Silkie Hatch-A-Long 2015

[RubyNala97]

So exciting... Hubby had brought home a dozen eggs from a job where his client raised silkies... I've had a new incubator for a few months hoping to gather funds to get Lavender Orpington eggs from Jody and Charlie, after falling in love with Orpingtons this spring after hand raising 8 Buff Orps to 6 or 8 weeks, and then loosing them when they escaped the coop of some friends who were kind to chicksit them while we went out of state for a week to see our new grand baby. Apparently our chicks found a way out and were preyed upon by an abundant coyote population here in the Ozarks. Still want to contact and obtain the Lav.Orps sometime soon... but here I am with an unexpected blessing of these Silkies... I have a lot to learn about them, however... and my crash course research didn't prepare me for some of the surprises... More on that later... First Pip... First chick... Unfamiliar with the breed and not yet aware that those cute tufts of hair on the head may be enhanced by actual vaulted head structure, I feared for my second hatchling who, it seemed to me, was "born" with this extreme deformity. I prayed it would make it anyway... and have since learned that the crest isn't all "fluff"... [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Eight chicks, Incubator top/Heat Lamp/Plastic Meat Lug (irony not intended) for initial brooder setup. Granddaughter also enjoying the experience... Makeshift Shop-Rag nest and Dollar Store cooling racks bent into cylinders to cage out the chickies from dirtying the water & feed... Ok, I'm falling in love... Loving their faux nest: Varying degrees of vault: 3 without; 2 slight; 2 med.; 1 extreme... Oh, be still my heart! Attitude? Curiosity... Sweetness... Diversity... Charm... (notice the extra or "double inner back toes"? You guys are going to have to educate me...) Fluff & poo... WHADDA YOU LOOKING AT?!? Thoughtfulness... Extra toe -- hind inner right Red marker on foot fluff... Granddaughter's idea to mark her own couple of chicks when I was busy doing other things... Fortunately didn't seem to attract any adverse pecking attention from the others... Phew... but we did use it as a teaching moment for what "could have been"... Double toes on both feet... (also claimed by the G'daughter as red ankle markings indicate) No double toes... Slight extra toe on hind inner left... No vault, and double Right & Left hind inner toes. So... Yeah... WHAT'S going on with the extra toe or toes on some of these little cuties? And, what do you call them... probably not called "hind inner toes" like I've been referring to them... LOL!!! Teach me! Using VAULTING: None/Dome (D), Vault-Slight (V), Vault-Medium (M) and Vault-Extreme (X) ...together with EXTRA TOES: None (O), Right (R), Left (L), Both (B) I actually have a unique visual ID profile for each of my 8 little fluff babies: DL, DR, DB, XO, VR, MR, MB, and VB... cool!!! So far the most attention loving are DB, VB, and XO, with VR being attention tolerant. Today, I'm going to give a lot of extra attention, handling, soft toothbrush grooming, and foot washing to the little standoffs: DL, DR, MR, and MB. I promise, each of these are going to have proper names soon, but each of 4 grandkids are going to be naming their own two chickies... until then, and once names are assigned, at least I'll have an easy two parameter system by which to recognize/associate them with their names... Too CRAZY? Anxious to hear your thoughts on the toes, etc... Blessings! MegH -- Ozark, MO

I love them! Personally, I am a big fan of the vaulted skulls. Sometimes it makes them harder to hatch because they can not make the internal pip. Yours seem to have done a great job! Silkies have 5 toes. The one with the thick toe in the back looks like it was supposed to be two toes but they formed together. I have one exactly like that! I enjoyed your post and loved the pictures. You should join the silkie thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/297632/silkie-thread/55800#post_15765865

 

[HerbGir1972]

We've got broodies

25 eggs under.
See y'all in about 20 days

 

[HugHess]

Set 6 eggs...
Lost my only Sizzle egg at day 8 or 9.
Luckily everyone else showed up to the party!

 

[RubyNala97]

I've got 10/12 developing "paint" eggs on day 6! Who else??

 

[Nanna34]

My first babies hatched by hens I bought recently, the lighter one was hatched on 1 September (spring day in South Africa) and the little black one is 4 days old now.

I have two eggs in the incubator with my Australorp eggs hoping for more black chicks.

 

[MumsyIII]

I've got two incubator's going at once since September. Fifteen of my own breeding hatched October 9. Geri Godina whites due next week. Karen Larson Porcelain and Lavenders due the week after that and then mixed White, Black, and Buff Bobbi Porto eggs due Oct. 31. I will have a lot of little silkie mouths to feed through the winter. Bring it on!


Heads or tails?


Day old hatched Oct 9 from my Silkies.

 

[chicken junky]

Rubynala97 silkies are supposed to have 5 toes, that's the extra one you are seeing. Nice hatch you had. I am getting ready to hatch 24 silkies 12 from one person 12 from another. My last hatch most came out fine from one and all didn't hatch from another but died around day 20. In same incubator, any suggestions or ideas so I can have better luck or do you think it was the eggs?

 

[RubyNala97]

Rubynala97 silkies are supposed to have 5 toes, that's the extra one you are seeing. Nice hatch you had. I am getting ready to hatch 24 silkies 12 from one person 12 from another. My last hatch most came out fine from one and all didn't hatch from another but died around day 20. In same incubator, any suggestions or ideas so I can have better luck or do you think it was the eggs?

We're both shipped or one shipped and not the other? My next question will be how did the air cells compare on each batch? And did you have late deaths or early deaths?

 

[Jchicken311]

Love all the silkies! They are adorable!!!

I have a silkie hen and rooster and can't wait to put her eggs in the bator. (she hasn't gone broody yet) They are one of my fav breeds and I will be watching these posts!!

 

[MumsyIII]

Eleven new chicks hatched in the last three days.

Partridge, Blue Cream, and Whites.