Silkie thread!

[kabhyper1]

This winter sucks! My silkies had beard lice and will probably lose their beards, now I have one on Tylan for respiratory issues and the exposed flock on Duramycin because they are sneezing. I brought one of my Wyandotte girls in because she had poo all over her fluff only to find nits on her too. Then I went outside to find the only sand not frozen solid in the silkie coop for the flocks to dust bathe in, only to discover our gates are all frozen solid to the ground. After much digging out I was able to pry the coop run door open, get a bucket of sand for the house silkies ( they have been in here for a month) and do it all over again to get sand for the big flock in the barn. OMG first winter with chickens is weraing me out!

 

[Fancychooklady]

This winter sucks! My silkies had beard lice and will probably lose their beards, now I have one on Tylan for respiratory issues and the exposed flock on Duramycin because they are sneezing. I brought one of my Wyandotte girls in because she had poo all over her fluff only to find nits on her too. Then I went outside to find the only sand not frozen solid in the silkie coop for the flocks to dust bathe in, only to discover our gates are all frozen solid to the ground. After much digging out I was able to pry the coop run door open, get a bucket of sand for the house silkies ( they have been in here for a month) and do it all over again to get sand for the big flock in the barn. OMG first winter with chickens is weraing me out!

Sounds miserable. Don't forget to add some wood ash from the fire to the sand. Won't rid them of lice, but it will prevent them returning.

 

[Lacey1988]

Picked this little guy up today. The woman gave him to me because he was too aggressive(which truthfully he is) but *shrugs* I don't have any little kids and I've dealt with aggressive roosters before. His name is Incy and he only weighs two to three pounds. I paired him with my white crested polish hen.

 

[388chick]

Picked this little guy up today. The woman gave him to me because he was too aggressive(which truthfully he is) but *shrugs* I don't have any little kids and I've dealt with aggressive roosters before. His name is Incy and he only weighs two to three pounds. I paired him with my white crested polish hen.

He's cute!! Great name!! :>

 

[Lacey1988]

He's cute!! Great name!! :>

Thank you! He's a tiny terror that one.

 

[Sylvester017]

Picked this little guy up today. The woman gave him to me because he was too aggressive(which truthfully he is) but *shrugs* I don't have any little kids and I've dealt with aggressive roosters before. His name is Incy and he only weighs two to three pounds. I paired him with my white crested polish hen.

To Lacey: He is so cute. Is he a Partridge? I miss my Partridge roo who got gifted to me as a "pullet" & had to give him back when he started his incessant crowing but he was such a love! Our boy was an outgoing personality but would never classify him as aggressive. What does Incy do that makes him a "terror"? Has it been safe to put him w/ a gentle Polish hen? Just wondering - Smiles

 

[Urchin]

In the absence of lice and or mites I would up their protein. The only other thing I can think of that retards feathers coming in is worming them when in a moult. I give mine boiled pasta with egg and sardines once a week. Seems to help .

After reading the symptoms and inspecting the silkie hens and a few random LF ones, I don't think anyone has lice or mites. They're pretty happy, healthy, albeit cold, chickens who are laying in overdrive even though it's colder than Alaska out there. The coop has yet to get under twenty degrees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that continues. My oldest daughter and I are both seriously sick with the flu, but as soon as I can get up and around, I'll start pulling my silkie hens out once a week and feeding them protein-rich foods. Ella the house chicken is getting chick starter since she did hatch out two silkie eggs, so maybe that's why she's bounced back so nicely compared to the other two.

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

After reading the symptoms and inspecting the silkie hens and a few random LF ones, I don't think anyone has lice or mites. They're pretty happy, healthy, albeit cold, chickens who are laying in overdrive even though it's colder than Alaska out there. The coop has yet to get under twenty degrees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that continues. My oldest daughter and I are both seriously sick with the flu, but as soon as I can get up and around, I'll start pulling my silkie hens out once a week and feeding them protein-rich foods. Ella the house chicken is getting chick starter since she did hatch out two silkie eggs, so maybe that's why she's bounced back so nicely compared to the other two.

I got mine "Nutrena Feather Fixer", but they don't like it. Which is a bummer because my lost weight along with their feather loss. A LOT of weight.

 

[Urchin]

Oops, double post. My computer crashed while I was writing.

 

[Urchin]

Hello. You asked if these birds can be called Silkies yet.Your cute birds definitely have recognizable Silkie features - 5 toes, turquoise earlobes, black skin coloring, facial expression of "Silkies" - except for the FEATHERING. Must be just me but I don't see enough fluffy silky feathering to call these pics "Silkie" yet and my Silkies all have SOLID black eyes - perhaps a single bird photo in better lighting would be helpful to see if your feathering is fluffy. The only time my Silkies don't look silken fluffy is if they are drenched in rain but your photos appear like normal chicken feathers rather than the poofy fluff of Silkie feathering. I believe Silkie tails should be a round ball of fluff unlike the pointed tail feathers that most other breeds possess. Also, in the USA I'm accustomed to the bearded Silkies and it's hard for me to find the non-bearded as show pretty even though both varieties are accepted. Very pretty coloring on your birds - Smiles

Silkies can also have dark brown eyes. Mine have eyes a dark enough shade of brown that unless you're right up next to them and they're in bright light, they look black. I have a buff who's eyes are more amber, which would probably be points off or disqualify him in the show ring, but he's my daughter's pet, so imperfections don't matter.

I dont know the genetics of your birds, but here's the general genetics of silkied feathers -- Silkied feathers are recessive genes. The bird needs two of them to express the typical silkie plumage. So, first generation birds from a hard-feather/silkied feather cross is going to have hard feathers, but carry a hidden gene for silkied feathers. If you breed these first generation birds back to a purebred silkie, there's a 50% chance a chick will end up with silkied feathers and a 50% chance of having hard feathers. If you breed two first generation birds together, then there's a 25% chance you'll get a chick who expresses silkie feathers, a 50% chance they'll be carriers for the silkie gene and a 25% chance they'll have nothing but hard-feather genes. Any more than that, I don't know. That's just what my thirteen-year-old told me from his research. We had a hen whom we gave mystery eggs to to incubate. We knew the biological mother was a silkie, but didn't know if the father was one of the silkie roosters or the bantam cochin rooster. Our babies are purebred silkies, but silkie/cochin mixes would have been cute, too.

I don't know anything about how you get black skin, the right number of toes, turquoise earlobes or the right kind of comb. That while silkie on the left in the last two pictures doesn't look like he has the right kind of comb for a silkie. He probably wouldn't be a good choice for breeding purposes.