New to Silky's, gender??

[RoosterHuggerLiz]

I was on Craigslist earlier today and saw someone who had to get rid of a young silky. I have a pretty diverse and healthy flock. Earlier today I had sold two of my roosters and my flock was already feeling kind of low (I usually have about 15 birds but right now I'm down to about 7 because I had recently lost a few of my elderly hen) so I said screw it and contacted them. It was so spur of the moment And is it what I usually do but anyway could y'all advise me on how to take care of a silky? Is it okay to keep it with the rest of my flock or do I need to build its own separate area?? I've never had issues with a bully in my flock, I've got polish, sea brights, and other banties but I've never had an issue with bullying. What age can a silky go out and is there any specific care?? Also how do you tell the gender??


I'm sorry if this thread is a mess, my mind is everywhere right now

 

[Aunt Angus]

I was on Craigslist earlier today and saw someone who had to get rid of a young silky. I have a pretty diverse and healthy flock. Earlier today I had sold two of my roosters and my flock was already feeling kind of low (I usually have about 15 birds but right now I'm down to about 7 because I had recently lost a few of my elderly hen) so I said screw it and contacted them. It was so spur of the moment And is it what I usually do but anyway could y'all advise me on how to take care of a silky? Is it okay to keep it with the rest of my flock or do I need to build its own separate area?? I've never had issues with a bully in my flock, I've got polish, sea brights, and other banties but I've never had an issue with bullying. What age can a silky go out and is there any specific care?? Also how do you tell the gender??


I'm sorry if this thread is a mess, my mind is everywhere right now

Too early to tell. Silkies are THE hardest to sex. Males will have larger combs and slicked back head poofs with long feather streamers. Females will have smaller combs and very round poofs.

I keep mine with my flock and they get teated the same as everyone else, just be sure to quarantine properly and integrate slowly. That one can go out once the quarantine period is over. Quarantine means keeping it as separate from your flock as possible for 4 to 6 weeks to make sure it doesn't have anything communicable.

And be sure to integrate slowly. Start with "look but don't touch" for a few weeks. It's always harder to integrate one bird.