Silkie thread!

[shauntel92]

she is very pretty i just started raisin silkies last year ....

 

[kabhyper1]

The three so far, there are two more under her drying off, three more to hatch.

 

[shauntel92]

they are so cute!!!!!!

 

[Fancychooklady]

The three so far, there are two more under her drying off, three more to hatch.

 

[katzbantams]

she is very pretty i just started raisin silkies last year ....

Thank you! Silkies are a very friendly breed I find.

 

[shauntel92]

yes they are mine follow me everywere....

 

[katzbantams]

yes they are mine follow me everywere....

My hen Dixie is super friendly and she loves corn!

I find my polish and my cochin follow me more..

 

[chickiebaby1]

This is Miss Scarlett. Can anyone tell me how old she might be. I got her at an auction about 3 weeks ago. She lays almost everyday. I have her with her mate Rhett, and I was wondering if she looked old enough to have fertile eggs. I have been keeping them to put in the incubator this weekend. Any thoughts?


This is her mate Rhett.

 

[kabhyper1]

4 partridges so far! ;-)

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

LF and Silkies are usually friendly and sweet as pullets. My egg seller friend says her LF begin getting nasty at about 2-3 years old.

I had to give away two LF who were sweet around our Silkies until about aged 2 for the Marans and aged 3 for the White Leghorn. They started going ballistic on the Silkies and I won't have that. The Marans was a dud as far as eggs or temperament but hated to give up my good layer White Leg. The White Leg was so sweet her first 3 years leading the flock and then she got progressively aggressive even toward her best friend Partridge Silkie - they were pullets together since the first month we had them. Gave her a chance to settle down w/isolation and in-house time-out but the flock dynamic wasn't changing so off she went to my friend before her nasty behavior became contagious or dangerous. 

My friend had trouble with her BCM, BR, and Buff Orp getting aggressive at about the same age but she doesn't have bantams to worry about. I guess the old clucks figure they earned the right to be crotchety but I don't mix over 5-lb LF with my Silkies any more. Too little space in the yard for them to forage separately and a 2.5-lb Silkie doesn't have a fighting chance against a 6 or 7-lb bully.

I have a sweet but klutzy 5.5-lb APA Ameraucana who accidentally knocked a Silkie off the nestbox ledge and had to take the Silkie to the vet. I didn't realize Ameraucanas could get so large - she's not heavy but very tall and if she was aggressive I'd have re-homed her by now. However she has continued being sweet and submissive to the two alpha Silkies and has no interest in flock politics so we keep her. OurFlyBabies.com says they always keep Ameraucanas because they are very willing to accept orphaned chicks or injured birds into their flock. Not too many breeds are that friendly.

For as many people that say LF can mix with Silkies there will be just as many that say it's not wise. Again I think the older the LF become (no particular breed - just LF in general) the more aggressively bold they get toward smaller sized chickens just because they can. Tilly's Nest website said she had an adult Wyandotte and adult Black Silkie she introduced to her existing flock and for 6 months the Wyandotte kept picking on the other 4 hens so that the behavior was getting contagious. She reluctantly had to re-home the Wyandotte to stop the warring in the flock.

Everyone does what's best for them. Just wanted to share the other side of the coin as to what could occur.

Thanks for heads up.
My Wife is out of work so she's home all day and will keep a close eye out for trouble.
I knew that nothing is ever absolute and our silkies come first, so we'll make sure to keep the peace.

Interesting info on the ameraucanas.
We wanted silkies and we also wanted
a few heavy layers as well, the buff pullets came available, so I figured we would give it a try.
Time will tell.