Silkie thread!

[chickendales]

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so the older bigs dont kill it

 

[I-Have-Happy-Hens]

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dont know if your on silkie fc group but i added links

No I am not but I asked to join the group, thanks for the link!!

Happy-Hens

 

[gambit2178]

Here is a quick shot of my three roosters...quite the gang aren't they?

 

[gambit2178]

Another shot of Pearl...

 

[Christie Loves Silkies]

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Your birds are beautiful!

 

[chickendales]

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i realy like buff boy on the left

 

[Christie Loves Silkies]

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i realy like buff boy on the left

So do I his very pretty!

 

[Debbienmousey]

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so the older bigs dont kill it

Mammat, if you're asking me why (just making sure, because there is at least one other Debbi on this thread, I think), then it's exactly because of what chickendales said. If the babies get out of the nest then it's possible that the older birds will kill/eat them. It's really sad. So yes it's much more helpful to have the broodies in a separate coop however if the nest boxes are designed so that a screening or piece of wood can be placed over the front of the box on hatching day then everything should be ok, but you'd still probably want to move the mom & chicks until you know how the other birds do with the chicks. As for housing Silkies with large fowl, yeah you can do that. Lots of people have great success with it. I don't because my Silkies are a fair bit smaller and more timid then most of my large fowl and I also free range my birds, so it's easier and safer if I keep the Silkies penned. Although I do have two of my smaller large fowl mixes in with the Silkies, and they do get along fine

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[Debbienmousey]

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1 no anybody can enter
2 there is a jr division(18 AND UNDER) and a open division ( anybody)
3 6 months is good but keep in mind silkies mature slowly, I have some I can't even sex at 6 months
4 most silkies are fine just get the bird used to being handled wings and feet examined
5 some state require pullorium testing (npip) cost vary from state to state MO is free. contact your state department of animal health

Thanks Muddyhorse! As for the Silkie age thing, I know what you mean lol. Out of my three older ones from this years hatch, the Grey/Calico I knew was a boy pretty early on just by coloring and crest shape, the Buff I knew at about 4 months because he started crowing, but the Partridge it took awhile but figured out he's a boy too! Although the Partridge and Grey/Calico are more filled out than the Buff, so if I was entering any of them I'd probably want to do those two. Another question though, does the judge want to see the birds outside of the cage? Like will he/she want to handle each bird, only some of the birds, or none at all? (sorry, I'm a total newbie to showing) The above mentioned boys are great at being held but not too crazy about having their wings messed with.

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Thanks Pam

. So for testing..Right now I don't think we need to be a part of the NPIP, so if the Dept. of Ag. comes out will they want to test all the birds? What's the difference in the Jr division and the Open division? Just the fact that instead of competing against adults you'd only be competing against other teens/kids? I would kinda have to assume that you could enter one bird(or more) in the Jr division and also one(or more) in the Open division? Oh, and my babies are fine with being in smaller cages because I've taken them to the Farmer's Market just for display and people really get interested in them, I just might be worried about how they'd do by themselves, because I normally take 2 at a time in the cage

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Thank you both very much!

 

[gambit2178]

Thank you for the comments...and back by popular demand...