New member! I’ve already used the website to help me with a few questions I had prior to purchasing my chicks and ducks so I’m thankful for that.
So a little backstory. I had chickens and ducks in the past that I had ordered through an online company. I always went back and forth with getting more chickens and decided on making the leap again during the quarantine as self care. We live in town and I spent hours researching what breeds, coop layouts/designs, and how to care for them on less than an acre. I then made the jump.
I made my first mistake by purchasing chicks from a company that had great reviews on their website but not so great reviews on other sites. I went with this site because they seemed to be the only location that offered Silkies almost right away. Other sites were sold out until August and later... but I didn’t want to wait so I ordered three Silkies and an Ameraucana. I checked to see if they were shipped probably three times a day as we prepared for our new chicks. I finally received a notification that they shipped and everything was on track for them to arrive when they were supposed to. Then the tracking number stopped showing updates and I started to panic. Needless to say, the chicks shipped on a Tuesday and didn’t arrive until late on Friday. When I opened the box, all four were alive but one (the only black Silkie) wasn’t looking that great. I prepped the kids for the potential loss, we made sure “brownie” was warm and I even tried to force feed some Save a Chick and puréed egg white. We went to bed that night and woke up to two casualties. All of us were upset and my husband and kids held a small funeral. So we were left with one white Silkie and the Ameraucana. Almost immediately I knew the Ameraucana was a hen. We named her Houdini because she hopped out of the box when we first got her and she escaped the crate a bunch of times that we needed to secure a lid. So that left our Silkie. The third night “Peeps” started making some repetitive noises and kind of strutting around the crate so those characteristics plus the way it’s feathers are growing in, I’m almost positive it’s a Roo. Which we’re not allowed in town. It’s really difficult because we’ve all grown so attached to the two of them and I don’t want to have to give him away. Our friends have said they would take him, they live on a farm, but now I’m getting upset thinking I’m going to lose him. Houdini also seems distraught when I remove Peeps from the crate (to wash his butt since he’s had pasty butt a few times).
I’ve tried reading articles on sexing Silkies but I’m still holding out hope that maybe Peeps is just a really dominate hen that likes to strut?
So a little backstory. I had chickens and ducks in the past that I had ordered through an online company. I always went back and forth with getting more chickens and decided on making the leap again during the quarantine as self care. We live in town and I spent hours researching what breeds, coop layouts/designs, and how to care for them on less than an acre. I then made the jump.
I made my first mistake by purchasing chicks from a company that had great reviews on their website but not so great reviews on other sites. I went with this site because they seemed to be the only location that offered Silkies almost right away. Other sites were sold out until August and later... but I didn’t want to wait so I ordered three Silkies and an Ameraucana. I checked to see if they were shipped probably three times a day as we prepared for our new chicks. I finally received a notification that they shipped and everything was on track for them to arrive when they were supposed to. Then the tracking number stopped showing updates and I started to panic. Needless to say, the chicks shipped on a Tuesday and didn’t arrive until late on Friday. When I opened the box, all four were alive but one (the only black Silkie) wasn’t looking that great. I prepped the kids for the potential loss, we made sure “brownie” was warm and I even tried to force feed some Save a Chick and puréed egg white. We went to bed that night and woke up to two casualties. All of us were upset and my husband and kids held a small funeral. So we were left with one white Silkie and the Ameraucana. Almost immediately I knew the Ameraucana was a hen. We named her Houdini because she hopped out of the box when we first got her and she escaped the crate a bunch of times that we needed to secure a lid. So that left our Silkie. The third night “Peeps” started making some repetitive noises and kind of strutting around the crate so those characteristics plus the way it’s feathers are growing in, I’m almost positive it’s a Roo. Which we’re not allowed in town. It’s really difficult because we’ve all grown so attached to the two of them and I don’t want to have to give him away. Our friends have said they would take him, they live on a farm, but now I’m getting upset thinking I’m going to lose him. Houdini also seems distraught when I remove Peeps from the crate (to wash his butt since he’s had pasty butt a few times).
I’ve tried reading articles on sexing Silkies but I’m still holding out hope that maybe Peeps is just a really dominate hen that likes to strut?
Glad you joined. 
