Silkie thread!

[cityslickers]

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I can definitely relate..... Kaylie will be 6 weeks old on thursday. She has a nightly ritual of throwing a temper tantrum from about 8pm til midnight at least. She doesn't sleep for more than 2-3 hours at once yet. My birds and horses are the only thing keeping me sane right now. I am cleared to go back to work this weekend from maternity leave and can't wait to get out of the house. This whole week has been spent taking advantage of the only free time for a while. All the bird pens and brooders got stripped and thoroughly cleaned. Birds bathed, getting a bit of riding horse in when the weather cooperates, and massive spring cleaning in the house too.

As long as I had the camera out tonight, I snapped pics of the rugrat too.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d196/destiny_56085/100_0659.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d196/destiny_56085/100_0664.jpg

What a lil sweetie!!!! And look at all that beautiful hair

 

[LeasureChix]

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No. Aks 10 people and you get AT LEAST 15, if not 20 variations. Some of my birds are on shavings; others have wire floors; some have a choice or either/or; some are on sand/dirt. Coop sides vary from wire to screen to wood; most of my coops have at least two kinds of siding. For what it is worth, the ones whose foot feathers stay the nicest are the ones on pure dirt (well, there were shavings added a couple of years ago, but not much left as "shavings"). However, they are in a HUGE horse stall (15'x30'). Hay occasionally drifts over the "wall" to litter their "floor."

It also depends on the individual pens. Certain birds are crest dippers and always look like crap, some of the boys are super rough and all their girls will never be in condition, some colors can't be in direct sunlight or they bleach.....

I give my babies plenty of room in the growout pens. I pull the cockerels to a separate bachelor pen as soon as I can tell sex. On the adults, all my pens are separated by color. When the incubators are off, I separate the males out of the pens to give the poor girls a rest. Good nutrition, don't overcrowd your pens, and keep things clean..... After chores are done, take the time to just watch and get your hands on the birds too. You can catch problems before they get out of hand. Some like wire cages, some like huge outdoor pens, some only like tiny breeder cages big enough for a pair of birds. Some people only clean their pens twice a year and some are in there daily. Some people never medicate their birds and others overdo it. Its not rocket science... You just have to find what works for you.

I have to say, your daughter is beautiful, thank you for posting the pictures. I understand the boys going to the bachelor pen. Do they stay there until you give them some girls that are old enough and/or laying? My current dilema is that I have so few birds that my bachelor pen would be just 1 lonely cockerel. His future g/f is currently housed with another pullet so it's a matter of who gets left out in the cold, alone. Or, I could put the 3 together and pull the white girl once they start laying (as the others are partridge and won't be in the same breeding pen). I could put the partridge pair together and try the white pullet with my 5 juvies, or my older white pair that is laying. When I was raising dogs and cats, it seemed simpler. My goats and horses too. I think I'm being a bit over protective and I don't want to do the wrong thing (I'm sure I'll make my share of mistakes).

I really appreciate this thread.

Thank you,
Julie

 

[Gordonhillfarm]

With all that hair and those big brite eyes she looks older then 6 weeks

Have you tried camomile tea when she gets fussy ? I know people that have given it to colic babies with great success . ( Just make it like you would a cup of tea for your self ( no sugar or milk of course ) and give it to her in a bottle . She'll grow out of it . Your very blessed to have such a beautiful healthy baby . ~~~ Tammy

 

[19hhbelgian]

This is my new girl. She's supposed to be a blue partridge, but not very "partridgey". Over time, I'm going to be trying a couple different breeding ideas with her. I have a roo that needs improvement on his crest, but I love his color, so I'm hoping she will be of assistance in that department

Anybody want to offer ideas on how I should use her?

I'm so sorry this pic is sideways, but it's a decent profile... It's normal before I upload it to BYC, so

This pics isn't any good for anything other than cute

 

[destiny_56085]

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I have tried the Mylicon gas relief infant drops. Haven't tried the tea... She just gets to the point that she's too tired to be sociable and yet too nosy to close her eyes yet either.

 

[destiny_56085]

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She looks almost like a blue that has been out in the sun ALOT and needs a good molt. I don't see any penciling on her feathers to indicate partridge at all.

 

[19hhbelgian]

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She looks almost like a blue that has been out in the sun ALOT and needs a good molt. I don't see any penciling on her feathers to indicate partridge at all.

Yeah, That's what I thought. There's really nothing there to indicate partridge. I have to look really close to see any color other than blue (which isn't bad). The pic of her inside shows some brown in her neck, which isn't actually there - the camera was doing it's photography tricks again

She is young, not even laying yet, so we shall see what the future holds

 

[destiny_56085]

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The boys head to the bachelor pen right away for a couple reasons. The girls stay in condition.... No rough young cockerels testing out their mating skills. If the weather is decent, I can throw 3 week old babies right in with 6-8 month old pullets (and anything in between) and they all get along. If you pull the males before they really realize they have testosterone, they all get along too and hardly any scuffles. I can pull boys to sell or add younger ones periodically too. They pretty much stay in condition for showing too then. I think the most important factor is that they have no girls to fight over.

Ex... these are all cockerel pens. They all look in pretty decent condition yet.

 

[Teresaann24]

I need my silkie people for advice....My big crested girl was spooked by wither the dog or cat lastnight and jumped and hit her head in her pen. She is now not walking and is just sitting there with her head a bit wobbly she is eating and drinking. I have put her by herself with her food and water infrount of her. I talked to my Vet who said he would like to give her steriods but other BYC members told me it wouldn't be a good Ideal. What can I do to save this beautiful girl?

 

[kasey08]

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Aww I'm so sorry. Hope she gets better!