Silkie thread!

[388chick]

Yup!

My bearded silkies sleep low on a pile of hay on top of a pallet. My non bearded walk up a leader and get on roost it in a giant nesting box to sleep. They use a covered cat box that dits on ground to lay in.

yup! My silkie roosts up high with the big girls and jumps up into the nest boxes to lay her eggs...my frizzles are the ones who snuggle on the floor.

 

[kabhyper1]

My silkies must be lazy. They have been in a 1.5 foot tall giant box for a month and have had no interest in escaping. They are pile sleepers. They have a roost bar in there, but they just use it to sit during the day and sleep on each other at night.

 

[Lacey1988]

Another picture of my boy Incy, not the prettiest roo but smh he makes up for it in personality.

 

[Sylvester017]

I can understand that, I have plenty of room for my big hens, but they like the boxes

....lol.

I am going to be putting my 5 month old silkies into the big coop soon, my nesting boxes are about a foot and a half from the ground, will my silkies be able to get to the boxes? I know they can't go very high from what I've been told. Any help would be very helpful!

I don't like my Silkies jumping the 18" to the platform in front of the nestboxes (Silkie thread Post #43184) but our ramp collapsed & they did fine w/o it. We put up a new ramp & they still insisted jumping up or jumping down. Occasionally a Silkie will sit on the ramp to groom herself but still jump off of it. Go figure? These chickens have minds of their own how they get around or where they sleep but as I say "If they're happy so am I !" Silkies can't fly but they sure have strong legs & can surprise u w/ their acrobatic leaps! I worry about it but can't stop them from doing what they choose. One Silkie got so started by a loud noise she leaped about 4' straight up into the air. Whoever says these little buggers are delicate haven't seen my bunch in action!

 

[SilkieMom8875]

 THank you! I wasn't really sure on that one. I always hear they couldn't go high, but didn't know what they could do, this is my first winter with chickens, so I'm still learning!

This is my first winter with chickens too!!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Nice set up Sylvester017. I have a huge 12X20 building that used to house my horse trailer. Someday it will be remodeled for my silkies. Its such a nice location being under huge oak trees with an adjacent 2 acre pasture that will be fenced for them. And covered (we have lots of hawks). I have 2.5 years till retirement and then I'm going to hatch some of my own eggs. I am fanatic about them having plenty of room first tho.
Love your nest boxes. I love the round holes for the nests too. They are so cute. Mine also love curtains on the fronts of the nest boxes. I think they really believe I will never find their eggs if they squeeze thru those curtains lol.
Going to add some PDZ and stir my shavings more, especially where they pile to sleep. I think thats where the smell is concentrated. Its not bad I just dont want any smell except shavings

Thanks for all your info. Appreciate it

Thanx DDNONIN2016 - the setup works 4 our 4 girls of 2 Silkies & 2 LF. We came from 25 acres w/ a city lot sized poultry enclosure & moved down to a 60x90' city house so now 4 hens is all we can manage. Moving to the city & retired I still need a LITTLE farm around me. The coop is perfect for our small backyard & always feel comfortable the girls are protected in their cubby holes no matter the weather. The boxes are very tall to allow both heat or moisture to rise/circulate. We left the floor in dirt so during rain the girls still have a place to dust but my DH is good about raking it up daily & changing the nestbox straw. Nothing is more disgusting than getting the mild whiff of chicken smells so we are mindful of it. It's an easy chore w/ only 4 hens. In dry So CA we don't have a moisture problem to need litter. We're setting up a yard box w/ sand-dirt as a dust bath but these girls are independent & we think they'll still continue digging holes to China in the yard LOL ! The curtain over large nestbox entrances is an excellent solution. Even just 1/2 a curtain from above is effective. It's the dark & the privacy they like. We setup a large plastic doghouse (w/ straw) in the yard but in 3 years only found 1 egg in it because the open coop door came unfastened & blew shut in a violent Santa Ana wind & the girls couldn't get to the nestboxes. Glad they had the alternative place to nest. I've seen Silkies dive into the box from circling hawks. As for feral or neighborhood felines (domestic cats) or Mourning Doves or wild birds we have an APA Ameraucana that charges them & chases them out of the yard. U GO GIRL ! Who needs a dog?

Because every chicken/breed is so different, we've provided an environment to suit the chickens' personalities & preferences rather than forcing them to our way of thinking. Like I said, w/ only 4 girls it's easier than dealing w/ a production farm flock. In the city we get occasional visits from Cooper's Hawks or circling Red-tails but our wary foragers know how to hide under our low-rise shelters. A floating mylar balloon frightens our girls more than the hawks. They know what to do about hawks but confused about bobbing city balloons! Smiles

 

[Sylvester017]

Another picture of my boy Incy, not the prettiest roo but smh he makes up for it in personality.

Oh please don't say he's not the prettiest! It's rare for an adult roo to have the round bonnet of the girls. He is all beautiful roo and he makes me MISS my Partridge boy!

 

[Sylvester017]

My silkies must be lazy. They have been in a 1.5 foot tall giant box for a month and have had no interest in escaping. They are pile sleepers. They have a roost bar in there, but they just use it to sit during the day and sleep on each other at night.

Must be cold 4 them to pile. As they get older they get more crabby or independent of each other & start spreading out. I have only 2 Silkies but their hormonal moods depend on how chummy they get w/ one another from week to week. They also behave differently as they are moved from one environment i.e the house pen or box, into different surroundings like a larger coop or pen.

 

[kabhyper1]

Must be cold 4 them to pile. As they get older they get more crabby or independent of each other & start spreading out. I have only 2 Silkies but their hormonal moods depend on how chummy they get w/ one another from week to week. They also behave differently as they are moved from one environment i.e the house pen or box, into different surroundings like a larger coop or pen.

Nope they are in the den in my house. They have been for a month. It's 73 degrees in there. I will put them back out in the spring. They were only supposed to be in the house for a week and it's been a month. Stupid winter. They range from 4 months to 2 years old. I think they are just lazy lol. Btw there are 12 of them. I also have a momma and her 5 chicks in the house. I need springtime. Like tomorrow.

 

[Sylvester017]

I use wood shavings for bedding for chicks, nests and in their house. The runs are just dirt. When it's not wet they will scratch till they make a hole then dust themselves. I sprinkle sevin dust in the hole so they can get rid of any bugs at the same time. In winter if they are shaking their heads or I see bugs I'll just sprinkle sevin dust on them and they will shake themselves and distribute it themselves. I will put down some DE on occassion in their dust bath holes too. When I had quail I would put a bowl with a little DE in it and they would have a blast dusting themselves in it. I would do that for the quail about once a week, but I don't have quail anymore. I've had issues with a few sick chickens this winter. One has been in the house for over a month because she first had a head cold then it went to her lungs and I had to take her to the vet. He gave her a shot of Bactrim with steroid and also Bactrim that I had to give her orally once a day. She is all better now but I'm afraid to put her back outside with it being so cold and she's been staying where it's warm. She may live inside till spring. I lost a couple of juveniles. I sent one for a necropsy and the results aren't in yet. The rest in that pen are doing fine though so I think I got what ever it was under control now.

I'm a little concerned that u used pesticide powder or DE so liberally for dust baths. Think maybe the respiratory thing going on w/ your sick chickens could be from either the DE or pesticide dusts? It's easy to conclude that a chest cold is the culprit but chickens know how to regulate temps around each other. I can't stress using organic OMRI Poultry Protector products as a primary preventative & save the stronger poisons only in emergency infestation control. One new pullet we got shipped to us had lice when we got her but organic Poultry Protector cleared her up in less than a week. I wouldn't use the pesticides or DE for routine use but then that's me. When we lived on our 25 acre-farm the chickens did fine in farm dirt baths w/o additives - my folks never had infestations of lice/mites & did routine health checks on geese, ducks, & hens. The only quail, squab, or pheasant we had were the one's Pop brought home from hunting - decades ago LOL.

I love that you have a vet. So many owners hesitate using their services but in the long run it is less costly than losing a whole flock. Try cutting down on DE & dust powders around your birds to see if it saves u future vet respiratory visits and if it does, let us know how it goes.

Let us know the necropsy results. It is not a cheap expense so please share when you find out. Wishing u absolutely the best w/ ur girls as we all love our chickens dearly!