Moving babies in a week....or should I

[Annawhi]

Hi all,

My babies will be 6 weeks old next week. It is time to make the move to the coop and run. They are starting to get a bit unruly in the house. My concern is my little silkie. She loves her family and I don't want to separate her but is she too small to go out with them? She hasn't grown much at all. I attached a pic of her I took yesterday. Please let me know what u guys think. She will have 1/2 in hardware cloth around a metal run. I just dont know why she is so tiny.

 

[50-45-1]

Might be your silkie is a bantam and the other a standard size.
Also ALL my chicks hatched in incubators get out of the house at 2 weeks. I just cant stand the dust, noise and smell after that age.
They may go out with a low wattage heat lamp or not depending on temps and time of year for my climate.
Good luck and congrats!

 

[Annawhi]

Might be your silkie is a bantam and the other a standard size.
Also ALL my chicks hatched in incubators get out of the house at 2 weeks. I just cant stand the dust, noise and smell after that age.
They may go out with a low wattage heat lamp or not depending on temps and time of year for my climate.
Good luck and congrats!

Thank you. It is getting a bit much in the house.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Silkies are considered bantams, but she does seem a bit unusually small compared to the chicks she is standing next to. Still, if you don't move her at the same time you move all the other chicks, you will have a difficult time integrating her later. The other pullets will have already established their pecking order, and she will be considered an intruder.

 

[Annawhi]

Silkies are considered bantams, but she does seem a bit unusually small compared to the chicks she is standing next to. Still, if you don't move her at the same time you move all the other chicks, you will have a difficult time integrating her later. The other pullets will have already established their pecking order, and she will be considered an intruder.

Yes, the other black one next to her is a bantam cochin. It took the silkie 3 weeks to grow just a bit. Wasn't sure she was going to make it. Now she stands up to the bigger ones and has her place. I wouldn't move them separate, just wondering if I need to keep them all in longer or move them all out. We are double checking everything to make sure she will be super secure at her size. Then we might let them all out. None of them even sleep under the plate anymore.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Wow, if the chick she is standing next to is a bantam cochin, she IS tiny! She may be a failure-to-thrive chick, and if so, you've done a great job of helping her to survive so far. Here are a couple of BYC threads with info about the condition, and should give you ideas as to what you can do to help your Silkie chick grow.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...’t-grow-failure-to-thrive-i-hope-not.1294123/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...to-thrive-chick-among-3-thriving-ones.875604/

Personally I don't feel comfortable giving you give you any advice as to when to move them, because only you can see her day-to-day, and assess whether you think she is strong enough to make the move. Good luck with her; you've done a great job so far!

 

[Annawhi]

Wow, if the chick she is standing next to is a bantam cochin, she IS tiny! She may be a failure-to-thrive chick, and if so, you've done a great job of helping her to survive so far. Here are a couple of BYC threads with info about the condition, and should give you ideas as to what you can do to help your Silkie chick grow.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-with-a-chick-that-won’t-grow-failure-to-thrive-i-hope-not.1294123/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...to-thrive-chick-among-3-thriving-ones.875604/

Personally I don't feel comfortable giving you give you any advice as to when to move them, because only you can see her day-to-day, and assess whether you think she is strong enough to make the move. Good luck with her; you've done a great job so far!

Thank you! I have been giving scrabled eggs since week 2 about 2-3times a week. She also got save-a-chick electrolytes. She really perked up after we fed eggs the 1st time. As active as she is, we decided next week she will go out with everyone. She is more spunky than half of them. I may put the brooder plate out there or a heat plate as it has been 52-59 at night lately. Just until she gets a bit bigger.

 

[Annawhi]

Wow, if the chick she is standing next to is a bantam cochin, she IS tiny! She may be a failure-to-thrive chick, and if so, you've done a great job of helping her to survive so far. Here are a couple of BYC threads with info about the condition, and should give you ideas as to what you can do to help your Silkie chick grow.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-with-a-chick-that-won’t-grow-failure-to-thrive-i-hope-not.1294123/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...to-thrive-chick-among-3-thriving-ones.875604/

Personally I don't feel comfortable giving you give you any advice as to when to move them, because only you can see her day-to-day, and assess whether you think she is strong enough to make the move. Good luck with her; you've done a great job so far!

Just an update. Moved her out with the rest and it seems she has doubled in size already! She is almost as big as the bantam cochins now.