PICS ~ my new silkies

[m2wandc]

I did it...I got two more chicks today! Little Silkies!

Soooo we have 4 chicks (our max) now...of course the other two are going to be 3 weeks old tomorrow, so I had to set up another brooder...which brings me to this question:

How important is the heat lamp??? to my older girls (3 weeks old) when the temp in the house is 75 and their temp gage is reading 80 in their brooder without a heat lamp. I really don't want to buy another heat lamp, if they are fine...they seem fine, I gave the heat lamp to the babies this afternoon and the big girls spent some time outside (until a snake came to investigate) and then they hung out in the livingroom for a bit

it's been 95+ here the past few days, hence the reason the fire is still burning in Santa Barbara...windy and HOT

You can click on my link (sig link) to see pics, but I think I've posted all of them here or there somewhere on these forums at some point in time.

Here are some pics of the girls (and we will call them all girls until they hollar out their first "cock-a-doodle-doo")

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Congradulations We knew you wouldn't hold out They sure are cute. I have three week olds in a brooder without a light. They are inside Most of them are almost feathered and as you say its hot Just watch the temps at night. I had to leave the light on in the utility room as they were having fits without their light. If you have to any light will work that you can hang or clip onto the brooder. Right now I have 4 brooders going and two fo them have lightbulbs attached to strips of wood that can be hung over the brooders. (wall are high enough not to be too close to chicks.)

 

[m2wandc]

As evening turned to night, the older girls started to squak, something they never did before. I peeked in on them and they were walking and looking around as if they couldn't see (and I know they have bad night vision) so I turned on the light in the room (not the heat lamp, just the light in the room) and they calmed down immediately...figured that would be fine...UNTIL the big bad hubby said, we are not going to leave a bunch of lights on, there is a heat lamp in there casting enough light and they need to get used to it soon enough, they'll be outside in a couple of weeks with no light

Soooo I agreed to not leave the room light on all night, but I did scooch their brooder VERY CLOSE (smashed up to) the other brooder, so the heat lamp light shines in their brooder a little too (no heat really, but it does cast more light and they seem to have calmed down...so that is the situation now)

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Congratulations on your new silkies. Aren't they itty bitty in comparison?

Yours are really cute.

Hey - your barred rock sure doesn't look like my 3 barred rocks at that age. Mine didn't have that much grey on their chests and mine started to get the bars on the wing tips.

Are you sure you have a barred rock? Kinda looks like a banty.

Can you post some full body shots?

 

[m2wandc]

great

~ go ahead and scare me on the barred rock...LOL

Here are some other pics of "her"

What do you think???

The feedstore supposedly only got barred rocks, buff orpingtons, white leghorn & EE from McMurray's Hatchery. So Barred Rocks are the only "black" breed out of that lot...right?

Also, anyone have ideas on what my silkies will look like as adults? (color wise?)

 

[littlebowpeeps]

I love the little fluffy butts!

 

[Ravenna]

Your babies are so precious! I just got 18 silkie golf balls myself in the mail this morning!

I had the 7 a.m. post office call and I was out that door in a flash. They all came alive, healthy and adorable! My first batch of chicks.

It's about 95 degrees here also. My brooder is in the garage with a 150 w red bulb and it's been the perfect temp for the lil' guys. Tell me about the fires! I can smell it from my house lol. Reminds me back years ago when all of Malibu was on fire. I was born and raised in Ventura County and that place was ablaze every other year. 10% contained, yikes.

Good luck with the fluff n' butts!

 

[Ravenna]

Also, looks like you have a blue and a partridge (most of mine are blues, white, and I THINK a few splash).

 

[m2wandc]

I wonder if your silkies are related to mine...since we are so close and mine arrived early this morning as well

I'm in Solvang...I got them from Farm Supply in Santa Maria.

We have some friends who have about a 100 acre ranch in SB and it was on fire last night, they lost two homes and there are about 8 homes total I think on their ranch.

We are waiting to hear more now...

Back to the chicks!

I hope they are all girls!!!...hubby already said again today ROOS have to go...and I said what if you fall in love with one and it turns out to be a rooster? And he said there is no way you can give away a rooster, no one wants them, there just better not be any roosters in there...so I reply, that you know a vet can 'de-roo' them and he laughs...I think he would 'adjust' but I have to mentally assume he's serious when he says roosters have to go!

...so on to happier news...gotta love these chicks!!!

 

[Ravenna]

Oh my gosh you're practically my neighbor, hello! I actually got mine from Cackle Hatchery, but the funny thing is right when I was walking into the post office someone else was walking out with a box of chicks - it's Chick Friday! My Farm Supply where I live in Paso had an order of polish chicks recently. I may have to run down to SM to pick up a partridge like yours!!!

I'll be selling half my batch after I'm done raising them, and if it turns out you do have a roo, you can have a pullet of mine for free.

Since they are the same age our "roos" will be crowing about the same time LOL! I'm sure someone on Craigslist will give (if it's a him) a good home fast. A lot of people up here say silkies are highly sought after so I don't think you'll have a problem if you list him in both SB and SLO County. I just wish they could be "de-rooed" too because sometimes you get attached to the lil' guys!

I'm SO SORRY to hear about your friend in SB lost so much in this fire...I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully no one else will lose a home.

Yes, I'm obsessed and lovin' the chicken life! I want to try incubating eggs and roll my luck with silkies (hopefully get a SQ one) and seramas! My goal is to raise and show them in the future and I'm having the hardest time finding shows (Paso is having one this month I THINK, might be a 4-H gig) I know they are mainly over. Ever heard of Central Coast Feather Fanciers? They just had a "chicken swap" last month with a lot for sale in Templeton. They usually have a list of happenings in our area.

Oh, and the Salinas Fair next Saturday is having a poultry show starting between 4-5 pm.