Silkies shouldn’t be kept with any other species and even chickens that are taller. Any crested bird has a vaulted skull - or in other words - their brain is only protected by feather and skin. Think of a newborn humans soft spot. Only it never closes. Taller animals - and birds in general tend to peck each other on top of the head. This can obviously result in death. Best case scenario the birds ends up with a cranial hernia. Most of those birds don’t make it. I recently got one recovered with resulting wry neck so bad that it couldn’t be set down without doing summersaults. It wasn’t nice. After about seven weeks of tube and hand feeding and two months of prednisone (very risky to admitted to birds) and a specific vitamin regime and two vets that said to pull the metaphorical plug, the little guy got up and walked. We still have a long road but he’s better every day. But after that whole tragic ordeal I will never have a silkie with anything taller. I was going to breed them but after that I don’t even want to promote the breed. I’m show circles, they favor big crests. Well, the bigger the crest, the bigger the opening at the top of the skull. I fell the humane thing to do is to encourage breeding these sweet natured birds to try and close the skull. Not make it worse. You even hear of silkies jumping up in a crate on the way to a show and dying instantly. But that’s another thread entirely. Good luck with your stopped/ adoptee situation. I’d be cautious with the others too. Turkeys are moody. I’m a proud turkey mama. And when they get a burr in their saddle it’s not pretty. Especially hens. And that’s a lot of cranky bird if you’re a chicken. Especially a chick.
