My Silkie Babies - pic heavy & NEW** a silky question

[TurtleChick]

They are so cute. It's either that the chicks are tiny or the shavings are huge.

i was going to say the same thing!

congratulations on your lil ones - much cuteness in that brooder!

 

[arlee453]

OK, here's a question for those of you who have had silkies before...

Is it JUST me or are these the pecking-est little chicks? They are constantly pecking each other's toes, feathers on their feet - anything they see.

My standard chicks didn't do NEARLY as much pecking. They can't be too crowded in there at this point.

Is it normal for silkies to peck so much? At what point do I worry about separating them? Will they outgrow this?

I got one little squirt (DD named it 'rascal') who keeps pecking his OWN toes - like 'hey, worm...ouch', then like 2 seconds later 'hey, worm....ouch'

They are surely silly!

 

[Judymae]

You might want to change to a red light bulb. That really helped us with the pecking.

 

[arlee453]

Hmmm... the light bulb may be the key. I changed to a warmer 100wt bulb that was white to get the temp up a bit.

I think I'll put the 85wt red bulb back in there and see if that helps. Thanks!! I didn't think of the bulb color.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I think some chicks must just hatch with the propensity to be more curious / agressive.
I had a recent hatch of a bunch of Silkie chicks and 2 Modern Game chicks.
The Silkie chicks were total bullies toward them, pecked, and generally aggravated them (the MGB are tiny compared to the Silkies), so I set up another brooder.
I was surprised because I've never seen Silkie chicks show any sign of agression or picking (but they are usually the smallest chicks in the brooder).

Good luck with your chicks

Lisa

 

[arlee453]

I changed out the light and that seemed to quiet them down quite a bit.

A couple of them have some pink toes and that seems to be the favorite pecking target.

Also, there is one chick (named Rascal...) that is more agressive. He pecks his OWN toes as much as anyone elses.

Hopefully they will figure out better things to peck at as they get a bit older. Or at least figure out not to peck themselves!

 

[CarriBrown]

I love them!

 

[arlee453]

At the moment I can't think of them as being capable of any mischief. They are all piled up under the lamp just peacefully sleeping...

 

[PurpleChicken]

Evil little creatures....

Did you see the red in their eyes before you took out the red
lamp?

Our one silkie hen, the one not big enough to eat, knows just the
right pitch to bok bok bok and whine at. It makes my bones ache.
It's worse than nails on a chalkboard and that nasty little bird
knows it. Evil I say - Evil.

 

[Dinos_rock]

Awwww....I am sooo jealous!

But hopefully I can have some silkie chicks of my own soon....