Silkie chick behaviour

[catchthewind]

I'm not even sure how to phrase this question. I have 15 chicks in a brooder together, between 3-4.5 weeks old. The youngest are three Silkie chicks. There's nothing wrong with them that I can put a finger on. They eat and drink, but they are so different from all the other chicks. They just kind of stand around and do nothing. When I refill their food in the morning, all the other chicks are all over it, and there's one Silkie that will sometimes shove her way in there, but the other two just stand in the same spot all day long. I've started sprinkling a bit of food over by their spot when I refill the feeder for the other chicks, and they will peck at it a bit, occasionally. I even switched the feeder to a bigger one so there is more room for all of them. I do catch them going for water or food throughout the day, but other than those brief trips they literally just stand and do nothing. If I take them out, they will peep at me, and when I put them back in the brooder they will immediately run back to their spot. Moving them to a different corner of the brooder and watching them run back to that spot is about the most activity we ever see from them. The spot is under the heat lamp, but they're not huddled and don't peep like they're cold. It's like, the lights are on but nobody's home. Is this normal for Silkies or might there be something wrong with them? I think they're growing, but since most of the rest are older and are standard chicks I don't really have anything to compare them to.

They sure are cute though, I hope there's nothing wrong with them. This picture was taken last week, at two weeks old.

 

[teach1rusl]

Sorry, but I have no advice. I have my first silkie chicks (now 8 weeks), and I can tell you that they are very different from the standard chicks I've raised in the past. At least so far, their personalities don't seem to be as defined as my standard breeds. I'm wondering how intelligent they are, as my other chicks seemed pretty sharp. They are adorable to look at, but I think these will be my last/only silkies.

 

[okieinalaska]

I have heard people say silkies are special needs chickens.

I just got 3 blue ones earlier in the week. So far they act nothing like yours. They are like 3 little mobsters to the other chicks. They try to go through them or over them but they get what they want. They are in with some orpington chicks and two orps are quite a bit bigger than the others. The silkies think they are bunkbeds. As soon as they lay down to sleep the silkies run over and get on top of them and go to sleep.

When reaching in to pick up a chick I have seen silkies leap right over the top of the bigger orps like Super Silkie, ta da!
It will be interesting to see if they change as they grow.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

One thing I HAVE noticed about silkie chicks mixed in with other breeds is that they are a WHOLE lot calmer than some of the other breeds. They look very wise.

Be on the lookout though for lethargy and acting cold, not eating and drinking (signs of illness) just to be safe.

 

[CCourson05]

They may be in the spot that is exactly right for their temperature needs. If so, they will stay in that spot to sleep... and only leave to eat and drink... In that short time, they might eat a lot in a very short amount of time... Just what I would suspect...

 

[ddcoyne]

I have a silkie that does exactly that. It's in there with two other bantams and 5 California Whites. We went and bought chick electrolytes and added it to the water and it perked up, but is still reserved compared to the others in the brooder with it. I thought it was strange, but then I read your post.

 

[greytmommy]

I have 3 silkies.

i constantly worried about them b/c they were acting so different than the others. I was convinced they were always near death. Now at just at 6wks old, they are MUCH more spunky. They are staring w/ the dominance displays just like the others, and push for the food. But they are MUCH MUCH MUCH calmer in general than the other chicks. They never run from me when I go to pick them up. They as SO snuggly, tolerate us doing stuff to them (baths, cleaning them up, looking them over). They are not big into roosting like the others, and are happy to make a warm bed in the pine chips.

So keep an eye on them, but I would guess you are just seeing the super docile silkie nature.

Oh...and I have one silkie that is like a pipsqueek. She is a THIRD the size of the other silkies. So she looks like a very day old compared to our Plymoth Rock and our EE's!!! She is TINY TINY TINY. She is feathering out, acts fine, but she is just so small. She is like a Teacup Silkie! haha!

 

[Jake1297]

I have white and black silkies 5 of each. The black ones act just like yours. They look to be a day younger than the white. They stay in one place and sleep a lot. Sometimes laying down sometimes standing up, and once in a while leaning against something. I do have one that sometimes acts like a tripod. He sleeps standing with his head down and resting on his beak.
I'd also like to know if this sounds normal.

 

[catchthewind]

Thanks all. I guess it sounds like it could be normal for some Silkies. They aren't lethargic, but more like someone else said, they just have no personality really! And definitely very calm compared to most of the rest of the chicks. I did wonder if they were cold, but I have already tried lowering the heat lamp a bit and all it did was cause all the rest of the chicks to avoid it completely and the Silkies moved just a tad further away from it. They are pretty sweet at least. My daughter loves them because they will just sit in her hand. The rest of the chicks (besides our BO) want to explore whenever they are out.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Just normal silkie chicks. I don't mix them with LF chicks for the very reasons that you mentioned. They are very quiet, and just have a calmer disposition...at least all mine do. I NEVER hear peeping from my brooders.

I use a ceramic heat emitter for heat instead of light bulbs and I turn the lights off in their room every night around 9:00 pm. and never hear a peep from them. They snuggle down together and sleep all night. When I wake them in the morning, I turn on the lights, tell them all good morning and they jump up, stretch and wait for me to put put fresh feed and water in. They jump right into the fresh food...just not quite with the same exuberance that the LF chicks do!

Here are my day old babies: