New Member

Date sort Score sort
justinjhyman

justinjhyman

Hatching
May 18, 2015
8
0
9
HI! Im Avi. My wife Sarah and I always wanted chickens and when we bought our house, it was definitely on our to do list.

Now, we are in a spot to finally do it. We've bought our coop and have been researching birds. Eggs are going to be a bonus as these 3-5 gals will just be pets. Austin is a pretty chicken friendly city so we are excited to finally be doing this. We are looking or Silkies I think!

Thanks!
 
Hi, welcome to BYC!!

Congrats on your soon-to-be-with-you chickens! I have several silkies and I LOVE them! They lay small white eggs about 2x a week. They are very friendly, go broody often (I've had lots of chicks hatched by my silkies), and don't require as much room as other chickens.
 
Yes they are friendly. If you have young kids, they have even alloed themselves to be pushed in baby strollers, dressed and attend tea parties.& one BYCer silkie was ring bearer at a wedding.

Problem is they are nearly impossible to sex accurately as young chicks. About 4-5 mos. is when breeders can usually sex them - sometimes though not till they crow or lay an egg. The benefit of getting very young chicks, is you can socialize them well. If you don't mind getting males by accident, you can follow that route.
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Your wife's name is the same as my own!
big_smile.png


Silkies are great chickens! Very friendly and affectionate. However, if you are wanting lots of eggs, I would not recommend them. They are poor layers and often go broody.
 
Hi! Melissa in Moorpark, CA. We are a homeschooling family who has always wanted chickens. Yard is too small and backing up to open space, we can't keep them from predators. So, we are incubating and hatching for friends who sell us their extra eggs. Started out with 30, two were very dirty and cracked after day 4 or 5 so I put them out in the yard for coons. Two more looked like "nothing" on 15 day of 'bating and candling, so I pulled them out. Yesterday afternoon, first pips and every couple of hours another one hatched. As of right now (7:13pm PT) we have eight hatched, dried and fluffed and in the brooder, active eating and drinking. Four more in the 'bator. One is very small, seems to be struggling to breathe, lethargic and has a large blood clot (dime size) attached to bottom. Any tips? I feel like for a first timer, we've done well thus far. Going to do it again.....
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom