Silkie diet

[8ponygirl9]

Wow this is so helpful I'm so glad I signed up for this web page! Thank you so much!

 

[ben0125]

Wow this is so helpful I'm so glad I signed up for this web page! Thank you so much!

haha, good luck with you and your journey raising a silkie! I've actually got 2 of them myself.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me too.

I'm not sure if you are aware but silkies are chickens and like all chickens, they are flock animals and do best when raised with other chickens, ideally other silkies. Keeping one on their own can be very stressful for them especially when they are taken from a brooder where there are many other chicks and suddenly find themselves alone. It would be much kinder to them to get 2 or 3 rather than just one on it's own. Also, it may not have been made totally clear but a proprietary feed ie chick crumb should be the sole feed for the first few weeks to keep it/them healthy and then if you want to, slowly introduce tiny bits of the treats that others have mentioned. Those treats should be no more than a teaspoon full in total per day and you will need to provide the chick(s) with grit (special small size chick grit) if you give them treats, because birds like chickens do not have teeth to chew food. The chick crumbles go to mush inside the chick when it drinks water, so they don't need chewing but anything else needs to be ground up. There is a part of a chicken's body called the gizzard which is a big pouch made of very strong muscles with a thick lining. This is where the bird "chews" by using the grit that you provide to grind up any particles of food that are lumpy like grains, insects and pieces of fruit and veg and grass. If you don't provide grit when you start offering these foods that pouch gets full and packed hard and the chicken cannot process food because their digestive tract is blocked and they can die from this, so if you feed your chickens anything other than crumbles or pellets, make sure they have access to poultry grit..... they know to eat some grit when they need it, just like you know to have a drink when you feel thirsty.

Good luck and I hope you will rethink raising just one chick and get a couple more, they will be so much happier with companions.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[Silkie_lady_]

Great thank you. I'm only getting one chick no she won't be alone but the plan is to keep her as a house pet with access to the outside with supervision (hawks, cats ECT)

Congratulations! You'e going to love having her as a house pet! I have two house silkies they're so cute and funny to watch and listen to. My one acts almost dog like sometimes lol

 

[8ponygirl9]

Just picked her up yesterday she's so cuddly and sweet!

 

[8ponygirl9]

Hi and welcome from me too.

I'm not sure if you are aware but silkies are chickens and like all chickens, they are flock animals and do best when raised with other chickens, ideally other silkies. Keeping one on their own can be very stressful for them especially when they are taken from a brooder where there are many other chicks and suddenly find themselves alone. It would be much kinder to them to get 2 or 3 rather than just one on it's own. Also, it may not have been made totally clear but a proprietary feed ie chick crumb should be the sole feed for the first few weeks to keep it/them healthy and then if you want to, slowly introduce tiny bits of the treats that others have mentioned. Those treats should be no more than a teaspoon full in total per day and you will need to provide the chick(s) with grit (special small size chick grit) if you give them treats, because birds like chickens do not have teeth to chew food. The chick crumbles go to mush inside the chick when it drinks water, so they don't need chewing but anything else needs to be ground up. There is a part of a chicken's body called the gizzard which is a big pouch made of very strong muscles with a thick lining. This is where the bird "chews" by using the grit that you provide to grind up any particles of food that are lumpy like grains, insects and pieces of fruit and veg and grass. If you don't provide grit when you start offering these foods that pouch gets full and packed hard and the chicken cannot process food because their digestive tract is blocked and they can die from this, so if you feed your chickens anything other than crumbles or pellets, make sure they have access to poultry grit..... they know to eat some grit when they need it, just like you know to have a drink when you feel thirsty.

Good luck and I hope you will rethink raising just one chick and get a couple more, they will be so much happier with companions.

Best wishes

Barbara

Thank you so much she's not totally alone there are ducks, dogs and cats and she's been with me every moment so far till I put her in her pen to eat and drink then she's back out with me!i have chick food but I'm afraid the pieces are too large for her to get down she's 3 days old now

 

[8ponygirl9]

 

[SA&P]

My Silkie chicks had chick crumb and water available 24/7 and they grew like weeds. As each chick went into the brooder I dipped it’s beak very gently in the water to show it where it was as someone on the forum said that was important. Worked for me

Your chick baby is beautiful

 

[8ponygirl9]

My Silkie chicks had chick crumb and water available 24/7 and they grew like weeds. As each chick went into the brooder I dipped it’s beak very gently in the water to show it where it was as someone on the forum said that was important. Worked for me

Your chick baby is beautiful

Ok I'll try dipping her beak in there to thank you!

 

[rebrascora]

It sounds like you may have bought the wrong feed. Chick crumb should be small enough for chick that small to eat. If you think what you have is too large, soak it in water until it goes to mush and then encourage the chick to eat it.