Silkie thread!

[JDchicks]

Partridge - 16 weeks. I've got another boy on my hands, don't I?

I love this one coloring.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

BlueBerry and Cinder"Fella"



Chocolate


Ginger

 

[CALI CHICK]

I've been on vacation in South Dakota for over a week and really missed this thread and my friends...I think I had BYC withdrawals.

I'm so sad that BB (my only laying silkie) was found dead in the coop Sunday morning by the chicken sitter. No blood or injuries and all other silkies and LF chickens are fine. Do you think BB was egg bound? I'm guessing egg bound because she had just started August 9th and gave us about 10 eggs in the two week period before she died. The sitter said she laid 2 eggs at the start of our vacation and then didn't lay any for 4 days prior to dying. Is it common for silkies to become egg bound? Also, what are the signs to look for? I wish I had been home because I might have noticed her distress.

On a happier note, our other blue silkie, Mysty Blue layed her FIRST egg for us yesterday. We are excited but also nervous that Mysty Blue might become egg bound and die too. It had a LOT of blood on it, so I soaked her and put A&D ointment on her. vent (Is that OK?) Also, I made her some scrambled eggs with olive oil for breakfast. Any suggestions for keeping these fragile little silkies alive and well?

 

[TAMMACLEAN]

I just wanted to say all these silkies are beautiful!! Here is a picture of my little babies.

 

[PNWGirl]

............... I did not notice until I was editing these photos earlier today that the tip of his beak is broken off! I have no idea how that happened. They stay in their covered silkie pen all day. I haven't noticed anything unusual happening in there. Does the tip of the beak grow back?

It will grow back but you can take an emery board and file the corners down so that it is more 'beak' shaped. This will stop the 'points' of the break from breaking off badly.

Sheila

 

[Hennyhandler]

Hate to leave you hanging. I personally dislike evaluating birds from a couple of photos. Hard or impossible to see wings and feet. They are very pretty for sure. I see at least a couple with loose wings and all appear to have long backs which is undesirable but you don't say how old they are so that could change. Except for the first one they have nice crests. They have nice typey stance but all need fuller tails. Hope this helps some.

That's okay. Posts sometimes get missed. I do see your point. I figured the backs were long and the wings loose. They are about 6 months old. Do you think any of these qualities will improve based on their age? Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

 

[Me & Jack]

I've been on vacation in South Dakota for over a week and really missed this thread and my friends...I think I had BYC withdrawals.

I'm so sad that BB (my only laying silkie) was found dead in the coop Sunday morning by the chicken sitter. No blood or injuries and all other silkies and LF chickens are fine. Do you think BB was egg bound? I'm guessing egg bound because she had just started August 9th and gave us about 10 eggs in the two week period before she died. The sitter said she laid 2 eggs at the start of our vacation and then didn't lay any for 4 days prior to dying. Is it common for silkies to become egg bound? Also, what are the signs to look for? I wish I had been home because I might have noticed her distress.

On a happier note, our other blue silkie, Mysty Blue layed her FIRST egg for us yesterday. We are excited but also nervous that Mysty Blue might become egg bound and die too. It had a LOT of blood on it, so I soaked her and put A&D ointment on her. vent (Is that OK?) Also, I made her some scrambled eggs with olive oil for breakfast. Any suggestions for keeping these fragile little silkies alive and well?

It is certainly possible she was egg bound, which does seem--IMO--to happen in Silkies more than other breeds I've had. The blood is fairly typical in newly laying girls, and it's not necessary to do anything to treat it. The cause is usually a small blood vessel in the cloaca that breaks during straining or passing. If you see lots of blood (as in equaling a teaspoon) then I would step in, but streaks or blotches of blood on the first few eggs is common and nothing to worry about.

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Good tip Sheila! Thanks! And thanks to those who have offered sexing opinions on my Silkies. So far it's looking like out of 7 Silkies I have 2 girls.

Well, I'm just grateful that my two favorites are girls! And once the boys are gone there will be fewer to feed so - just looking on the bright side here!

 

[beauty2thebirds]

I just had to share some pictures. I found our first 3 eggs today in the pen. So Ive got 3 new layers (my first silkies) in 1 day. There were no eggs yesterday, so I'm pleased as punch about this
Most of the birds shown are between 7-8 months old. I started hatching in January and stopped in June.
But I wanted to share a few photos and get some opinions from you. These are my very first silkies, and I am hooked on the breed. So at the age of 44, I want to start showing. Therefor I need to learn.


Just a small group photo





7 months 1st pic.

5 month hen

My first Porcelain 7 months 2nd pic.

4 moth old white

My Lavender 5-6 months

4-5 moths

So here are just a few. What do you think?

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I asked this a month ago, but she has aged, so I want to check again. Any guesses on the gender of this 3 month old? Also, is she a Blue? She was ordered as a black. Her name is Raven. It's hard to see, but I don't think she has very big wattles. Also, I don't see a comb, except that there is a small bump where the comb is?