Maybe this is silly... but can silkies roost?

[beepbeepinajeep]

My silkies don't roost like my other breeds. Can they just not fly enough to get up on the roost?

Also, do people let silkies free range? Mine just seem so oblivious to everything... I can't imagine they would last long out of the tractor

 

[miss_jayne]

silkies do not roost. yes, they can free range and will do so. they are pretty good foragers.

 

[beepbeepinajeep]

Thank you

If they free range, how do they get away from predators?

I think our plan is to keep our chickens in tractors for their first two years of life & then move them to a regular coop at that time & let them out during the day with no fence (we are on 80 acres).

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

My original two silkies who were raised with roosting birds do prefer to roost with the others. Actually, they take the best roosting spots (by force if they have to!). My latest three choose to pile up on the floor like normal silkies.

I have no idea why the first two roost except that's what everybody else did at the time.

Mine range as well and enjoy it. They do have a non-silkie rooster looking out for them so maybe that helps.

 

[TaLani]

The first 2 Silkies we got from MPC have always roosted. They prefer to be as high as possible (6 ft). See my blue silkie roo at the top left:

However, the silkies that I hatched from BYC eggs do not roost. Go figure.

 

[miss_jayne]

maybe the roosting Silkies don't know they're Silkies!

 

[ZooMummzy]

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Hahaha my silkies don't roost either and I have an EE banty and 2 Frizzles that think they are silkies, so they don't roost! They all just pile up on the floor together. They were all raised together and they all screech like the silkies do instead of bawking or chirping.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Hmmmm.... that's interesting. My original silkies are from MPC too. Wonder if they are selling some mutant form of silkie (which may very well be an oxymoron...)?

Part of it with mine may be that I didn't know that silkies weren't supposed to roost and so I carefully placed them up on the roost with the others when they were learning to roost. Maybe they just thought that's what we did.

They are silkie enough to be broody most of the time. Maybe that scratches their itch for floor roosting.

 

[catwalk]

My Silkie "roosts" at the top of the ramp. She prefers her nestbox, but I found her nesting on the ground yesterday. I think it all depends on where she is when she's sleepy. And she does NOT fly, unless you count when she flaps her wings while being carried (I imagine she has a very active fantasy life).

 

[Judy]

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