Silkie thread!

[ScaredOfShadows]

Do you have pics of the chicks?

as 1-2 day olds



currently:

 

[peepblessed]

I think I figured out what was wrong with my new shipped white cockerel. He was lonely. He was not eating and barely drinking and when I put him in a pen with three pullets(that are going to a show this weekend) he started eating and strutting around . I guess I will keep him in there until I get some girls for him. There is a couple pictures and a video below of him. The yellow stuff on his chest and feet is vitamin water.He is 6 months old and his name is Edgar.

I think hes happy. Do you?


Also, here is a picture of my blue silkie pullet after a bath. She and two other chickens are going to a show Saturday. Its the same pullet that I posted a while back ago.Shes still a tiny bit wet in this picture.

Lovely, lovely birds! He looks very happy in the video.

 

[Sharksandguitars]

I am not sure my roos are gonna like me coming around their vents with scissors!!!

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Lady Chickadee absolutely handsome new boy you got!
That blue girl is GORGEOUS! Good luck this weekend at the show!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I'm going to have to go back and read all the pages I've missed, but I've got a question........

We are totally in the chest bumping/dive bombing stage at 2 weeks. I don't remember my big girls doing it this much, and since these 6 are all st run, I'm pretty sure I've got some boys in there. Once they start crowing, I'll know who I need to rehome...........

Last year, I had 3 batches out of my girls , but from oldest to youngest, they were only about 1.5-not quite 2 weeks apart. And, they were all pullets. Out of the 14 we ended up with, only 1 turned out to be a roo, and he was the only one that was st. run. Today or tomorrow, I'm getting 3 more regulars (2 EEs and 1 PR). My 6 bantams are all over each other at this point; not just chest bumping, but dive bombing from the perch.

While I think it's a riot to watch, I'm worried that they will hurt the new girls coming. Am I just being a nervous nelly?

I am convinced that they are WAY more active and zippy than my regulars were last year.

And, my plan is to take more pics this afternoon while the newbies settle in, because I'm wondering if my silkies are partridges or something else........... (I really wish the sultan thread was active, because these are some really interesting birds!)

Thanks!

They all like to do the chest bumping thing at that age, it's not gender specific. Heck, my adult hens will still do it if they are top of the pecking order and I put a new bird in there (either girl or boy!)

 

[Tikkijane]

as 1-2 day olds



currently:

Thanks! What cuties!

 

[Tikkijane]

They all like to do the chest bumping thing at that age, it's not gender specific. Heck, my adult hens will still do it if they are top of the pecking order and I put a new bird in there (either girl or boy!)

We had a bit of it with the biggies, but nothing like this, so it makes me wonder how many roos are in there........... and now they are pecking the babies. They need to integrate sooner than later, but I was hoping they'd lose interest after a while. It's been a few hours......... wish they would all fall asleep and wake up together, lol.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Handling any breed of chicken or duck or goose will make it easier to be with. WIth ducks and geese, especially, early handlng will cause them to imprint.

I have never had any really people aggressive silkies, but in general they tend to rule the roost when it comes to the other chickens. In some ways they are like my JRT. She is very dog-aggressive to any dog that is the same height or taller than her. I believe she thinks along the lines of "I'll eat it before it eats me!" I had an ugly mutty silkie rooster that used to terrorize by exhibition sized large fowl barred rock cock.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
The babies need to be protected or they will be pecked to death. Usually not a good idea to put babies with larger birds that they were not raised with.

 

[Tikkijane]

I had this all put together and hit submit and then the site was being worked on. Figures, lol.

Everyone is 2 weeks old now. First set of 2:



Second set of 2:



And just for grins and giggles, my 2 sultans:



Between the two breeds, the sultans are bigger, and their mohawks are more pronounced. I'm pretty sure at least one of these is a boy.

I know in regular size breeds, the females are bigger and feather faster than the males; is this true for the silkies, too? I've got one (second batch, bigger of the two on the right) who was doing a lot more pecking of the babies when I put them in today, and doing a lot of dive bombing them. This one has also been the loudest out of the whole bunch, and is doing more chest bumping. I don't remember my other girls going at it quite this hot and heavy, but it's been a while; maybe I wasn't paying as much attention because I knew it was normal behavior, and that they actually were all girls. Now I'm trying to figure out who's who. LOL.

My guess on the silkies is that they are partridge, but I really don't have a good idea. Could they be porcelain?