Silkie thread!

[OneCrazyCowgirl]

That's your call =) They are all pretty to me. Here is a self blue by george mahlik, found it on google. If you have a self blue you can produce porcelains.

Oooooo pretty How to you produce porcelains? Like what other color do you have to have? or does self blue x self blue = porcelain

 

[mama2my4]

Ok, I talked to him, what a nice man!

Well, the grey (yes, she is grey) is from Bobbi Porto and the porcelain are her babies.

Lucky Ducky! Bobbi has gorgeous birds!

 

[buckskinluvr]

Need help knowing what color my pet roo is?

 

[Tiempo]

You got Bobbi Porto birds??!!!!! NICE FIND!!!!!

And in Michigan too! Only about 20 minutes from my house. I feel so fortunate, and to say they were reasonably priced is a huge understatement.

 

[chicknlove]

I will have my Silkies under a carport(the metal tube frame ones) with a 10x20 tarp over it. That will be their enclosed area(wire on sides to keep predators out). I will also have a net covered area with low fencing to keep them in and my LF out for free ranging area. When I can be outside with them I will let everyone free range together once all the through the fence intro's are done. I have a major hawk/eagle problem right now. Ground predators are kept at bay by my dog(Australian Shepherd). If they get wet and can't dry off before night time, be ready to blow dry them or have a correct brooder lamp(ceramic based rated for 250W) inside their coop to help dry them out. My wife's Silkies just camp off the lamp today at 7 weeks(except the Partridge and our LF orphan chick which are 5.5 weeks)

I think I'm going to keep mine near the house under our deck. We put tin roofing under the deck to creat a dry place to stack wood. I'll move them to the coop with lots of free range in the summer months.

 

[Tiempo]

Lucky Ducky! Bobbi has gorgeous birds!

Now I want more from her! I'm thinking they won't be $11 though

 

[TimBaumann]

TimBauman - they are cute and definitely have silkie feathers, are they the larger size like they have in Europe? They both look white in the first shot, what color is the non-white one? Sounds like you really got a bargain on pricing. Especially being rare in Namibia!!! Congratulations!!! If they were with roosters your eggs may be fertile and you can raise some of your own.

haha they are both white but one was just dirty which made the feathers a bit yellowish! They are TINY! But they certainly make up for it with personality!

Yes they were with a rooster! I also have a small bantam hen sitting on some of the other silkie eggs and two of the 3 eggs were fertile so I have my fingers crossed!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I think I'm going to keep mine near the house under our deck. We put tin roofing under the deck to creat a dry place to stack wood. I'll move them to the coop with lots of free range in the summer months.

I don't know your set-up, but that sounds like a good plan.

I don't think you are to far from me so I know our weather is the same, I am in Oregon City(just outside of Carver)

 

[littlecritters]

Thanks. I'm a bit concerned because these Are unusually hot days. So far we have been sitting more in the low 30's so 40 is a scorcher out of the blue. I've come across threads where people talk about loosing birds from breeds that don't do so well in the heat. Wondered if all that fluff allowed them to cool better or kept them hot
I've been reading a bit about the sprinklers. I thought I might try setting up something using garden watering system misters. Suspect they probably use more water though?

I have the Cobra misters purchased from Home Depot garden department. They are shaped like a "S" and produce a really nice mist. However, all our chickens including the silkies were afraid of the misters. So, I gave up and use them for myself in the summer.

Thanks for the advice ! What do you do to prep them before having to cage them for judging ? With my d'uccles, I check for dirty feet, smooth their feathers out, put Vetrx on theor legs, combs and beak, and spray them with Pink's. I know not to use the spray on silkies, but is there anything else I might want to do ?

check out the Showing Silkies thread here on BYC for more showing info and good articles

Do I need to keep my silkies out of the rain? Or just have a place for them to stay dry? I assume it's more important for them to be dry during the colder winter months..? I'm from Oregon, I may need to re think my chicken run plans for the silkies haha.

Personally, I keep my silkies out of the rain. I get very sad every time I read that someone had a silkie die because it was wet or moist and then froze to death. I recently spoke to Doc Brown of www.firststatevetsupply.com and he gets more calls about silkies than any other breed. I personally feel that they are more fragile and less hardy than other breeds.

So do they tend to stay out of the rain and find shelter as long as their run is covered?

Not necessarily...someone recently had a silkie get locked out of the coop one night and found her frozen the next morning.

The first time I ever herd about silkie chicken was here on this AWESOME site! I was fastinated by them but had already accepted that I would never have any since I live in Namibia and I didn't think that this country had chicken this strange! But...one day while walking through a small horrible pet shop I came across a silkie sitting in a small box!

I was soooo exited and immediately wanted it! It only cost N$30 (about 4 US$)! I would have bought it on the spot if it wasn't for a small "SOLD" sign above the cage! After that I always returned but he never got any other silkies! After some months of searching I was invited to a group on facebook for all pet owners in Namibia! I posted a pic of a silky and asked if anyone knew the breeder! Finally I had found a lady on a farm that bred them! I contacted her and arranged for her to sell me two hens! The initial price was about 8.50 US dollars per chicken but when I met her she gave them to me for just 3.40 US dollars for both! The two chicken had just begun laying and both were recovering from their molt so they looked a bit ruff! One of the hens recovered nicely and is looking quite fluffy today while the other still has some featherless areas on her wings and neck!
I got them 3 weeks ago! The ugly one is the nicest! The white one runs away screaming when I try touching it!

It lays its eggs in this pot and this was a good time to take pics because it doesn't move around when it's getting ready to lay!



I took more pics of the fluffy one because the other one is brooding on some eggs already! It hasn't even recovered from the molt and is already brooding

But I always wan't broody hens and hopefully her eggs will hatch!

What do you think of my two silkies? I know they are no-where near show-quality but I don't care! It took me so long to find them so I can't be picky

You should enjoy them! As long as you are happy, it doesn't matter if they are show quality or pet quality.

Lucky Ducky! Bobbi has gorgeous birds!

You bet!

 

[chicknlove]

I don't know your set-up, but that sounds like a good plan.

I don't think you are to far from me so I know our weather is the same, I am in Oregon City(just outside of Carver)

Yep you're just down the road

I'm at the top of the Sandy Ridge so I might get little bit more snow then you.