Silkie thread!

[Hawkeye95]

I have a couple of quick questions. I am new to chickens, period. We have 54 Barred Rocks and we have 3 White Silkies. They are all hatchery birds and are all 11 days old. They have been together from day one.

I really thought the Silkies would congregate and stay together, but they don't, they just hang around with all the Barred Rocks. I think this is a good thing, right? Does that mean that the BR will be less likely to pick on the Silkies?

I have seen one of the Silkies doing a chest bump, for lack of a better explanation with one of the Barred Rocks. Does this mean that I probably have a Silkie Roo or just a grumpy girl standing her ground?

Then today, I saw two of the Silkies doing a chest bump against each other. Does this mean possibly two Roos?

THANKS!!! I know my hatchery kids won't be as nice as your BQ and SQ birds, but I really enjoy all of your photos!!!

I have a couple of white silkies in with my barred rock layers, too!! Ooooh, be careful!! Those silkies will beat up your barred rocks!! LOL Seriously, not kidding. And yeah, they love to spar! They are spunky little things!

 

[dwegg]

Kinda funny...Okay, I laughed hysterically...

I just picked up my very first "non-silkie/SG" chicks that will be my future layers. One is an older Barred Rock so she was separated from the teeny chicks when I first got them home. I felt sorry for the little gal, so took the chance of putting her in with my Silkie babies that are also about 6 weeks old. It was hilarious! All of the Silkies came rushing over to stare at her feet! They would lightly peck her little toes and cluck amongst themselves about this funny looking stranger. They are all getting along great now - she even joins in the Silkie pile-up at night rather than roosting by herself...I hope that I'm not warping her in any way... or them, for that matter

Blessedchick...I went home and took a pic of my barred rock with her room mates for you...Clouise is almost ready to lay...

 

[Hawkeye95]

Blessedchick...I went home and took a pic of my barred rock with her room mates for you...Clouise is almost ready to lay...

WOW!! What a gorgeous flock you have!!! LOVE them!!

 

[Country Chickens]

So sorry! That is a total nightmare and makes my stomach sick even thinking about it! We have been really lucky with our Brinsea, then, cause it was just a teensy bit low (.5 degree) but otherwise good. It is a Octagon Advance and we have the humidity pump so we don't have to worry about humidity--that part has been super nice. We also have a couple of the new hovabators, the new Genesis with built in hygrometer as well as temp. One of them was pretty accurate in both temp and humidity, the other was off on both but especially humidity. We keep a backup hygrometer in that one.

The thermometers we have NOT been happy with would make for a very long list, but unfortunately I don't remember names anymore as it's been a couple years. What we use now are the Brinsea digitial thermometer (that's the one they replaced even though it wasn't off by much) which is a probe style and can be dropped down to the level of the eggs. That one came highly recommended and has been very nice. We also use a couple of other probe style thermometer that are intended for use in fish tanks, but they are only so-so. And lastly we take quick readings off the eggs themselves using an ear thermometer. Those range from $15-25 around here and I would go with a nicer end one. We were given the tip to use those by a guy at our State Vet Univesity who pointed out that the eggs can get quite a bit warmer due to their own developing metabolic heat just before hatch, and sometimes in large hatches can overheat unless the incubator is adjusted. To be honest, we haven't seen a big difference in the egg temperature there at the end, but we are doing smaller hatches or divided hatches. At any rate, if you decide to get the ear thermometer aim it at the bottom 2/3ds of the egg, so below the air sack, and you will probably only be able to do one or two eggs at a time and close the incubator in between so you're not affecting egg temp.

Lastly, the hygrometer we use is a Fluker (I think that's how it's spelled) which is the only hygrometer we've ever liked. It's intended for reptile use and sold in the reptile section of big pet stores. It's pretty accurate and we've used it to back everything else up.

Good luck! If you're bator isn't helping you I think that first while trying to get the setup working as it should can be pretty agonizing. Hang in there, and I hope this helps!

 

[dwegg]

Thanks...I have 11 silkies (3-4 month old) and 13 chicks at the moment...I would love to end up with one to show sometime...

Here is my blue girl that i think is developing with some potential





but they are all still quite young...so we'll see....

 

[Country Chickens]

WOW!! What a gorgeous flock you have!!! LOVE them!!

X2! Those are some very pretty birds!

 

[Country Chickens]

She is lovely and looks very typey! I haven't seen show blues much--and mine are light ones I use with my splashes--but she looks very promising to me!

Thanks...I have 11 silkies (3-4 month old) and 13 chicks at the moment...I would love to end up with one to show sometime...

Here is my blue girl that i think is developing with some potential





but they are all still quite young...so we'll see....

 

[dwegg]

I have been wondering about this girl...is she a partridge but just light? or is she just a wrong color? as my other partridge is dark blue underneath and she is almost whiteish...sorry not good photos today as she likes to run away from me...




here is her sister who is much darker....




and her they are together.....

 

[dwegg]

p.s...sorry about all the photos but I took them while I had time....

 

[Sharksandguitars]

You don't have any partridge silkie roos for sale do you??