- Mar 11, 2009
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Dear Chicken Folks-
This is my first post to your forum.
I live in northern central Massachusetts with a mixed flock of longhorns, a red star, a barred rock, a buff orpington, and a rooster of unknown ancestry. Until recently I had a grey silkie that looked as if he sneezed and blew his feathers inside out, so we called him "Gesundheit" or Gizzy. He was the apple of my eye. Very sweet personality, and just a joy to have around. Actually, we called him Gay Gizzy because he would sit on the eggs every day.
I have a tight coop with a heat lamp for winter, and everyone did fine except Gizzy. Last week there was a freak windstorm, and a gust blew the coops little door shut. The chickens were trapped outside for several hours in the cold rain. Disaster! They looked like feathered drowned rats, miserably huddled up against the coops shut door, waiting for rescue. I let them all in.
The next day Gizzy didn't look right. His feathers (what passed for feathers) were matted together like the strings of an old fashioned wet mop. I brought him inside, and fluffed him up gently and combed him out. (Should have taken a video! Chicken Combing on Youtube.) I figured that he couldn't stay warm if his silk was matted, it couldn't insulate.
The next day he was a bit off of his feed. The day after that I found him collapsed, and he passed away a few hours later in our hospital cage near the woodstove. Very, very sad.
I don't know anything about the reasonable range of the silky. Is chilly New England a bad place for them? I hesitate to get another for fear that the climate will kill it. I know that just getting cold and wet is very hard on chickens in general. They did have another sheltered place to go, but were too dumb to use it! (A pick up truck cap on the ground.)
I would love some advice on the care of siklies, and what climates are good or not good for them.
Thank you,
Alexandra in MA
This is my first post to your forum.
I live in northern central Massachusetts with a mixed flock of longhorns, a red star, a barred rock, a buff orpington, and a rooster of unknown ancestry. Until recently I had a grey silkie that looked as if he sneezed and blew his feathers inside out, so we called him "Gesundheit" or Gizzy. He was the apple of my eye. Very sweet personality, and just a joy to have around. Actually, we called him Gay Gizzy because he would sit on the eggs every day.
I have a tight coop with a heat lamp for winter, and everyone did fine except Gizzy. Last week there was a freak windstorm, and a gust blew the coops little door shut. The chickens were trapped outside for several hours in the cold rain. Disaster! They looked like feathered drowned rats, miserably huddled up against the coops shut door, waiting for rescue. I let them all in.
The next day Gizzy didn't look right. His feathers (what passed for feathers) were matted together like the strings of an old fashioned wet mop. I brought him inside, and fluffed him up gently and combed him out. (Should have taken a video! Chicken Combing on Youtube.) I figured that he couldn't stay warm if his silk was matted, it couldn't insulate.
The next day he was a bit off of his feed. The day after that I found him collapsed, and he passed away a few hours later in our hospital cage near the woodstove. Very, very sad.
I don't know anything about the reasonable range of the silky. Is chilly New England a bad place for them? I hesitate to get another for fear that the climate will kill it. I know that just getting cold and wet is very hard on chickens in general. They did have another sheltered place to go, but were too dumb to use it! (A pick up truck cap on the ground.)
I would love some advice on the care of siklies, and what climates are good or not good for them.
Thank you,
Alexandra in MA