Silkie thread!

[4hchickmama]

I don't have any silkies to show off *totally jealous* but rather hoping to have a couple questions answered regarding silkies and other hens.
We've been thinking about chickens for years and have finally found a house in a town that allows backyard birds so I'm running before my feet even hit the ground. lol
We'd hoped to start with a few silkies, something more like a pet for the kids. Silkies have been recommended by many as a first chicken for us although, after reading about breeds here I'm not sure as there are so many sweet breeds. We definitely want to add laying hens so I'm wondering now if it's a good idea to get the silkies first and then add laying hens later. Should we skip the silkies altogether? Get everything at once? I'm hoping to have 2-4 laying hens that are docile, calm, friendly, quiet, something that won't be a bother to our new neighbors.
We like the idea of a tractor, it seems so easy, you don't have to clean out the bottom. Just move them to a new, clean space. I'm not against a stationary coop but would want a tractor to allow the hens to free range at least a little bit, especially when I'm running errands. The chickens could be out in the tractor/s with the dog in the yard to protect them. (see the anatolian to the left;-)

My goals in having chickens are to have pets to love, educate my children, provide eggs for my family, control the feed content, control insect population in my yard, and fertilize my yard and garden.

Advice?

I have 7 birds total, but I started with a silkie and a silkie cross (a sizzle which is a silkie x cochin.) My older girls (8 and 10) do 4h with them. We got them first at about 4 months old and then added to our flock. We added what I thought was two buff orpingtons, but turned out to be a buff orpington and a buff plymouth rock, as 20 week old. I also have a few chicks that are younger, and not in the "general population." They are a cochin, a polish, and a sebright...all small bantams about 8-12 weeks. The silkie I have lays me about 5 eggs a week. Smaller eggs, but still plenty tasty and worthwhile. Personally, I would get the silkies first and then add the laying hens as younger chicks. As others have pointed out though, it is difficult to find sexed pullets that aren't from a hatchery. As far as egg layers go, my buff orpington is a big girl, but docile with the other chickens, and allows my 22 month old to manhandle her.



All the birds get along pretty well...except for that little black and white one (the Sebright) which turned out to be a roo...and he is a turd.

I also have a movable coop aka tractor. I love it. I free range everyone most of the time, but when I am not home and at night, they are in the coop. I hose down the area where they were the previous day and there is never really any mess.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

 

[RawrOsaur200]

beautiful silkies!

 

[Cynthia12]

Thanks ... I love taken pictures...especially of animals... My chickens being my favorite model

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[Cynthia12]

Your photos are beautiful! You have a real knack for capturing natural candid shots.

Found the right post. Jealous of your partridge Silkie! Beautiful!!

That is a baby doll face on that little baby human girl.

 

[Flowerbh]

Cindersga, where in GA are you? I am in Dawsonvile.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I've had silkies for a year now and have had four out of twenty-two with crooked beaks. Only one came out of the egg that way. It was a tiny pullet egg.
The rest grew out that way so I am assuming two causes - tiny egg and genetic.

Interesting!

I had one like that, a beautiful little blue partridge pullet. I was afraid to breed her for fear it was something that could be passed on but could have been a positioning in the egg and as the beak grows it becomes more obvious.

This isn't nearly as bad as my poor little chick! Sigh.

Looks like a fairly extreme case of crooked beak to me. Crooked beak is actually a skull deformity as well, thus the twisting of the upper beak that yours demonstrates so well. You will see it progress quite significantly over the next couple of weeks, I believe. I had a white Silkie like this one. Likely genetic. Doesn't show up for the first couple or few weeks. You probably won't want to use it as a breeder, assuming it even makes it to breeding age. Advice is usually to cull them because eating becomes so difficult for them.

WOW. Now I know! I had no idea. I've heard of cross beak and I've seen it, but usually, it's so minor. This twist on this chick is already MUCH more significant than anything I've seen in the past. Doesn't sound too good for my bird, then. That's sad. I definitely will not be breeding it. I was already culling out birds for toe defects, so this one will be going too. But I think I'll hang on to it to be sure what is going on with it. I don't want to sell a completely worthless bird.

My girl continued to worsen till she was about 3 months then stopped. My daughter has her and she is now nearly a year old and no problems.

If this continues to get worse.... Yeesh.. it's going to be BAD.


Thank you all for your input and ideas on my crooked beak. I couldn't reply to everyone, but I appreciate all ideas.

 

[chitown chicks]

Silkie chicks cannot be sexed till about 3 or 4 months or more unless they are lesser quality like a hatchery produces. You can buy DNA tested chicks for about $35 ea. So if you are going to start with babies and can't have roos you will need a plan to rehome them asap. Thus you have to buy more than you want to be sure you end up with some girls. Also, it is difficult to find silkie pullets forsale. So, just somemore to think about.

I honestly don't have a desire to do the chic thang. Call me crazy but my life just doesn't have a whole lot of room for the little delicate things. I think I'd be in the market for a little older silkie. Is there any reason this would be a bad idea. Other than the birds not all being the same age? Would the silkies have an issue with one another? I'm assuming not if I get them from the same person.

 

[chitown chicks]

I have 7 birds total, but I started with a silkie and a silkie cross (a sizzle which is a silkie x cochin.) My older girls (8 and 10) do 4h with them. We got them first at about 4 months old and then added to our flock. We added what I thought was two buff orpingtons, but turned out to be a buff orpington and a buff plymouth rock, as 20 week old. I also have a few chicks that are younger, and not in the "general population." They are a cochin, a polish, and a sebright...all small bantams about 8-12 weeks. The silkie I have lays me about 5 eggs a week. Smaller eggs, but still plenty tasty and worthwhile. Personally, I would get the silkies first and then add the laying hens as younger chicks. As others have pointed out though, it is difficult to find sexed pullets that aren't from a hatchery. As far as egg layers go, my buff orpington is a big girl, but docile with the other chickens, and allows my 22 month old to manhandle her.



All the birds get along pretty well...except for that little black and white one (the Sebright) which turned out to be a roo...and he is a turd.

I also have a movable coop aka tractor. I love it. I free range everyone most of the time, but when I am not home and at night, they are in the coop. I hose down the area where they were the previous day and there is never really any mess.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

That pic is about as sweet as they come. This is the kind of birds I'm hoping for, sweet and docile. Just need them to also be on a the quieter side. I'm not breaking any laws or anything, just don't want to have issues with my neighbors before I have a chance to win them over with free eggs. ;-)

 

[Hawkeye95]

I honestly don't have a desire to do the chic thang. Call me crazy but my life just doesn't have a whole lot of room for the little delicate things. I think I'd be in the market for a little older silkie. Is there any reason this would be a bad idea. Other than the birds not all being the same age? Would the silkies have an issue with one another? I'm assuming not if I get them from the same person.

No, that would be great! Where are you located anyway? You can probably find breeders near by that are culling out some of their silkies that have faults. Usually toes or wings, etc. But still beautiful birds! In fact, I'm lining up homes for a few of my culls right now. Some will be pullets. Don't expect hatchery prices though even for breeder's culls. I doubt they will be crazy expensive, but I'd guess they'd be right around $10-35 per bird. It would probably be just as well to have silkies that are a bit older than your large breed birds, anyway. Give them a leg up since they are going to have a hard time seeing and responding to bigger birds. If you're putting silkies in with silkies, they may duke it out a bit and then get over it. Mine do some chest bumping and then go back to scratching around. They don't get too upset with new birds. If you get a cull from a breeder, you may end up with a really beautiful bird! Here is one of my culls that did not make the cut into my breeding program:

She's beautiful! Growing a nice big crest and so far has excellent wings! But I'm not liking her toes. I think I have lined up a new mama for her already out of state. BUT when she really fills in, she's going to have a hard time seeing. So this is the kind of bird I would not put with large fowl birds unless they grew up together. I wouldn't want her getting pecked on the head, and she has a vaulted skull on her-- meaning part of her brain is exposed through the skull.

Picture Below: Here you can see one of my chicks with a "vaulted" skull. The bump off the top of the head. These are more prone to brain damage if they are hit on the head.

So just have an idea of what and where you are going to put them and do with them ahead of time. Admittedly, the hatchery chicks are a lot hardier-- they have barely any crest on them and they can see well and seem to be more fiesty. They just aren't as fluffy.

 

[4hchickmama]

I honestly don't have a desire to do the chic thang. Call me crazy but my life just doesn't have a whole lot of room for the little delicate things. I think I'd be in the market for a little older silkie. Is there any reason this would be a bad idea. Other than the birds not all being the same age? Would the silkies have an issue with one another? I'm assuming not if I get them from the same person.

I like to buy similar aged birds in groups of 2 or more. If they came from the same person, you shouldn't have too much of an issue. If you aren't too worried about perfect conformation, you might want to see if you can find someone who breeds and shows. Often they will hang onto a group that are possible show prospects and then for whatever reason, they don't turn out as good as they thought and then they might be willing to part with the birds. Older pullets like this are going to be more expensive. Say $20-$30 as opposed to the $10-$15 you might pay for a 4-8 week old chick. When you are ready to introduce the laying hens, I would get some that are younger than the silkies for sure. The little ladies can often rule the roost, but IMO it is just easier to have the other birds be a bit younger. If you get something that is fully feathered, you don't have to worry about lights and delicate things Usually silkies can be let out by 12 weeks or sooner.