With at least 25 Silkies... in one pen... and 10 more cockerels in my stag pen. I can attest they are NOT the smartest breed... even when they can see...
Yes, if I let hens raise chicks... the Silkie's are usually the last to learn their way up the ramp. If I move them to a new coop, they are the last to get the hint and go to the new coop at night.
My large fowl hens brood circles around my Silkies!
I haven't fully decided which camp I am in... despite having spent hundreds of dollars (or more) and an excessive amount of time getting together good breeding stock. I have been very heavily considering whether or not to keep here recently. Personality is a factor I select and cull for heavily in my males and I'm recently realizing females are NOT above law.
I agree 100%... they aren't as friendly or docile as people make them out to be. Sure, individuals can be (also smarter). But they are giant jerks... both the males and the females! Early on even some of the young females will peck me as I approach... giving me the illusion they may be cockerels. Introduce someone new... they are full on chicken Beeyotches to the new comer... My Silkies hold their own with any large fowl in the flock and were NOT at the bottom of the pecking order when kept together. I keep them separate now to prevent accidental injury from mating with a large fowl rooster. AND... some are skittish RIGHT from the first couple days after hatch. They are just easier to catch than most breeds and get handled enough they learn to accept it and thus people think oh, sweet Silkie.
Now don't get me wrong... some individuals are sweeter than others. And the crest size VERY heavily impacts them... as well as your interaction... One broody gal, I invited on my lap while she was locked out of the coop... she isn't a hag to me even when broody, she now sees me as a safe, and calm place to perch and nap.
My daughter also thought their friendliness is directly related to size of crest... thinking the bigger the crest the friendlier... cause they can't see to get away. One gal who couldn't see well would flip out when we grabbed her... I thought duh she don't know what's going on. Now I speak to her first and she approaches me... but also as they get older... their crest isn't as fluffy as it is during part of the juvenile phase... flock antics, mating, and mini molts seem to help thin it.
If they don't learn to use the perch/roost before their blinding crest comes into play... they never will and I have to remove them from lay boxes and put on roost... not because they don't WANT to roost... essentially because they are too "sthpethcial".
This is where having a GOOD broody can help a LOT! She must teach them to roost... in fact... roosting might be how I base my "selection", though that doesn't seem QUITE fair to those that weren't raised around the roost I am expecting them to magically see and use.
Silkies... in fact are chickens... and act just like every other chicken I've raised... they do like foraging, free ranging, AND roosting. Some just happen to ride the short bus.
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