More Bantam Questions....

[mcdaid36]

I've narrowed down the breeds I like, and two of those are sultans and silkies. But I just read something that says they can't roost like regular chickens because of their 5 toes. So what type of roosts do they need? Also wondering if they are cold hardy. It gets down to the single digits some days in the winter here. I'm in southern NY, about 1 hour north of NYC. Thanks for the info. It's hard to find any good info on the web. I guess I'm just used to backyard chickens wonderful people and great info!

 

[LilPeeps]

I have no experience with sultans but I do with silkies. They can roost, they just prefer not to. They sleep in a pile and are cold hardy. I'm in MA and they do fine all winter..we just went through a real cold spell where it was around 5 degrees with -10 to -20 wind chills and they all did well.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I am also unfamiliar with sultans, but I have 6 silkies. 5 of them live together and sleep in a pile on the floor. The other one has taken up with my dad's standard chicks. He has roosted from the day I got him in his cage, that has a roost about 2' above the floor. I have read that some silkies will roost, but because of their feathers they can't fly well. They need a low roost, like 12"-18", but they still probably won't use it.