Silkie Chick In Fall/Winter Weather

[anicluck]

I'm getting two leghorns and an australorp from a friend this coming week to add on to my flock of 4 pullets and 3 ducks (so they can stay warm in their new coop) he is also selling a silkie chick which is 3 going on 4 weeks old. He had said that it was fully feathered so I'm thinking it should be okay but please let me know. Would it be okay for me to raise it solo and would it still need a heat lamp even if I keep it indoors (it stays around 70 degrees). Would an incandescent bulb or a heating pad work as alternatives? Thanks

 

[cavemanrich]

Generally speaking, a 4 week old chick is not quite fully feathered out. I do think that it would be fine inside your home without added heat at this age. The problem may arise when you want to add it to your coop with the others. It will need to be integrated. Newcomers are always picked on in ALL FLOCKS.
No location in your profile, so no idea how cold you will be experiencing in your outdoor coop? Is there a possibility for you to have a brooder heater setup inside coop? I advise staying away from heat lamps, but a Brooder plate, or a Mama Heating Pad system may work well.
This way your Silkie can hang around heat source, and also venture out. . All this is while chickens are all together, and within sight of each other.
You may have to integrate the 2 flocks carefully. I never had ducks, but have read some unpleasant stories of ducks being over aggressive to chickens.
You may need to keep ducks, and chickens separated. Watch, and see the interaction.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[anicluck]

Thanks for the reply, I live in New England so it does get pretty cool in the winters, this week it was pretty mild staying at around 50 and high 30s at night. My house stays around 65-70 in the winter. I currently have four chickens with my ducks now (1 isa, 1 Aussie, 1 leghorn, and 1 Easter egger) they do squabble occasionally but the ducks (all female) alert my girls of hawk attacks (twice that I’ve seen) and they all scurry back into their coop (it’s quite cute but scary). I had originally planned to keep the Silkie in a separate coop (and possibly indoors) but then I was afraid it would get lonely. In the wintertime here, it has dropped to 2^F but it stays around 25-30^ in December brrr. I guess I’ll have to see how feathered it is and make my judgement then. Thanks!

 

[cavemanrich]

You mention ducks are female,, That is a good part. Seems most of the duck aggression was from drakes. If you do decide to house your Silkie indoors, I have a very easy solution,,,,,,,, Get 2,,,, Then in spring, integration into your flock is always easier when you add 2 at a time.