Silkie size

[silkie-mom]

I have 11 silkies that are about 12-13 weeks old now. I have never had silkies before, and am wondering when they will reach their full size---or when do they stop growing.

Also, if they lay eggs in the future, what do you do with them if you aren't going to want them to hatch into chicks? Do people eat silkie eggs? Wouldn't you need a dozen to make an omelet?

Another question...I have about half roos and have girls. I ordered less roos and more hens....but got what I got. I have heard this is going to be a problem and I will have roo fights......but then I have heard that Silkies are docile enough for the roos to all get along. I don't want to part with any of them......oh what to do. My roos do some chest bumping and chase each other now and then, but it doesn't seem to be anything deadly at this point. Should I worry about them hurting each other? :|

 

[Keisha]

Yes you can eat silkie eggs. They are small so you would have to eat more of them. Im sure alot of people eat them, some sell them, some hatch them... When mine starts laying i plan on eating her eggs...
I have quite a few standard roos of differnet breeds and a single silkie roo and none of them fight. But they are only confined during the night, and free range during the day. So I think thats probably why they dont fight.

 

[silkie-mom]

Mine are all confined to a pen outside their coop during the day, and happily sleep together at night. They don't actually "roost", but rather all pile into a corner and cuddle together. There is more than enough room to spread out, but they always stay in a pile in the corner. Is this normal?
I have learned that silkies have a hard time hanging on to an actual roost type rod.....I attached narrow flat pieces of wood to the tops of their dowel rods and they do much better.....no more losing their grip and slipping off. I think it's having that 5th toe that makes it hard for them to close their foot to get a good grip. They prefer to roost flat-footed. In other words, they do better on a 2"x2" rather than a closet rod.

 

[Keisha]

My silkies huddle in a corner together also, same with my bantam buff brahma. But everyone else uses the roosts.

 

[Heather J]

At twelve weeks your birds are nearly full grown, more than three quarters anyway. I think my BR are 15 weeks and they are nearly the size of my hens, or at least some of them are. Then again, we processed some roos last fall when they were 8 months old, then some more a couple of months later and the later ones were definitely bigger, so I could be way off. lol

Silky eggs are smaller than standard eggs, but not that much smaller. I incubated some, and they were a bit smaller than a medium egg that you'd buy at the grocery store so you'd use three instead of two for scrambled eggs (or four, in my case, yum!) but they're not so small.

 

[lemurchaser]

I'm glad you asked this. How big is an adult silkie? Mine are 9 weeks and seem like tiny fluff balls compared to my standards.

 

[lemurchaser]

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[lemurchaser]

Oops sorry, double response. I was having major problems getting anything to post.

 

[Smoky73]

How did you order less roos than girls? From what I know, all hatcheries sell bantams straight run only, you do not get a choice.

Not all silkie roos get a long. I have problems when I start mixing colors together. Most of the time, when the birds are all the same age, and raised all together, they should get a long, but, not always once they are of breeding age and there are girls around. I have a blue cockerel in with my buff roo and some girls and I wanted to move the blue to the blue/splash pen but the roo in that pen wanted to kill him. I had to move them back. Hopefully, Iwill get rid of my extra pairs this weekend.

 

[silkie-mom]

I ordered my chicks from mypetchicken.com

They let you order straight run, but you have the option to specify sexes for a few bucks more per bird. I did that, but got so many roos anyway. I guess they are just hard to sex at one day old. I really can't blame the hatchery.

I love them all, and so far so good as far as getting along. I have one runty one that I named Annie before I knew she was really a he......the name is stuck.
Anyway, he is smaller than any other roo, and most of the girls, but likes to do a run-by pecking now and then. They just put up with him. They sort of treat him like a retarded sibling.
My largest roo is real mild tempered for the most part. I hope he stays that way......now and then he grabs another roo and makes him holler, but nothing major.....yet.
I'm hoping it's just the expected "pecking order" process getting established.
His name is simply that.....Roo.

I have a baby monitor out there, and I listen to it here in the house. If anything happens I'll know. If I have to, I'll build alternate quarters for some of them. I can't let them free range due to tons of hawks and other airborne predators. I've seen them circle the yard. I used to worry about my poodle until she got fat and heavy. I recently found the remains of a rabbit that was prey....nasty results.