Silkie thread!

[blipit007]

Here's a silly question. The beautiful silkies I see in this forum, do you comb them? Or are they naturally fluffy like this?

And my silkie has some great cheek puffs, and her chest and but are filling out nicely, but there is no big puff on top of her head. Does that mean she is not going to have the big top notch? She is only 1.5 weeks old, is it still too early to tell? I really am hoping she is a big fluffer. I didn't get her from a breeder, so I am really crossing my fingers.

 

[RockerHen]

Here's a silly question.   The beautiful silkies I see in this forum, do you comb them? Or are they naturally fluffy like this?

And my silkie has some great cheek puffs, and her chest and but are filling out nicely, but there is no big puff on top of her head.  Does that mean she is not going to have the big top notch?  She is only 1.5 weeks old, is it still too early to tell?  I really am hoping she is a big fluffer.  I didn't get her from a breeder, so I am really crossing my fingers.

I don't comb mine. They're naturally like that, I got them from a really nice breeder in my area. To take that one's picture, I just plucked her straight from the breeding pen and stuck her in front of the flowers and 1.5 weeks is really too young to judge. However, if it is from a hatchery/feed store and not a breeder, it is not very likely to be as fluffy as the show/breeder birds you see on here, especially in the crest/foot feathering area, hatcheries tend to really neglect those qualities. However, hatchery birds tend to be great pets/brooders. My very first silkie rooster was a hatchery bird, and he was one of the sweetest birds I ever had. He got me wanting more and better quality birds, which brought me to where I am today

 

[K Epp]

Here are updated pics of my fluffies.




Can you tell me what color this one is. Chick #1. Calico maybe?








This one has the pretties silkie feathering Chick #2 Partridge?



























The golden one in the bottom middle would not stay still enough for me to get a good picture of it. Chick #3 Color? It is a golden with blue under tones. These are my first Silkies and a learning experience. I have all my juveniles in a grow out coop together now with a 250 watt heat lamp for the cold days. right now everyone is getting along good. They have been together since I got them at 1 week. Sorry for so many double pics I don't know what went on and could not get them off. I have 5 silkies in total two blue and the 3 in question. How long until I can tell what gender they are? Some are developing a small comb looking rough place at the top of their beaks. Is this a sign of Roo? If so I n=may have 3 roos and 2 hens.

 

[ceocka]

r showgirls in high demand?

I love them and want some very badly

 

[Lacy Blues]

you could try her on some medications and a less dusty shavings and maube put her on some grass

I wouldn't go straight to medications, if she's fine and you need them in the future they may not work when she is actually sick. If there is no discharge from ehr eyes or nose I would suggest using sand in her cage rather than shavings. Silkies seem to be more sensitive to them. Also, their crest feathers make them sneeze a lot, picture someone tickling your nose with a feather all day everyday!

Ha ha ha. She is only around a month old so her nose isn't being tickled yet I don't think... she's still pretty tiny with not a lot of fuzz yet. Sand hu? I could probably get some at my local hardware/lumber store? I just have to make sure it's not silica, right?

If she is just sneezing it is probably something in her inviroment.

Thanks to everyone for your help. I'll see about locating some sand for her though she does seem to enjoy throwing the shavings around.

 

[moomoodiddy]

I love them and want some very badly

well it looks like im gonna have some little ones probably by the end of this yr

 

[moomoodiddy]

i got into showgirls by accident.....maybe i should tell the breeder he has a showgirl gene in his flock ... he didnt tell me about it

 

[PaintedFeathers]

Ha ha ha. She is only around a month old so her nose isn't being tickled yet I don't think... she's still pretty tiny with not a lot of fuzz yet. Sand hu? I could probably get some at my local hardware/lumber store? I just have to make sure it's not silica, right?
Thanks to everyone for your help. I'll see about locating some sand for her though she does seem to enjoy throwing the shavings around.

I use construction tube sand, also makes a good natural grit. Mine and my friend's silkies all had this same issue, after spending over $100 on a vet visit, they were fine

. You can give vitamins to her in her water if you want to though.

 

[blipit007]

I don't comb mine. They're naturally like that, I got them from a really nice breeder in my area. To take that one's picture, I just plucked her straight from the breeding pen and stuck her in front of the flowers

and 1.5 weeks is really too young to judge. However, if it is from a hatchery/feed store and not a breeder, it is not very likely to be as fluffy as the show/breeder birds you see on here, especially in the crest/foot feathering area, hatcheries tend to really neglect those qualities. However, hatchery birds tend to be great pets/brooders. My very first silkie rooster was a hatchery bird, and he was one of the sweetest birds I ever had. He got me wanting more and better quality birds, which brought me to where I am today

Wow! Ball of fluff! Well I got mine from Cameron Family Farms. I think that they got the silkie chicks from Texas, but they didn't tell me were. I wish they would. So far you are right about the sweetness. She instantly snuggles up and falls asleep in my hands. Its the strangest thing.

In the future, I would like to get a SQ silkie though. A real ball of fluff... It will take some time, mostly because I cant decide on a color. And I need to find a really good breeder close to CT as I don't think I want to ship any birds. I want a chick under a week old, but don't think I have the room for as many as I would need to order for them to ship safely. Any suggestions? I would drive to another state.

 

[aoxa]

Wow can't keep up with you guys here.

So I am 99.9% sure Doc Holiday is a girl now at 17 weeks. We have another gender opposite name going on. I never change names.

I am not sure if I'm happy I was wrong yet or not. Most want their birds to turn out female, but I really wanted a son from Steve.

Oh well!
I'll post some pictures of her a bit later.



Henry our BMD is doing very well with the chickens. Only thing he's interested in is their food. He gets along very well with them and I am thrilled.



Here's a picture of our frizzled silkie Hope. As soon as the sun shines in the coop, she's dust bathing. She is unbearded, but is terribly cute