Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

Ho everyone

Im sure the answers are in this thread somewhere but due to the massive size i have been unable to find them lol
at what age are silkies considered full feathered?
My other girls (doms) were easy to tell not my silkies.
they are now 4 weeks old and they are still so tiny they still fit in the palm of my hand.
funny little things they love to cuddle on mu lap bit not so fond of being touched. They make a lot of rucus when I pat them. When I stop they snuggle back down. Too cute

We never raised day-old Silkie chicks but the adults do not like touching. We have a Partridge girl that squats and shivers when we pick her up until we set her back down. We pick her up at treat time in the evening to separate her from the LF that steal her treats. She really doesn't like to be picked up but shivers from the excitement knowing she's going to get treats. The Black Silkie doesn't like being picked up either and would rather do it herself - to have us lift up the fence so she can walk under it to join the Partridge Silkie for treats. If left alone untouched on a table or in a lap they will settle down usually. The moment they are touched they want to get away. I don't know how people say Silkie hens are cuddly. They really have a mind of their own. Our Blue Wheaten Ameraucana is more of a cuddler than a Silkie. I understand the Silkie roos are better cuddlers - at least ours was until we had to rehome him.

 

[EricMd01]

Not a silkie but a buff polish x black silkie. I'm very anxious to see what it will look like when its an adult.

 

[EricMd01]

Couple of 4 month old roos(???) I'm getting rid of.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Sylvester017, my Silkie hens love to be cuddled, they're very friendly. A few of them will snuggle their heads into the crook of our necks and purr and coo.
The squatting and shaking you're describing sounds like she thinks you're her rooster (at least, her favorite) and she hopes you'll touch her the right way

When mine do that, I ruffle their back a little and tug on their tail feathers a bit. They get up and shake just like they would after a rooster does his thing and they still follow me all around so I assume they enjoy it

 

[Fancychooklady]

Ho everyone

Im sure the answers are in this thread somewhere but due to the massive size i have been unable to find them lol
at what age are silkies considered full feathered?
My other girls (doms) were easy to tell not my silkies.
they are now 4 weeks old and they are still so tiny they still fit in the palm of my hand.
funny little things they love to cuddle on mu lap bit not so fond of being touched. They make a lot of rucus when I pat them. When I stop they snuggle back down. Too cute

Silkies are slow to mature but by the time they are 3 months old they should be completely feathered in. When you are handling them , try slipping your hand under their belly and gently lifting them. Chickens don't like being touched on the back, it's a predator thing. Mine will sit and take a stroke down the chest all day long

 

[Fancychooklady]

Sylvester017, my Silkie hens love to be cuddled, they're very friendly. A few of them will snuggle their heads into the crook of our necks and purr and coo.
The squatting and shaking you're describing sounds like she thinks you're her rooster (at least, her favorite) and she hopes you'll touch her the right way

When mine do that, I ruffle their back a little and tug on their tail feathers a bit. They get up and shake just like they would after a rooster does his thing and they still follow me all around so I assume they enjoy it

This behaviour is known as ' presenting ' and it is quite common for a hen to present if you are ' hovering ' above her. I have 2 that do it.

 

[Sylvester017]

Sylvester017, my Silkie hens love to be cuddled, they're very friendly. A few of them will snuggle their heads into the crook of our necks and purr and coo.
The squatting and shaking you're describing sounds like she thinks you're her rooster (at least, her favorite) and she hopes you'll touch her the right way

When mine do that, I ruffle their back a little and tug on their tail feathers a bit. They get up and shake just like they would after a rooster does his thing and they still follow me all around so I assume they enjoy it

We thought it was the roo thing with her at first - but after 3 years of chickens it's definitely a different behavior. The other very independent Silkie does not bow or shake. It's just the Partridge who gets so excited to be special and get her treats that she trembles. We can see her shaking just when she sees us coming and stretches up her neck looking forward to seeing what we have for her. I knew someone whose dog would do that - tremble when he saw a treat was coming and only then. How can 2 chickens of the same breed be so different?

 

[Fancychooklady]

This is ' Jaffa ', he's such a good boy when he's not going after my toes.

 

[DanielE1990]

LOVE HIM!

Is he a red?

 

[Sylvester017]

Sylvester017, my Silkie hens love to be cuddled, they're very friendly. A few of them will snuggle their heads into the crook of our necks and purr and coo.

One Silkie was always an outdoor girl and our excited trembler and one Silkie was a spoiled indoor girl. The indoor girl was a lap sitter but not what I would call snuggly. She has always been and still is a very independent dominant personality from being pampered indoors until old enough to be integrated into the flock. She went around the house telling us what she expected - a tap on the floor fan meant "Turn it on so I can sit in front of it", tap on the sliding door meant "I want out," tap on the hospital pen door meant "I want in," a tap from outside the sliding door meant "Let me in," and the usual tugging on the shoes or pant leg meant, "Give me a treat." But cuddly wasn't her thing. Now the Partridge cockerel we had to rehome was a cuddler. He was always looking up at us and let us pick him up and hold him but it was a short-lived time with him as we aren't zoned for roos, darn it!