Silkie thread!

[DeannaA]

My daughter is getting ready for a show and we added too much bluing to the water!
Any hope of getting it out?
I would love your successful tips.
Thanks!

Picture? Is it bad to ask? I'd like to see a blue chicken. I bet it's cute. Like a fuzzy smurf. Would stripping shampoo hurt the chicken?

 

[minihorse927]

Picture?  Is it bad to ask?  I'd like to see a blue chicken.  I bet it's cute.  Like a fuzzy smurf.  Would stripping shampoo hurt the chicken?

X2 on pics. I'm wondering if stripping shampoo might burn it's skin? I know I've turned tails purple with whitening shampoo in the horses and we just wash and rewash multiple times and it goes away. I dont know how much you can rewash without feather damage though.

 

[Suzierd]

So for those of you who don't know, Icelynn hasn't been doing well. She has had an egg stuck inside her for over a week. At first we all(including my vet) thought it was eggbinding, but no matter what we did it just would not come out. After talking to Peter Brown we came to the conclusion she was most likely an "internal layer" and the egg is actually inside her abdominal cavity just floating around. I attempted a surgical procedure myself, making a small incision (1/2 inch) to see if I could see the egg. But it was deeper than it felt and I saw more membrane than I was comfortable cutting into so I just sewed her back up. Peter and I decided to try to get her to stop laying eggs so she's been off food and water for 24 hours. Just came home today to find she layed a "rubber" egg =) So that means she CAN still pass eggs, but i'm still going to try to keep her from laying to give her a much needed break. The egg inside her body cavity might be re-absorbed, but most likely will be walled off and remain there forever. She should be able to live with it. Unfortunately if it doesn't re-absorb I will never be able to show her =/

Its very brave of you to do a surgery I hope it didn't hurt to much for her poor girl. Wishing the best for her she's one of my favorites on BYC.

 

[SymanSaysFarms]

Calcium is only needed once the girls start laying. Medicated starter feed is fine when they are small. Just don't switch to layer pellets when they get older - they need more protein - and less calcium.

I think they are supposed to start around 6-7 months. Your 11 month old may just be a slow starter. Are you SURE its a girl? That seems an awfully long time - unless they are hiding them somewhere.

I have put babies in with the bigger ones - but not until the babies were 3 weeks old. Your Silkies are still in your brooder? I would put them together and see what they do. If they make a warning noise or attack the babies then put the babies in a separate area. Who knows - it might trigger the mommy button... My rooster likes three of the chicks - but he picks on the 4th one. Some boys will also "mother" babies. You just have to try it and see - but stick around because they will tell you yes or no in the first few minutes.

No, the silkies aren't really in a brooder but rather in what we call the "baby" pen within our large coop. All their other hatchmates (not silkies) moved into the layer pen with our big girls this past weekend. When we integrated our 20 weekers with the big girls things went well except the rooster silkie was getting picked on too much and not defending himself or running away from the bigger girls/boys. He would coward in the corner and just take the pecking. So we decided to keep him and his 2 girls in the baby pen and separate from the larger standard size chickens. Thanks for the advice! I will try the new chicks in with the silkies and definitely keep a close eye on them.

 

[JenS9]

I start putting my hand in under them, palm facing up and picking them up . It helps if you hold them in this manner in the weeks leading up to the show. Once your birds are acustomed to be held this way, they won't flap around when being held and inspected by the judge.

Good to know! Any other tips?

 

[JenS9]

And we're off!

 

[sheeshshe]

My Riverside Silkie chicks are 3 months old now. My rooster was just mating with one. Do you think it is merely a dominance thing, or do you think he knows who is female and who is not? My one hen is separated because there's something wrong with her leg, and the other one is sitting on eggs now. So he has nobody to mate with besides those chicks! well, and when my hen comes off the eggs

 

[DeannaA]

And we're off!

My Riverside Silkie chicks are 3 months old now. My rooster was just mating with one. Do you think it is merely a dominance thing, or do you think he knows who is female and who is not? My one hen is separated because there's something wrong with her leg, and the other one is sitting on eggs now. So he has nobody to mate with besides those chicks! well, and when my hen comes off the eggs

Which Riverside?

 

[TiaRC]

Same pullet, just very wet and very upset. Lol

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

So for those of you who don't know, Icelynn hasn't been doing well. She has had an egg stuck inside her for over a week. At first we all(including my vet) thought it was eggbinding, but no matter what we did it just would not come out. After talking to Peter Brown we came to the conclusion she was most likely an "internal layer" and the egg is actually inside her abdominal cavity just floating around. I attempted a surgical procedure myself, making a small incision (1/2 inch) to see if I could see egg. But it was deeper than it felt and I saw more membrane than I was comfortable cutting into so I just sewed her back up. Peter and I decided to try to get her to stop laying eggs so she's been off food and water for 24 hours. Just came home today to find she layed a "rubber" egg =) So that means she CAN still pass eggs, but i'm still going to try to keep her from laying to give her a much needed break. The egg inside her body cavity might be re-absorbed, but most likely will be walled off and remain there forever. She should be able to live with it. Unfortunately if it doesn't re-absorb I will never be able to show her =/

So glad she's better

Pam