Silkie thread!

[Drew Dizzle]

She is getting mad

 

[CookFarms]

My 4 new silkies


Fluff


Bling-Bling My silkie roo that won best of breed and variety at the Sunshine Classic.(sorry about the bad pic)


Snow, My silkie hen that won best of variety in the sunshine classic




So, what are yall's thoughts?

 

[blipit007]

They all have characteristics. Dandy Lion used to look like a lady in the 80's then her tufts grew out just like a dandy lion. Casper was very quiet but very friendly so casper the friendly ghost. Truffle would try to steal chocolate thus truffle. Zathera watched the movie zathera with me it was her first film! Hot Pocket used to sleep in everyones pockets and she'd climb in them if she had the chance. and little baby Kathy she is the loudest most talkative baby ever so came forth Chatty Kathy.

Thats great that all your names have meanings. All mine are people I know. Except the silkies. (im talking present and future...) Marbles is the chicken from Seinfeld. I am coming up with names for the eggs that are being hatched out for me. Im a little bit over excited about this!

Check out the feet of one of my 5 week olds!

Sorry for the dirty feet though. These guys have been pretty much free range since day 1 because they are being raised by the breeder flock in their coop and they can fit through the chainlink fence and run merrily about in the yard all day. I am willing to bet on this chick being a cockerel. I actually want some cockerels, as I seem to hatch out only pullets, so I hope he is. He has a dirty face at the moment from eating overripe peaches, so I left it out

Good lord!

Quote:
Originally Posted by BY Chicken Lady


I use wood pellets that have been wet down so they break up into small wood pieces. I use the deep litter method so it's about 4" deep. My coop floor is 6' x 6' and it takes three bags, (@ $3 per bag) to fill it up. I only need to change it once or twice a year so that is pretty cheap. When I do change it, it all goes into my compost bins. I don't have any smell no matter how much the chickens poop in there. I turn it maybe evert week if needed (mainly just under roosts) and the chickens do most of the turning themselves scratching around in there.

I am setting up my brooders the same way, covered in paper towels the first few days till the chicks understand what is food and what isn't, then just the deep litter afterwards. This will keep their smells under control since they will be in my house until they are old enough to go outside.


Great blog! How many chickens do you have in your 6x6 coop? I have a 4x6 coop with 2 nesting boxes hanging off the outside of the building (so not part of the 4x6") and have 5 LF and 1 silkie. I am getting eggs and hopefully will have 3 new silkie chicks in a month! Will this coop be big enough or will I have to re-home 2 of my LF?

Reply to
Blipit007

I have 9 chickens in this coop plus a large enclosed run. I have added a small brooder pin inside the run for my new babies until they can go in general population. I recently added 40 sq feet of Chunnel into the garden area next to the run.

I just hatched a new baby this morning in my incubator. Four more waiting to hatch any moment. 18 silkie eggs in my other incubator, plus three eggs from my own chickens. We plan to add on to tis run and build a second coop for my silkies. I think I am addicted to chickens!!

You might be right near the limit, but if you have a nice size run to go with it, it might work. Overcrowding can cause grumpy chickens.

My run is not the biggest, but they get out to free range for a few hours each day, supervised. Some days more then others. Today they had about 4 hours out, where yesterday they were out for probably 8.

Here it is

Following your story had me up in nerves. I have no nails left. I am so sorry you lost her after all you have done. Just think of it as a learning experience. Hopefully Mumsy will get stronger!

Judy The Broody called her four chicks out of the nest to feed them scrambled egg this morning.


MIss Posey hatched two out yesterday and one this morning. This is her first time successfully brooding. She is a pullet I hatched from Sheryl Butler eggs. Miss Posey setting in a flower pot seems fitting.


Eleven in a brooder in the house and seven so far by broody in the barn. One more broody left to hatch out her clutch. Miss Bonney, my Catdance hen. She has tried twice before and failed. Here's hoping.

Good luck!

You can make you own electrolyte...

2 cups water
2 Tablespoons Molasses or Honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix till dissolved, refrigerate the extra not being used.

Save you a trip to town.

So sorry about the baby chick. I hope little Mumsy gets nice and strong.

Ok this may sound silly to some of you. What do you mean Wood Pellets? Around here when someone refers to wood pellets that would be what is used in a heating stove for your house. Last time I was looking at alternative heating those bags were more like 10 dollars a bag. Unless it's a price difference due to location I was wondering if you mean what we here just call wood chips or sometimes mulch. That is about 3 dollars a bag around here. My large coop is 6x10 and we are getting ready to build another coop starting today. The new coop will be about 4x8 and for silkies only. I am currently using straw in the large coop with 10 large birds and don't have problems yet. But this is my first year with chickens so it is fresh new coop.

In her origonal post, I think she posted a link to her blog demonstrating what she does. Very interesting. But I think she does use Wood stove pellets.

So do mine. I don't think I would like pine sap on my bird's feathers - it won't ever come off.

Let us know how your venture goes with that stuff, ok?

So I heard about the pine needles when I first was looking into what to use in my nesting box. I have them everywhere where I live, so I set out with an empty box and filled it up. I used them for the first month until I ran out of them. Then I switched to pine shavings. I did not have any sap on any of the birds, but that doesn't mean it wont happen, (I only had them for a month) They did pile up in one box during that time too since they were still small, so a lot of squishing was going on. I found that they were easier to clean poo out of each morning then the shavings are. I will go back to them soon. Just keep forgetting until I am cleaning the next day...

 

[ChickNmamma]

SERIOUS SNIP!
Quote: What kind of pine trees do you have? I have bull pine in my back yard - so this could be a possible source of nesting material when I run out of grass clippings. I get tired of cleaning up the pine shavings that they fling everywhere when digging their nesting spots! The only concern may be because bull pine have more sap... their widow-makers (heavy pointy pine cones) are covered in sticky sap when they come booming out of the trees.

 

[RockerHen]

What kind of pine trees do you have? I have bull pine in my back yard - so this could be a possible source of nesting material when I run out of grass clippings. I get tired of cleaning up the pine shavings that they fling everywhere when digging their nesting spots! The only concern may be because bull pine have more sap... their widow-makers (heavy pointy pine cones) are covered in sticky sap when they come booming out of the trees.

We mostly have loblolly pine trees around here (there are hundreds of acres of them around us owned by a paper company). I occasionally use their needles in my LF layer nest boxes and for the coop floor when I run out of shavings. I haven't noticed any sap on my birds or eggs. I prefer shavings (they smell and look better to me) but needles are pretty good too. I don't have any complaints about them. I haven't used them for silkies yet, however.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Mud washes off; sap is likely to be more permanent.

 

[Suzierd]

Blipit007 you can imagine how nerve racking its been here! Now I have another egg started to pip just looks like a little chip out of it noticed it at noon today and its 8:00 and NO CHANGE! Oh no! Not again. Please little chick come out on your own! What to do? I'm scared I'll screw up again and do the wrong thing. I guess I'll leave it till tomorrow at noon then I don't know, I would think its time to help. Oh mercy.
Mumsy is doing well still hobbling around on her hurt leg. She needs a friend, please hatch little Faith. I've decided to name this new egg faith. I can hear her peeping in there why did she stop piping?

 

[blipit007]

What kind of pine trees do you have? I have bull pine in my back yard - so this could be a possible source of nesting material when I run out of grass clippings. I get tired of cleaning up the pine shavings that they fling everywhere when digging their nesting spots! The only concern may be because bull pine have more sap... their widow-makers (heavy pointy pine cones) are covered in sticky sap when they come booming out of the trees.

In my area, we have Eastern White Pine, and Pitch pine. And fairly close, but not in my county, there is Red Pine. But the needles I used were more then likely from one of the first two. They were long needled. I get them at the beautiful Hammonasset State Park that is a mile from my house. I walk or skateboard with my dog there every day.

 

[PaintedFeathers]

My silkie pair has adopted my new WC black polish pullet =) She's 4 weeks old. Everyone else was picking on her but the silkies are being very nice. So the three are penned up alone until she is bigger.

 

[RockerHen]

My silkie pair has adopted my new WC black polish pullet =) She's 4 weeks old. Everyone else was picking on her but the silkies are being very nice. So the three are penned up alone until she is bigger.

Polish and silkies always seem to get along very well

Good thing 'polkies' are pretty cute.


Glad your pair adopted the little pullet. That's why I love silkies, their personalities are so sweet and gentle. And the fact that they're adorable balls of fluff.