Silkie thread!

[Fancy Feathers]

This is one reason why I really like it that different colors have their own thread!

 

[Fancy Feathers]

My new little cuties this morning. I can't believe how teeny tiny and totally adorable they are!

 

[Tikkijane]

They went it like that most of the day yesterday. I seriously considered separating them several times. Even popped one of them out for a time-out at one point. They did seem to cool it later in the day and haven't caused a fuss at all today. It doesn't appear any real damage was done to either one of them but I'm keeping an eye on things just in case. I'm curious about Sonoran's comments that it may not be a male thing. She makes a good point that hens are the ones that often have the knock-down, drag-outs .... I hadn't really considered that in chicks this young! I've never seen chickens of ANY age, boys OR girls, fight like these two. (I'm still convinced these two are boys though ...

)

I have. Last year, I thought all of my girls were boys because they were going at it like this. I ended up with one boy. Now, I'm pretty sure that I have {at least} 3 boys right now, and this was tame compared to what I've had lately. I've had some all out cock fighting going on, with feather grabbing and distressed screaming. I am not an expert in baby roo behavior, but what I was having was not normal. Fortunately, they took a break yesterday and weren't out to kill each other. Today, there's been some rumbling, and if it gets too bad, someone is going into the penalty box! If I had the capacity to do so, I'd take a video and post it, but I don't know how and don't feel like fighting to figure it out, lol.

Fwiw; ymmv.

 

[Tikkijane]

They are so pretty! When do you clip their wings? I have 10 week old red sexed link and a silver lace. should i be trimming their feathers since they are starting to range?

And heavier breeds won't do much flying, either. There are some (like hamburgs, for example) that are very flighty and some do clip to keep them from flying all over. Out of my big girls, I have a single production red, and she's the only one who's figured out she can fly over the 3 foot garden gate.

I haven't done anything with that this year yet because I need to do something with the fence before planting, lol.

But, I won't clip wings or beaks, particularly with silkies because they are not flyers.

 

[Tikkijane]

Hawkeye, sorry to hear about your one chick, but that new baby is to die for cute!!

 

[Tikkijane]

That would be a decent price in my book, but I'm FAR from being an expert! Two other questions arise: Do you ship, and what are the shipping cost?

We are just getting into BYC and my kids have become truly excited about it all. It's amazing because we operate an exotic animal rescue & they have seen every sort of exotic creature from parrots to pythons and from tarantulas to big monitor lizards. All they can talk about is chickens! When they discovered that Silkies existed they completely flipped and told me they have to get a couple.

Tell me, how do silkies get along with other breeds?

Just fine. I have heard that the hens can be/are more aggressive with LF (one guy I know got rid of all of his because he didn't like how they acted to his LF birds), but I haven't seen that with my chicks. At this point, they also get along with the big girls, but they aren't outside fulltime yet.

Welcome to BYC and chickens! Honestly, I don't think we were living until we got ours. LOL.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: He is grey. Might carry recessive white. ANY colour can also carry white.



Sonoran, question for you!! Can you tell me why this is a grey and not a Columbian? I'm so confused now! LOL I've been following the Columbian project off and on for a while now. Is it because he doesn't have the black in his hackles and more black in his tail like the other Columbian's have? To my very untrained and uneducated eye, this really looks Columbian. Give me the low down!

(obviously I'm not ready to work with this color!! --but I knew that already)
Yes, the lack of black in the hackles is why I didn't say columbian. For a grey, he is really, really light. It would be worth using a bird like him if you are working on columbian.

 

[sager:)silkies]

VERY CUTE!!! Nice vaulted skull!

hey sonaran what colour u think this is also thats its crest not a vaulted skull i was shocked when i felt it and it was just a crest i kinda like the vaulted chicks

 

[sager:)silkies]

Seeing pictures of day olds probably isn't going to help. Blue, splash, and lavender can look VERY similar at hatch and even down the road. You really have to know what the genetic history of the chicks is. Failing that, the only way to know what genes your bird is carrying is to breed it and see what it throws out of various pairings - keeping careful records all the while.

PS. Lav and Bl are completely different genes that don't mix productively. If you are working with lavender and blue (splash), you REALLY need to keep the pens clearly defined and separate.

thats the thing i bought these birds from a hatchery/breeder and he said he couldnt find the splash chicks but the ones i got i think are splash espeicelly since one chick has a pink toe

 

[sager:)silkies]

Those appear to be Self-Blues to me

can self blue have pink toes