Silkie thread!

[cuteubbi]

is there anyone who hatched eggs under silkie? i put 4 eggs under silkie but after 4 to 6 hours...she left her eggs and walking around though i heard silkie is one of the best mother...i put her nest under the cage where 2 silkie males and one silkie female living excpet her...in first hour, noone disturbig her and if anyother hen was going near to her, she was showing her aggression even when i try to go near to her she was trying to bite me
pls help abt it...can i hatch some eggs under a silkie or not?

 

[ChickNmamma]

Here's Tumor Head named by my supposedly adult son.

What color is he? He was bought from MacMurray Hatchery as a Buff purebred Silkie. He always had some white/cream on his back and chest. I think the last picture might show how light it is. Yes, I know--he is pretty hideous.

He and Mini Testicle Face survived a Dachshund attack with some pretty serious injuries so he was spared being culled to the freezer with the other Silkie cockerels. My son knows which buttons to push and keeps reminding me that he and Testicle Face are survivors which somehow endowes them with mystical qualities that make it impossible for anyone to kill them. Testicle Face, my all time favorite chicken, succumbed to his injuries. A fourth Silkie cockerel was really badly injured so without any guilt whatsoever I managed to process my first chicken ever. The dog somehow managed to avoid a one-way trip to the vet's.

Your boy is a Buff... a hatchery Pet Quality Buff. He looks like he has a good personality though.

is there anyone who hatched eggs under silkie? i put 4 eggs under silkie but after 4 to 6 hours...she left her eggs and walking around though i heard silkie is one of the best mother...i put her nest under the cage where 2 silkie males and one silkie female living excpet her...in first hour, noone disturbig her and if anyother hen was going near to her, she was showing her aggression even when i try to go near to her she was trying to bite me
pls help abt it...can i hatch some eggs under a silkie or not?

You can not put eggs under a chicken and expect them to hatch them. They need to decide on their own to go Broody - and your girl is not broody. Put about 6 golf balls in the nest and watch her. If she stays on the nest without leaving for 3 days then she is broody. Puffing up and biting you may just be she is protecting her laying area - it does not mean she is broody. Silkies are notorious for being broody - but it doesn't mean they will hatch eggs when they are not broody.

When she is broody you will know - she will stay on the nest all day AND night, perhaps come off once a day (or not) walk around clucking with all her feathers standing on end and looking like a huge puffball - she will either attack or defend herself from any other chicken - including the roosters, frantically pig out on food, drink water until it runs down her face, dustbathe like she is on fire - and go straight back to the nest, sometimes at a dead run. THAT is broody!

Oh, she may leave you a present too - the most noxious huge pile of super smelly poop you have ever seen - bigger than any egg she could have laid - and oh my.. wear a gas mask

 

[realsis]

I just wanted to share my new buff silkie. She is two months old and arrived this morning! her name is penny.

 

[jajeanpierre]

My little head trauma case is doing a lot better, up to 1.5 lb (600+ grams) and I think that is a good weight considering the normal size for adult silkies is 2 lbs and my 2 year old laying silkies was 700+ grams.

She STILL isn't eating on her own though, but I have her on a schedule and I know that if I get 6-8 syringes of food in her that she gains/maintains weight. Time will tell if she decides to eat on her own, but yesterday I couldn't feed her until 2pm and she still hadn't tried. Friday night she pecked at food but didn't eat it. She is starting to rake her beak, so that's something

She's making progress. Sometimes it seems that it is two steps forward, one step back. I know it seems slow, but she IS moving forward. She might not be too motivated because she isn't getting hungry. I wouldn't force her to be hungry--in baby parrots extreme hunger can shut down the feeding response. Just try offering her things you think she might peck at, things like live food or bright colored fresh food.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Your boy is a Buff... a hatchery Pet Quality Buff. He looks like he has a good personality though.

I think he has a really pretty eye. Not sure it is a nice Silkie eye, but it is a kind eye. I think you are being very kind to call him pet quality. Is Hatchery Pet Quality a poorer quality subset of just plain Pet Quality?

Is he a buff even with the white/cream on him? He does have a nice personality, which is why he is still around. Four of six hatchery Silkie cockerels were a downright nasty. Of the pullets, one will run over and peck me like a little rooster if I mess with any of the other pullets.

I have the two cockerels separate in a small pen. They are not a problem at all. I haven't built them a small coop for them, so bring them in the house at night and put them in a big tupperware container with hay. Other than the crowing, they are pleasant birds to have around, and the little frazzle Cochin has quite a lot of personality. Will they keep their pleasant natures if I put them with the pullets?

I have a few questions about your broody comments. One or more of my Silkie pullets seem to be broody. I think they still lay eggs, but am not sure. I thought a broody hen didn't lay eggs--can they be broody while continuing to lay eggs? When I pick her up out of the nest box, she stays in her spaced-out state all fluffed up and flattened on the ground. Sometimes she eats and drinks, other times I think she just runs back to the box. She's dropping weight. Will she get over this soon? I'm in South Central Texas, so get a lot more sunlight than some of you northerners.

 

[chickydee64]

I just wanted to share my new buff silkie. She is two months old and arrived this morning!

her name is penny.

A little beauty,...............

 

[chickydee64]

my new 1 week old silkies. blues and splash

 

[chickydee64]

My little head trauma case is doing a lot better, up to 1.5 lb (600+ grams) and I think that is a good weight considering the normal size for adult silkies is 2 lbs and my 2 year old laying silkies was 700+ grams.

She STILL isn't eating on her own though, but I have her on a schedule and I know that if I get 6-8 syringes of food in her that she gains/maintains weight. Time will tell if she decides to eat on her own, but yesterday I couldn't feed her until 2pm and she still hadn't tried. Friday night she pecked at food but didn't eat it. She is starting to rake her beak, so that's something

You are doing so great with her..................

 

[chickydee64]

I am having such a good time with these Silkie babies.............
They are amazing.............might have to give up my English Orpingtons............
They are changing much faster than I expected. ( The Silkies)
Will get pictures again later in the week........

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
Yeah, Hatchery Pet Quality is a lower subset of Pet Quality - all the way down to "I Think Its a Silkie.. maybe" And yes, he is still called a Buff even with that white/cream on him. His genetics are for a Buff, if missing a few genes that make the Buff a nice dark even color instead of patchy - and possibly with an added one for that gold neck.

I don't know about them staying nice if you put them in with the girls - they might think they need to protect the girls from you. Your mean pullet is taking the job of protector since there isn't a boy around to do that. Also - they will probably fight each other if there are girls - just until one is the top dog and one is the second in command.

Some birds can continue to lay eggs when they are broody. I had a Silkie cross that laid an egg every day her entire broody time, tricked me into thinking the non-broody bird was laying. I removed those unmarked eggs and hatched them and I found out they were hers - all the other birds were silkied feathers and I had half smooth feathered chicks and some 4 toed chicks from those eggs. Her last 5 eggs were infertile - which isn't that surprising when you consider she attacked the rooster when she was on her daily constitutional if he came near her - he never had a chance.

You might want to tempt your broody girl with some high-protein treats to get her health back up, if you haven't already. Scrambled eggs, mealworms, etc. If she doesn't have anything to hatch to break her out of the broody (i.e. chicks) she can get pretty skinny from not eating. If you are trying to break her be aware unless you make it uncomfortable to set she can take two months or longer to break. I always break mine by sticking them in with a bunch of boys and take away all the eggs - the boys pester her until she hides on the roost in self defense - and stops being broody.

I have one broody Silkie right now - and another is making the motions (walking around clucking, spending a lot of time on the nest after she laid an egg). I think sometimes it doesn't matter on the amount of sunlight with the Silkies - when they are triggered to brood off they go.