but not touch. Then you could try letting the silkies out and see how they get along they might be fine or they might fight. I would however wait until the silkies are older and are almost fully grown. Good Luck!!

 

[hookie]

I've found that my ISA browns are very aggressive towards new members of the flock (yours might be different). Last year I added 2 new hens that I hatched, I made sure that they could see each other and that they were roughly of the same size. There was also a cockerel that I added and they had no problems with him. But the two new girls were constantly getting chased at the beginning. They're okay now but the ISA browns are still sometimes aggressive towards them and occasionally chase them around to let them know who's boss. I think adding 2 silkies to a flock of ISA browns would be difficult at first but it is possible, because silkies are know to be calm and docile I'd expect them to stay at the bottom of the pecking order. Try putting them in a smaller cage within the run and let them see each other but not touch. Then you could try letting the silkies out and see how they get along they might be fine or they might fight. I would however wait until the silkies are older and are almost fully grown. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the info. I don't want to start a chicken war, I'm only thinking about doing this to help my daughter's friend out. I think they said that the silkies were attacking the polish chickens.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Aapomp831]

ALL chickens are aggressive to new chickens, regardless of their breeds. If you integrate them properly by using the see but don’t touch method, you can successfully integrate them. It just takes separation, time and patience. ISA browns are typically docile; but any chicken will defend their resources against newcomers regardless of breed.

 

[SulkyBantam]

In my experience breed or age never makes much difference. New ones will be a bit picked on and silkies are not domineering, but it should work out for you I hope!

I know I would not be able resist adding 2 silkies to my flock. I have been looking for silkies for months- no one is selling them!

 

[Chicken12367]

In my experience breed or age never makes much difference. New ones will be a bit picked on and silkies are not domineering, but it should work out for you I hope!

I know I would not be able resist adding 2 silkies to my flock. I have been looking for silkies for months- no one is selling them!

I've always wanted to add silkies to my flock for their broodiness but its been very difficult to find any which aren't too far away from me.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Yep.
I just love them and miss our pet one killed by a fox.
Hope you find some one day!

 

[black_cat]

I think that as long as you have the space for all of them, and integrate them properly, you'll be fine.

 

[cmom]

ALL chickens are aggressive to new chickens, regardless of their breeds. If you integrate them properly by using the see but don’t touch method, you can successfully integrate them. It just takes separation, time and patience. ISA browns are typically docile; but any chicken will defend their resources against newcomers regardless of breed.

I agree. Regardless of the breeds, when you add new birds to an existing flock, the pecking order will have to be reestablished. Usually if I add new birds, I have the option to put everyone into a different coop so then everyone is on new turf. They still have to establish their new pecking order but it usually goes smoother. I would wait until the silkies are a little older. Good luck...