Question about new silkies

[mammat]

I bought two 4 month old silkies at ohio national from a very reputable byc breeder. They are eating and drinking great but they will not come off the porch of their coop. They come out of the coop and hang out on the covered porch all day. They preen and walk around but don't ever come out in the yard. I have never seen anything like it. I have had three other silkies before and they acted like regular chickens...scratched, looked around for stuff. Their eyes look great but their crests are so large I really think they can't see a thing! I have them near my other coop and run but I am never going to be able to integrate them if they don't start interacting. It is really strange. I am telling you these girls only move about three feet a day.Any advice?

 

[flowerchicks]

Well, they are silkies, and silkies are kinda..... ummm.... slow. Maybe, carry them to the middle of the yard with the rest of the chickens so they know what's out there. Once they realize there is more to their world than the porch, they will feel confident to explore.

 

[mammat]

SLOW is right. I guess when I had my other silkies they were raised from day one with the big girls. They roosted with my barred rocks every night and acted just like the others

 

[flowerchicks]

I had a silkie rooster that was raised with a d'uccle hen. He roosted with her every night with the other chickens. But, my 2nd silkie rooster was much more shy and jumpy. He slept in the dog crate with my silkie hen. It took him a couple months to not run when another chicken came near him. He eventually took over the "top roo" spot from the other silkie roo. They will eventually feel comfortable enough to explore, but if it were me.... I would help then out by plopping there fuzzy butts in the middle of the run

(while I was their to monitor them, of course

)