Silkie thread!

[peepblessed]

That is another neat B/B/S chart. I do have a question though. Does Splash x Splash actually lighten the splashes - or do you just get less of them? In the chart it almost looks like the splashes are blue instead of black. I haven't ever bred them so I don't know what the actual results are.

I'm pretty sure there isn't a paint variety for Polish chickens?


I'm probably going to have to send some of them somewhere if they're all boys.

Unless I can convince the farm owner to let me rehome this ugly looking PQ splash rooster we have to make room. He just looks like he got hit by a truck and never recovered.

Ok, maybe he doesn't look that bad, but he's still not very pretty. lol

I have been wondering about two Silkies I have that are now about4 months old. I think both are splash but one is almost lavender colored with darker bluish whereas the other is darker all around (darker light areas and black or almost black markings. They would both be called splashed even though one is qite a bit darker than the other?

Another question I have concerns the red roo I have. I don't plan to keep him any longer than to produce some chicks for pets and sell at the farmer's market this fall. He doesn't have a beard.
But...is he really red or a reddish partridge? How can I tell???

Color questions are very difficult without photos. We'd love to see some!

Could anyone tell me if this little 7 wk old


silkie X is a hen or roo... It is a lot smaller than my other birds!

This looks like a grey (silver partridge) silkie. I would guess girl.

 

[peepblessed]

I just love these little fluff balls. I have 2 white ones and 1 black one!!

Welcome to our thread! Hope you'll post photos of your sweeties.

I have a mysterious age silkie (I think about 1 yr~11-13 months). She is my baby and I had great luck with her! Her name is Rosie (after Rosa Parks

) I got her at a fair from a cage filled with pullets and cockerels. The kicker? They weren't sexed. So, I had to look around, touch, feel, and talk to 12-15 different silkies. I was torn between a beautiful splash who had a vibrant personality and came right up and the shy darkest one who looked nervous and somewhat beat up. I talked to the guy who the cage belonged to, and after consulting my mom and the man, I finally made a decision. The shy one was mine. The man packed her up in a cardboard box with pine shavings (it was 10 AM and we weren't leaving until 6 PM) and a little bit of food and we paid. She was $15 (my mom had a little freak-out) but I felt she was worth every penny and more. We set off and spent the rest of the day giving her water melon, grass, and water. I went on one ride and got my aunt and uncle to watch her. I was nervous the whole ride.
Well, today, I took some fabulous pictures of her! Only about 40 minutes ago, she was perched in a tree, posing. Here she is:













Thanks! I love her look and personality. To this day, she has been broody once- From 5/3 to 6/8. I am so happy to have broken her of her broody.

She's a pretty girl! Great photos.

Not a silkie, but at least this is BYC related.

Spot checking out what's new!

I have an EE cross chick that looks like this.

Hi! This is such a great thread; i've been learning some valuable info all afternoon. We just got our first chickens 10 weeks ago- 2 buff orp's and 1 blk australorp. Last week our blk australorp past away so after doing some research we got 2 silkies yesterday and I am loving them! They are the cutest and sweetest little things. I pick them up and they just lay down and fall asleep in my hands. I want them to remain as friendly/docile as they are now. Does anyone have tips for that or is it all dependant on the bird itself?

Here's a picture of my two peepers. They're 2 weeks old...still debating on names.

Be

I don't know exactly what she is. She did hatch from a green egg, I know that much. And dad is a New Hampshire Red. Mom is one of our mixed breeds from our "Golden Girls" pen. We have 3 RIR's in there with a bunch of buffs and some white Marans looking mixes. But one of the white Marans lays green eggs, and only one has feathers on it's legs.

I'm pretty sure the egg my chick hatched from belongs to the white hen. So I'll just call little Spot an Easter Egger.

No rivers near by, at least not close enough to go get some sand.

Maybe we have a big pile of sand somewhere out back. I know we have gravel and wood chips etc. I'll have to go sand hunting!


Will do!


I did a little bit of reading on the tube sand. Seems like the bags you can find at a hardware store aren't very big. I'd have to buy a gazillion of them.

I'll keep searching, there must be some affordable sand around here somewhere.

Thanks!

Hope you can find your sand. You will love it! I use river sand. Fine sand is terrible. It sticks to everything.

My daughter loving on a self blue.

And her haul of silkies.

Adorable photo of your daughter and a nice pile of fluff! The cute little chick she is holding is blue. Self-blue are very pale, almost white.

I think this is a fairly decent side by side photo standing at their wading pool which they sometimes drink from. Pet quality girl who was a rescue (she and two other girls I have were actually rescued from a flood). She has some really great qualities and is a wonderful chicken and is so sweet. My paint girl (CatDance) that I will be showing this fall, also a really great chicken with great qualities. I did a test run on her eggs that she just started laying and I am pleased to report are looking really good (at least I think).



The first born baby of the paint girl at 2 days old:




And here is the other girl doing what she loves best - being a Mommy!

Your paint is really gorgeous!

 

[Orps]

I think my chicks are getting lazy. I caught them piggy back riding on the hens.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote: I still say yours are spoiled rotten. Jaz and Minkie go up the ramp to go to sleep just fine... and Minkie likes to "fly" out of the coop in the morning!

Chicknmamma You say you have low grade hatchery chickens - those usually have poor crests and are not bearded. I mention this because if they are this way, that is why they are able to roost up higher, etc. Big crests and beards obscure vision - . If feathers are cut away from the eyes - silkies can see much better and are more athletic.

I have one low grade hatchery hen. I agree - when they can see - they can fly and roost. The other hen is not a hatchery hen, she has a decent poof and a beard, but she CAN see - and she was roosting too.

I think my chicks are getting lazy. I caught them piggy back riding on the hens.

My babies love doing that too - I call it "king of the hill". They don't stay on long when momma moves though.

 

[Sanna]

I have a question. Marbles is about 10 weeks right now. Her feathers have not grown in fully so she has great vision. She has a step stool to get up on the 18" perch and does it without a problem. Also there is no ramp into the coop. It is about a foot off the ground, maybe 10". She just hops right up. Is this going to change if her poof grows in big and fluffy? Also, she was squeezing into the one nest box that all 6 of them cram themselves into each night, usually on the bottom. But the last few nights she was just outside of the nest box on the perch (as close as she can get to the girls, still touching them) Is this because she smartened up and realized she doesn't like being squished? I really don't know how they are all getting in there and why they would want to! When I check on them at night, they are all panting!
So my ? is, is Marbles eventually going to be stuck alone on the floor when she grows up?

I filled the bottom of my coop with just four bags. They were 50lb bags at $5. If your filling the pens, you may need more. What about the CT river? You are close to that. If you can find a strong person to help you fill a tupperware bin maybe.

I wouldn't worry about Marbles so much. When her crest grows in, just keep an eye on her. If it looks like she can't seem to get in the coop because she can't see, build them a ramp so she can just walk up. Make sure it's a wide one. I hear some silkies have a hard time figuring out the ramps if they're narrow, because they can't see well. My silkies have never had a ramp so I have no personal experience with this. Just what I've read.

Hopefully Marbles just got smart and decided she didn't want to get squished in the nesting box and that's why she's sitting up on the perch. You plan on getting more silkies anyway, right? So I wouldn't worry about her being left alone on the floor. Silkies like to pile up together.

For the sand. I guess I could take a trip to the CT river. And I have a strong person right in my own house, my boyfriend. He does tree work. But getting him to do anything extra, most of the time, is like pulling hair. He's sooo dramatic!

I'm still going to look here on the farm to see what we have. I've only been trying to make it out back since last night but I just can't seem to make it that far.

I think I'll run out there after lunch before anyone catches me for something else.

And here is the other girl doing what she loves best - being a Mommy!

Love those broodies and their babies!

I DON'T love them when they're going broody when they're not supposed to....which is most of the time around here.

I have an EE cross chick that looks like this.

Hope you can find your sand. You will love it! I use river sand. Fine sand is terrible. It sticks to everything.

Yeah, I'd really like to put some sand in one of my pens. My plan was to start with the Cochins and then the Silkies. Cochins live on a dirt patch, the Silkies have some old woodchips that were dumped on the dirt. Not sure who came up with the wood chip idea.

I don't think it was the best idea. lol Only good thing about the chips is that it doesn't get very muddy

That's it!!! I'm going out back to see what kind of dirt piles we have back there! Then I'll just have to lug wheelbarrows on my day off.

 

[GertrudeLover01]

She looks like a very sweet Blue Silkie, congratulations!

Thank you! I found two sweet young pullets that she just adores that will be her little friends to grow up with, finally. I got her in August and just now got her used to other chickens...I think she had been picked on and bullied in her old home. I'm so happy to give her a loving home!

 

[GertrudeLover01]

I think my chicks are getting lazy. I caught them piggy back riding on the hens.

That is adorable!!!

 

[GertrudeLover01]

She's a pretty girl! Great photos.

Thanks, i just took them with a little kodak digital camera, my big one's battery died one shot in

 

[Feathersprings]

I still say yours are spoiled rotten. Jaz and Minkie go up the ramp to go to sleep just fine... and Minkie likes to "fly" out of the coop in the morning!
I have one low grade hatchery hen. I agree - when they can see - they can fly and roost. The other hen is not a hatchery hen, she has a decent poof and a beard, but she CAN see - and she was roosting too.
My babies love doing that too - I call it "king of the hill". They don't stay on long when momma moves though.

Minkie and Jaz were ones that always would go in and out. Loved that. Even when I wanted them to go in early I would just call them ( and have a little scratch) and they would come running to the coop unlike some of the others

I have a couple girls and one of the young boys that will stand at the door and pace back and forth all day if I dont lift them out the door. Silly things! On one side of the coop it sits closer to the ground ( it sits in a little bit if a hill) Once i get the inside of the coop rearranged I think I might just put a door out that way for them . Icee never figured it out lol!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My coop is almost 6 ft off the ground, and my Silkies use the ramp (2 ramps actually), most of the time, most of them anyway

They have no problems mobbing the pop door in the morning and scooting on down the ramp. The hens go in and out to use the nest boxes. Where mine struggle is at night. They wont go in on their own, so I just put them in (don't have many so no big deal, it also gives me a chance to handle them and check them over everyday. Sure, I wish they'd do it on their own, but they're spoiled brats and make me tuck them in every night.