My first Silkies

[dwdoc]

Hello all,

I just picked up 2 two day old Silkies today. Do Silkies have special needs or can I treat them like my other chicks/chickens?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=92702
You might find this interesting.

I have three silkies right now. I have noticed that silkies tend to get cold more easily than other breeds like the heavy dual purpose ones.

They don't tend to like roosts or ramps in general. But some do. They don't fly and can't see very well because of their large crests. This makes free ranging dangerous. I always watch my silkies when they are free ranging. I have witnessed a hawk dive into my silkie pen and BOUNCE off the netting overhead. The silkies were just standing around- and hadn't even run for cover despite the fact that they were out in the open away from trees- they didn't see it coming.

They have a hole in their skulls like a baby- a soft spot. One peck in the wrong place can kill them or render them brain damaged (or with crookneck). They should never be bullied. Some people separate their silkies into a different pen because of this, and others run their silkies with the large chickens with no problems.

They are rumored to get mites more easily but I haven't found that to be true- I just have all my chickens on a maintenance schedule of prevention after ALL my chickens got them.

They are wonderful. I noticed that my baby silkies always like heat lamps left on for longer - even in the summer- after all the other ones are feathered out. I tried to take away the 100 watt bulb from my 6 week old silkies in the summer and they acted like they were freezing. I have a 100 watt bulb out there now for my two month olds.

 

[E.M. Silkies]

Quote:
I have a silkie chick that I think may have gotten brain damage like your describing. He walks around with his head turned upside down so he's very uncoordinated when he walks. Is that 'crookneck'? What is the prognosis for something like that?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I have a silkie chick that I think may have gotten brain damage like your describing. He walks around with his head turned upside down so he's very uncoordinated when he walks. Is that 'crookneck'? What is the prognosis for something like that?

It sounds like it might very well be crookneck (or wry neck)
Some have had very good results with vitamin treatment:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article.html
click on "crookneck" in the left column for the article
click on "silkie skull" to see the pics of silkie skulls (the soft spot)

There have also been quite a few threads on BYC about crookneck or wry neck. If you do a search in the search bar you can read some of the stories.

 

[GlitterBug]

I also have one silkie with a similar neck problem.

I have been giving it 400 IU of vitamin E (squeezing it into her mouth every day) and sprinkling some of my multi-vitamin on her food. I have only done this for 3 days and she seems to be improving greatly every passing day! I am thrilled for BYC as this is where I learned this & I now know I do not have to "cull" her. She is beautiful.