My Wimpy Silkie Roo

[joymo]

Guys, I've successfully integrated 2 Silkies into my mini flock! It took a while but they're now all happily foraging and sunbathing together in their backyard digs. (Yay!)

I've been holding out hope that both of my Silkies are hens - but alas, at 5-months old I'm now fairly very certain, that short of crowing, one of them is in fact a rooster. He's also a very wimpy rooster. The other 2 chickens in my mini flock are OEGBs (Old-English Game Bantams) hens. They are about half the size of the Silkies and they think they rule everything the sun touches. Am I fooling myself to think that my wimpy rooster will never assume his role and will be a seldom-to-never crower?

I know that Silkies are known to be a quieter breed and have read about some who say their roos on the low-end of the pecking order barely crow. Give me your wimpy rooster stories!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I suggest removing you Silkie rooster from the OEGBs if there's a rooster of their kind, and be thankful that he is wimpy. If your Silkie rooster should have some courage in him and get in a fight with one of your OEGB roosters, it could prove fatal for your bantam due to the Silkie's size. I had a Silkie rooster who would have killed my OEGB rooster if I hadn't intervened.

As far as wimpy roosters, I've had a few. My last wimpy rooster was my Olive Egger named Cody. He did alright in his flock, but he was very skittish of people. One of my big wimpy guys was my Barred Rock, Prairie. He was a big guy and he was always backing down to my smaller Easter Egger, Douglas. Douglas took the lead, occasionally chased him around the yard, and claimed all the hens except for Joy, my Buff Orpington brooder. Joy was for Prairie, and he loved her dearly. Unfortunately, one day Prairie came to his senses and realized that he was much bigger than Douglas and wanted the rest of the flock. Next thing I knew was Douglas was a bloody mess and Prairie was ruling the roost. Prairie was later rehomed and Douglas regained the flock.

I had other wimpy roosters like my Buff Comet named Jimmy, and my EE, Nightfall. Jimmy was just skittish and Nightfall was chased around by the hens. Nightfall later gained confidence with the ladies, but the ladies never liked him. My current rooster is a little wimpy, but not with the ladies. His wimpiness is he wants to pick a fight with me, but is too wimpy to stick with it once I try picking him up.

 

[joymo]

I suggest removing you Silkie rooster from the OEGBs if there's a rooster of their kind, and be thankful that he is wimpy. If your Silkie rooster should have some courage in him and get in a fight with one of your OEGB roosters, it could prove fatal for your bantam due to the Silkie's size. I had a Silkie rooster who would have killed my OEGB rooster if I hadn't intervened.

As far as wimpy roosters, I've had a few. My last wimpy rooster was my Olive Egger named Cody. He did alright in his flock, but he was very skittish of people. One of my big wimpy guys was my Barred Rock, Prairie. He was a big guy and he was always backing down to my smaller Easter Egger, Douglas. Douglas took the lead, occasionally chased him around the yard, and claimed all the hens except for Joy, my Buff Orpington brooder. Joy was for Prairie, and he loved her dearly. Unfortunately, one day Prairie came to his senses and realized that he was much bigger than Douglas and wanted the rest of the flock. Next thing I knew was Douglas was a bloody mess and Prairie was ruling the roost. Prairie was later rehomed and Douglas regained the flock.

I had other wimpy roosters like my Buff Comet named Jimmy, and my EE, Nightfall. Jimmy was just skittish and Nightfall was chased around by the hens. Nightfall later gained confidence with the ladies, but the ladies never liked him. My current rooster is a little wimpy, but not with the ladies. His wimpiness is he wants to pick a fight with me, but is too wimpy to stick with it once I try picking him up.

Hello Lady Duckwing! Thank you for your response and sharing your wimpy rooster stories!

My OEGBs are both hens, one of these is the alpha and is a bossy little lady. She picks on the others from time to time but it's nothing concerning - no feather plucking, food/water hoarding or bleeding. She just decides that it's fun to act like a jerk sometimes.

My wimpy roo is very loving. He's the one that will hop on my lap for snuggles and greet me with his warbled chit-chat. I want him to stay wimpy and not upset my neighbors with a top-of-the-morning-to-ya calls. I hope my bossy OEGB can keep him in line.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Hello Lady Duckwing! Thank you for your response and sharing your wimpy rooster stories!

My OEGBs are both hens, one of these is the alpha and is a bossy little lady. She picks on the others from time to time but it's nothing concerning - no feather plucking, food/water hoarding or bleeding. She just decides that it's fun to act like a jerk sometimes.

My wimpy roo is very loving. He's the one that will hop on my lap for snuggles and greet me with his warbled chit-chat. I want him to stay wimpy and not upset my neighbors with a top-of-the-morning-to-ya calls. I hope my bossy OEGB can keep him in line.

You're welcome!

Oh, if they're both hens, there shouldn't be a problem then. My OEGB hens were the same way, but with Standard sized hens. My queen of the flock, a Silver Duckwing Old English Game bantam hen named Libby, would often attack my big Buff Orpingtons. She was known to sneak up behind them, snatch them by the hackles, then get a free ride around the yard while the poor Buff Orpington screamed frantically, trying to get away from her. 'Ol Queen Libby was determined to be queen over the whole barnyard, not just her flock.

That's cute. How adorable. Hopefully he will then. One thing, as his hormones come into being and attempt to straighten him out, he may still change yet. Hopefully not so he stays quiet.

 

[sourland]

He will eventually find his mojo and assume his role, but he also will start crowing.

 

[Holdthechicken]

My silkie cockerel crowded more than any rooster I’ve ever had and I was raised with big flocks my entire life.. so lots of roosters over the years. He was loud, started before the sun and rarely took a break.. but he was definitely low in pecking order, only tried to mate with one pullet and not human aggressive, so by those standards he was “wimpy”. We rehomed him though to a silkie breeder that had their coop a little further from their windows than ours .

 

[mbcerri]

I have a silkie roo that is 6 months old and just let me tell you that the fact that your “wimpy roo”doesn’t crow is great! Lol. Pecker, my little guy, crows all…..day……long. Nonstop. I thought he would be fairly quiet, as he was hand raised from hatch as a singleton, but started crowing about 2 weeks before we were given some hens a month ago. His crow is very loud. Don’t get me wrong, I do not mind his crowing, as he is my little guy! Moral of my story: not all silkie Roos are quiet.