New chicken owner in Nampa Idaho

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bigbuddha09

bigbuddha09

Songster
7 Years
Mar 28, 2014
103
6
119
nampa idaho
I have raised chickens before but now that i am older i feel i am prepared to take it a little more seriously and get the breeds i really would enjoy. One of those being silkies i have always wanted one since i was a child, and i get made fun of because chickens are my favorite animal
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. Already have a coop built just looking for a good breeder for 3 silkies and 3 other mix breed bantams to add character and to hopefully get eggs throughout the winter. Anyways I am happy to join the site after stalking it for what seems a lifetime. I hope to hear and see great things from this community.
 
Hello,

There are many online hatcherys which offer silkie chickens. One such hatchery is Murray McMurray Hatchery which is a large online/mail order provider. The online problem with any bantam hatchery or resale provider, which I've dealt with, is that none sell sexed birds. If you don't mind hens and roosters then this wouldn't be a problem for you. Secondly, many online hatcherys sell their chicks at top prices and online ship with large orders....to better ensure the survival of the birds.

When I last looked to order silkies I estimated the cost to exceed $150.00 as the minimum order was forty birds plus a shipping fee. If you don't need or want this many birds you can always find someone to share the order with.

If you are looking for eggs in the winter I might look into another breed. Bantam chickens don't do well in the cold and oftentimes don't lay for extended periods of time. Furthermore, the quality, quantity and size of eggs are all poor. I would suggest you have a large breed bird to. Is with silkies to substitute egg production and to help keep silkies warm in the winter.

Best of luck...
 
Thank you for your advice. Yeah we have a hatchery here that sells several breeds including silkies, although they are only black and white and i was hoping for a splash or buff as well
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, but i was just trying to widen my search on breeds since dunlap hatchery is the only one where i can easily drive to the store and avoid unneeded stress to the chicks through shipping. I should say the main purpose is just me always wanting to have chickens as a pet, but the eggs definitely keep my fiance happy lol. I have read it can be hard to put larger breeds with bantams sometimes as well. maybe a smaller breed in non bantam chickens.
 
I have several Jersey Giants, one of the largest breeds, with several Sebright bantams. They actually get along very well. I was also worried about this when I first put the two breeds together...but if you do it from a young age they will have no problems...hopefully...
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some good links to help with your Silkie Search! If you could deal with unwanted roosters (which with silkies is always a possibility even from hatcheries since they are usually straight run) you could also consider hatching eggs if you don't want to ship chicks, there are often silkie eggs of various colors on the Buy-Sell-Trade forum. Also some hatcheries like Meyer/My Pet chicken have minimum orders of 3 bantam chicks, Meyer has buff and partridge silkies also.
 
I just remembered that my local TSC just had a stock tank full of bantam chicks for $1.00 each. While they had an assorted variety I was sure that several were silkies. You can always contact your local TSC or Family Farm and Home (or other such supply story) as they will special order many breeds of chicks at no extra cost. At this time you can check with their suppliers for specific colors or which time of the year you are looking for.

If you are worried about mixing different size birds you might want to consider purchasing a large number and variety of bantams. I have had very good luck with Sebright Bantam's in the past and would suggest you mix these with your silkies.

Hope this helps...
 
thanks everyone for all your help I do have to say that i was thinking about sebrights, or polish at one point especially since they are such a beautiful bird, i had just heard the sebrights could be mean and very flighty although i assumed that could be fixed with proper feather clipping when i decide to let them free range. i have also been checking the threads for people near me just difficult to find them when i need them since i will be waiting about one more month to get the chickens. In the meantime i am building my run for my coop, and trying to figure out how i want to fence either the bottom or area around it. Also random question i wanted ti get a frizzle feathered bird and i was not sure if all breeds could have that or only some like cochins or silkies? They seem to be more difficult to order or find as well.
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Hello from Oregon & welcome to BYC :) You can check out the buy-sale-trade section on here, hatcheries, chicken swaps & even craiglist. Maybe something local will show up soon. Best of luck on your coop/run.
 

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