Japanese Silkies added today

[ezgreen]

I have had 3 Japanese Silkies hens for a few months now, all doing great. One got broody, but just got over it.

One is about a year old and she is the Queen Silkie. The other 2 kind of follow her lead, but now they are no longer "teenagers" and are actually bigger than her now. But she is still the boss, so to speak.

Someone asked me last week if I wanted their Silkies and I said "sure". Today I looked in my backyard and it was full of chickens. He didn't even knock on my door, he just put them back there. Which is OK, except he gave me 7 more and there is at least 1 rooster.

They were getting acquainted, and mama's queen Silkie was not too happy, but I think the chickens he gave me were possibly brothers and sisters of my original 3 and came from the same farm. Not sure if that matters.

OK, the question.

I just went and cooped them all together. The new 7 were just in a big Japanese Silkie ball by the fence outside of the coop, like they apparantly like to sleep, with the big rooster covering all of them. I picked each one up one-by-one and then placed them in the coop with the original 3. They were very gentle, and I had already prepared places for them in the coop, eventhough I have noticed they always like to sleep in a ball on top of each other anyway. My coop is actually an outdoor storage shed witha cement floor and ventilation with shavings and boxes on the floor. Very cozy and nice (I think, tell me if I shouldn't do it this way.) They all go in there when he sun goes down and I shut them in until morning.

WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS ROOSTER? Is he going to peck me (lol!)?

Did I introduce them correctly? Apparantly they were given to me because this guy's "country chickens" were really beating up the Silkies.

Please offer advice? And what about the egg-fertilizing business? Do Silkie roosters crow like crazy?

Thanks, probably asked too many questions!

 

[secuono]

As long as he doesn't bother you or the hens, I don't see why not keep him.
I keep any Roos that show up, if they are nice to my other chickens and nice to me, I don't mind.
Silkies tend to be nice, maybe if you give him treats, he will like you and continue to be a good boy.
Bantams have a quieter crow, but who knows how much noise he will end up making.

Most people quarantine for 30days, I didn't I have no room and my birds welcome newbies just fine.
If your original birds start to peck on the new guys too much, then separate them for awhile, otherwise, just keep enough treats and space for them, they should get on nicely.

Do you have roosts for the Silkies? Kind of sounded like you might.
Silkies rarely use them, they might use very low ones, but rather just pile up and be adorable on the floor, lol!

 

[ezgreen]

Thanks for the info.

When I first got the first 3, I had an old chest of drawers and I took out the drawers and filled with shavings and hay and stacked them all nicely in their coop/shed because my stepmom said chickens like to roost high up. Not silikes. They never even got in them! All three would pile on top each other in this small wooden doghouse that I placed in their coop. So now I have a few of the drawers on the cement floor, with shavings I got at the feed store on the floor, too, and then shavings and hay placed on the floor in piles, etc. And the wooden doghouse, too. The 3 originals and the smallest of the 7 brought today are in the doghouse now.

They sleep very randomly, mostly piled in a silkie ball on the floor.

The rooster seems very gentle, even let me pick him up to place him in the coop without hesitation. He and the other 6 new arrivals were all piled together, and allowed me to move them inside their coop very easily.

My backyard is a very nice environment so I think they will adjust quickly. I placed water bowls all over the ysrd, and scratch all over the yard, and moved some big cement blocks that had lots of nice roly-polys under them so they could all scratch for bugs.

But now will I have fertilized eggs? What should I think about that, if anything.

About to go peek in there with a flashlight...back in a few with a silkie-integration update.

 

[ezgreen]

All is calm and well in the chicken house. Silkies are such a nice breed. There is one that has bonded with my original 3, one by herself, and 5 curled up together in the corner in the bedding.

I was just looking at some Silkie rooster pictures. I am concerned I have more than one. But one is huge and I can tell he is a rooster.


I am just going to go with the flow, unless they bug the neighbors. I have already told them I would give them fresh eggs, and that the chickens eat fleas. My next door neighbor liked that because she thinks the deer bring in fleas. We back up to a large ranch. The cattle and horses seem to have more bugs than the deer, and the new Silkies were at that fenceline pecking away.

*crossing fingers that the rooster is QUIET*

(not sure it is legal to have a rooster...need to look into that...)

 

[SilkieTime]

If there is a cattle and horses then you can have roosters.

 

[ezgreen]

Except my back fenceline is the city/county line I just found out. So my yard is in the city, and behind the fence where the cattle and horses are is the county. But their fleas jump the county line.

I actually think the city would not have a problem with it, as long as the neighbors do not complain. I called around and asked how many chickens I could have and no one seemed to know, and acted like they didn't care really. I finally talked to the animal control and he was so nice. The game warden out here is also really nice. Everyone seems to understand the benefit of chickens. I am just going to go with the flow.