Silkie Roosting Troubles?? Worried it might be the death of her. :o(

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Don't have silkies, but what about a couple stuffed animals for her to snuggle with? Or a couple feather dusters? I have a lone chick - my broody refused her - she lives in the house for now and has a feather duster and wool duster she sleeps/snuggles with.

 

[NGT ANGL]

I just got two younger silkies and they don't seem to want to roost either. They just snuggle together in a nice straw bed for warmth and seem to do just fine. From what I have read, as posted by others, if you have her closed up in a coop at night, she should be ok unless silky math takes over and you get more!

I also have two bantam cochin hens - one roosts and the other sleeps on the floor by herself. I was worried about her and actually put her up on a roost one evening. The next evening she was down on the floor again and seems to prefer it that way so I have just left her as she wishes to be although I do make sure the coop is secure and there is plenty of hay, shavings, etc. for her to stay warm in. Good luck!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

All of my original silkies roost with the others, but I didn't know any better when I got them so I taught them to roost like everybody else. Given their choice, the new girls would pile up on the floor in a mound. Now that there is a lone silkie in the banty coop, she makes her way up to the roost with everybody else. I did spend weeks with her though picking her up and placing her there.

My original silkies are so dedicated to their roosting that they threw the LF ameraucanas off the best roosts in the new coop. These ameraucanas are twice their size and cockerals!

 

[THough1956]

Put a nest box down on the floor with some hay or shavings, she will start using it more than likely.

Where in Va are you? If you are close to NC I can hook you up. I have several pet quality young silkies , partdridge.

 

[Picky Chicky]

Quote:
Right now my silkie girl and the three others are in my smaller quarentine coop - it's not so small really, but compared to the shed I converted... luckily the coop they're in has 5 nest boxes at floor level, so I feel pretty good about that - except silkie girl doesn't seem interested in snuggling in there yet. The nests are created out of straw and then pine shavings in the center.

We live about halfway between Charlottesville and Richmond. We don't make our way down to NC very often, but DH is obsessed with "Sweet Tomatoes" restaurant - we don't have them up here and I know the closest is/was in Cary, NC... perhaps I'll have to start telling him we need to make a trip to NC soon! A little bribing never hurt anyone...

 

[THough1956]

Sure. A little bribe never hurt. I live in High Point. I could meet you near greensboro or burlington maybe.

 

[CHIC]

I got 4 chicks at the same time-1 silkie,and also didn't know that silkies don't roost. So, I just put her up on the roost for a few nights in a row. Now, she jumps up there with her buds and roosts every night. My roost is really low, maybe you could lower your roost? You can also put several so they can jump from one to the next.

 

[Picky Chicky]

The layout of our coop makes it a little more difficult to add roosts, but I could probably talk DH into lowering the existing.

Last night I checked on silkie girl (gotta give her a better name), and she was back between the feeders... so for the second night in a row I helped her up onto the roost with the others and checked on her later - she was still up there...teetering. Hehe It warmed my heart that she seemed to prefer being up there.

...definitely think I'll work on lowering that roost.

Meanwhile here is a picture of what the 'quarantine coop' looks like (note - it's not mine... I couldn't find any pictures of my coop here at work):