New member

Pics
Date sort Score sort
D

Demo

Chirping
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
Messages
11
Reaction score
60
Points
66
Hi everyone, i am new to keeping chickens, I aquired two beautiful silkies, from someone who didn't have the time to care for them. They love their cosy new coop, however I don't think she was feeding them the correct food, i have purchased layered pellets, grit, mixed corn for chickens, also been giving them cabbage, melon, pear with no pips. However they hardly touch the pellets, ive tried mixing them with warm water, also with spice for chickens from the pet store, with no success, i have now liquidized some pellets with the corn and will try them with that tomorrow, i feel because they are not used to proper feed, its going to be difficult.
 
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow

Congrats on your new Silkies! Some birds refuse to eat pelletized feed, you might get som crumbles instead. If their faces are completely covered in hair, you might trim some of it away from the eyes so they can see better. Silkies can have a hard time drinking and eating when they don't see well. Adding water definitely makes food more appealing however. Try putting tasty foods in the mash so it temps them to eat. You might also stop by our Silkies thread for more help... https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-thread.297632/

Good luck with your birds and welcome aboard!
 
Sorry its me again, need to solve one more problem, one silky is fine and laying daily, the other never wants to come out of the coop, when I contacted the previous owner, she said don't worry because she has always been like that, very broody, she sits on the other birds egg when she lays, i am constantly having to take the broody silky out of the coop so she will eat and drink, i take the eggs away as soon as possible, also the previous owner said she has never laid
 
Our chickens do not like pellets either. We tried a lot of organic pellets of various kinds (they were happy as chicks with their Manna Pro medicated chick feed). They didn't even like the pellets mixed with water or anything else to make crumble. What they ended up liking is Small Pet Select Chicken Layer Feed that is Non-GMO, Corn Free, Soy Free and has herbs and seeds and Omega 3 in it. We get it off of the Azon (I don't know if Silkies can eat that so be CAREFUL with your babies). As many others have said/will tell you, give the treats sparingly (and even later in the day). If treats are in the afternoon, the chooks will eat more of their actual food in the morning when hungry.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2020-10-10 at 12.08.59 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2020-10-10 at 12.08.59 PM.png
    2.4 MB · Views: 7
TwoCrows said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow

Congrats on your new Silkies! Some birds refuse to eat pelletized feed, you might get som crumbles instead. If their faces are completely covered in hair, you might trim some of it away from the eyes so they can see better. Silkies can have a hard time drinking and eating when they don't see well. Adding water definitely makes food more appealing however. Try putting tasty foods in the mash so it temps them to eat. You might also stop by our Silkies thread for more help... https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silkie-thread.297632/

Good luck with your birds and welcome aboard!
Click to expand...
Thankyou so much, just feel totally new to all this, and just want to look after them as best i can, I noticed the broody one seemed to keep tucking one leg up, so i bathed her feet and noticed that some of her nails were really long, so I trimmed them a little, being careful not to go to close to the vein, the other hens feet were fine, think it might be because the other never wants to come out of the coop, therefore not naturally keeping her nails in trim
 
Demo said:
Sorry its me again, need to solve one more problem, one silky is fine and laying daily, the other never wants to come out of the coop, when I contacted the previous owner, she said don't worry because she has always been like that, very broody, she sits on the other birds egg when she lays, i am constantly having to take the broody silky out of the coop so she will eat and drink, i take the eggs away as soon as possible, also the previous owner said she has never laid
Click to expand...
Silkies can be very broody. Broodiness is hormonal driven so there isn't much you can do about it. People will give you advice on breaking broodiness but you will never stop a Silkie. :D If these eggs are unfertilized I would definitely take them away. I usually drag broodies out of the box several times a day for sustenance and get them outside too for dust bathing. Some broodies don't take good enough care of themselves, so do it for them. Just watch out for her, give her a bit more attention and she will do fine.
 
cherrybombuk said:
Our chickens do not like pellets either. We tried a lot of organic pellets of various kinds (they were happy as chicks with their Manna Pro medicated chick feed). They didn't even like the pellets mixed with water or anything else to make crumble. What they ended up liking is Small Pet Select Chicken Layer Feed that is Non-GMO, Corn Free, Soy Free and has herbs and seeds and Omega 3 in it. We get it off of the Azon (I don't know if Silkies can eat that so be CAREFUL with your babies). As many others have said/will tell you, give the treats sparingly (and even later in the day). If treats are in the afternoon, the chooks will eat more of their actual food in the morning when hungry.
Click to expand...
O thankyou i will try them with some, fingers crossed they will eat it
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom