Silkie thread!

[masked rider]

I agree... Here is a pic of a silkie hen with 19 Basque hen chicks she fostered for me. Yep, you read that right, 19. She did a great job!!!

I think they only thing you have to worry about is coop access. I have not general built my "large" breed coops with silkie fowl in mind. So, make sure they can get up on the perches and in the next boxes since they don't fly and sometimes have a hard time seeing because of huge crests.

 

[Suzierd]

A partridge girl should have a lot of penciling showing on her wings (earliest place t see it); boys' colour comes in first on back and shoulders.  But some partridge develop their markings much later than others.

I have a little two week old partridge chick that has the penciled feathering coming in on the wings the back is still just the black baby strips, does that mean its a girl?

 

[chickenkeeper12]

My large fowl get on quite well with my silkies, that could be because they think they are their mommas.

These Wyandotte are 9 weeks old, won't be long before they are bigger than their silkie surrogate .

I had silkies in with them but after a while they started to get picked on a lot so I separated them.

 

[masked rider]

I wondered about them in winter, too, but I've read that as long as they stay dry they'll be fine in the winter. We've gotten down into single digits already and my silkies are just going about their business. This is their first winter and they've figured out that when it's windy or snowy, being inside the coop is best. The breed does originate from the Himalayan part of China.

We have had nights down in the middle 20s here. As long as you keep them dry and they have a place to stay dry and out of the wind, they should thrive with the cold. Matter of fact, I worry more about my birds in July and Aug when it is over 100 for 6 to 8 hours and humidity is high.

I have one hen with 9 chicks. Sunday morning is was below freezing and they were all out walking around eating as soon as the sun hit the coop. I kind of laughed to myself because if I brood them I get the temp in the brooder just right and watch it like a hawk. I would never dream of exposing the chicks to 30 or less, yet there they all were (week old chicks) looked like little eskimo in furs scratching with Mama. Happy as larks.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Okay, we got a few pics of her wings. It was pretty comical trying to hold her and take a picture. I'm not sure if these are much better. lol

I have never used this to sex the chicks because I didn't know about it - but I see some penciling on those wing feathers. Can you see it too? It looks like dark lines across the brown. Unfortunately if I remember correctly Goggles had penciling on his wings, and all over his body as a chick too - but I suspect his genetics are slightly different than most Partridge Silkies. He STILL has Partridge markings - and he is almost 6 months old.

Quote: I think those feathered feet make great snowshoes - and so did my Silkies this spring when it snowed here. Today it rained and they looked like wet rags on their heads - but I could see their underfluff was dry. My other birds aren't as smart - and are much wetter.

And yes, watching what the chicks can survive (and thrive with) with a momma hen is amazing when you consider what the instructions are for brooding chicks yourself. I prefer the broody hen way, less work, healthier chicks, no power outages....

 

[masked rider]

I have never used this to sex the chicks because I didn't know about it - but I see some penciling on those wing feathers. Can you see it too? It looks like dark lines across the brown. Unfortunately if I remember correctly Goggles had penciling on his wings, and all over his body as a chick too - but I suspect his genetics are slightly different than most Partridge Silkies. He STILL has Partridge markings - and he is almost 6 months old.

I think those feathered feet make great snowshoes - and so did my Silkies this spring when it snowed here. Today it rained and they looked like wet rags on their heads - but I could see their underfluff was dry. My other birds aren't as smart - and are much wetter.

And yes, watching what the chicks can survive (and thrive with) with a momma hen is amazing when you consider what the instructions are for brooding chicks yourself. I prefer the broody hen way, less work, healthier chicks, no power outages....

If I have a broody to foster chicks too, I do it every time! Matter of fact, that is how we got into the silkie fowl to start with because I got sick of tending to, checking on, and doctoring chicks. I generally hatch 90 to 95% of the eggs in the bator. Give the little silkie hen a egg, or three at lock down. She will nearly always hatch two and most of the time all three. Then slip the bator hatched birds in with her. Heck, with silkie hens you really don't even have to be sneaky about it. I have moved chicks in the middle of the day and just start piling them in with her. I have never had one not take the chicks. It is very rare you lose a chick with a mama hen, unless some kind of accident or predator. I was removing the silkie roo, but I just leave them in there now. They will protect the chicks and the hen. A lot of the time they will be between me the clutch when I feed or water.

yep, you really have to wonder if we make it a lot harder than it should be with the incubation and brooder box. I have seen hens get off the next on day 18 and have a day at the spa, be off for a while, get a full meal, dust bath, walk around the block, chit chat with the ladies, and get back on and hatch 100%. We do lock down, don't open the bator no matter what and humidity has to be X and never above Y and no lower than Z and watch the TEMP! Kind of crazy really... makes you go hmmmm..

 

[Urchin]

I heard peeping out in the mudroom and went to investigate. One egg is peeping and rocking, the other looked like this:



It kept chipping away at the eggshell and peeping while I was holding it. I'll be going back in the mudroom and listening every so often. Too bad hens aren't see-through. I'd like to watch this little guy's progress.

 

[kabhyper1]

I have never used this to sex the chicks because I didn't know about it - but I see some penciling on those wing feathers. Can you see it too? It looks like dark lines across the brown. Unfortunately if I remember correctly Goggles had penciling on his wings, and all over his body as a chick too - but I suspect his genetics are slightly different than most Partridge Silkies. He STILL has Partridge markings - and he is almost 6 months old.

Well I am hoping for a girl, but if it is a cute a Goggles, I'll take a boy . I just have feelings about them all. Chance was a boy in my head since hatch, even when I was hobbling his little legs with band aids, and now when I sprinkle feed in the brooder, (they love that) he tidbits and makes a ruckus for the others to come eat. So I think boy. With Henley, the partridge, I have always leaned girl. So we will see. The others all have ways about them that say boy and girl, but not as much as those two. They all have visible combs, but the white hens they came from do too. Not big combs, just more pronounced. You can kinda see it in this pic of Luna. I had her crest pinned up.

 

[Urchin]

We have a cute little silvery grey chick! No pictures yet because I just got a glance at it and I don't want to anger Ella.

 

[Suzierd]

We have a cute little silvery grey chick!  No pictures yet because I just got a glance at it and I don't want to anger Ella. 

Congrats! :yiipchick