Silkie thread!

[ScaredOfShadows]

Quote:
Its can be difficult to sex any day old chick if you haven't had alot of practice at it, most chicks you won't get a good idea until about 7 weeks or older, but silkies are by far the hardest chickens to sex! Most hatcheries only sell straight run on bantams and silkies because the smaller chicks are EXTREMELY hard to vent sex and tend to come with unreliable results from what I understand.

With silkies, they really are a breed that you may have to wait till you get a crow or an egg to know for sure. At the earliest you'll be having to wait atleast 10+ weeks for alot of silkies to get undisputable rooster signs.

good luck!

 

[Layla1223]

Quote:
Its can be difficult to sex any day old chick if you haven't had alot of practice at it, most chicks you won't get a good idea until about 7 weeks or older, but silkies are by far the hardest chickens to sex! Most hatcheries only sell straight run on bantams and silkies because the smaller chicks are EXTREMELY hard to vent sex and tend to come with unreliable results from what I understand.

With silkies, they really are a breed that you may have to wait till you get a crow or an egg to know for sure. At the earliest you'll be having to wait atleast 10+ weeks for alot of silkies to get undisputable rooster signs.

good luck!

Thank You! I guess I will just have to wait and see. If you were to order Silkies from a hatchery, which one would you choose? Thank You again : )

 

[Dora'smom]

I am so bummed. I got one silkie chick last March, even picked it out myself at the feed store. . . and it's a boy.

Cute little guy, feathering nicely. I think he is about 15 weeks old, and for the last week he has been crowing. It isn't a full-on crow like my BO rooster had (before he was rehomed) but it is definitely a crow. He really throws his chest out, flaps his wings and crows repeatedly. My husband had bonded with him, and named him Sissy when we still had hope that this was a girl. (He was trying to hide under other birds, etc., so we thought maybe. . .) But Sissy is now Zeus, and will need to be rehomed.

 

[mlove]

Does anyone have a photo of a blue partridge silkie?

I bought some chicks and was wondering what they would look like when they become adults.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
My first silkie was from a breeder that used them for shows. They said he wasn't sq due to improper toe placement. When I received him in the mail, which took nearly a week. He appeared to be tramatized. He was terrified of everything. We kept him in the pen that was to be his for a while and did our best to move slowly and talk to him but he would freak out at feeding time because we where in his space. I had gotten another silkie the day after along with a frizzle and they occupied the other side of the pen. After about 2 weeks we let them all 3 out to scratch and free range while supervised and the frizzle just went after the silkie from the show breeder and he tried to get away. After that he would try his best to get back in his pen even though he was the only one out. This was all last year. I found out that he had never touched the ground before and had lived his 8 months entirely in a cage. He now will harrass the other roos in their pens when he is out. If they come near his pen he challenges them but he also has his own girl now. He never did forage much after he gained courage he will just hang out with his girl like a body guard. He won't let anything near her. When I toss treats in their pen he guards her while she eats. He hardly ever eats them. Every egg is fertile and I have many little silkie chicks now.

Now I have some sizzles and they get out everyday to forage along with the RIR pullets and BO pullet. They all share a coop. But at night they refuse to roost in the coop. They will pile up at the far end of the run. It doesn't matter if it is storming, they still stay out there. So we closed the door to the run so they will sleep at night inside. But we can't seem to get them to go back inside at night. Everynight I go out to lock up and they are piled up on one side of the door or the other but always outside. We prop the door open so they can go in and out as they please during the day. I have to pick most of them up and put them in the coop. They stay once they're in there but it's not on their own. Even the RIR and BO pile up with them. We have been doing this for 2 weeks now everyday and they still don't get it.

 

[brendapa]

Is this a thing I will have to do again for her or will she adapt as the feathers come in? Is this something that is common for young silkies? Will I need to do the same for the boy? And How much can silkies be expected to free range for bugs and plants? (mine have only shown interested in "presented" foods)

My SQ pullets have huge crests and can not see well. They are pampered and hand carried to be with the flock. They are practically hand fed & watered and put in a private tractor with other pullets & chicks. They go through the motions of foraging but tire of it easily. I put their crests up in small binder clips. Hair tape & ruber bands don't work for me. They get special treats throughout the day. This is their life....

The rest of my silkies act like chickens.

Now I have some sizzles and they get out everyday to forage along with the RIR pullets and BO pullet. They all share a coop. But at night they refuse to roost in the coop. They will pile up at the far end of the run. It doesn't matter if it is storming, they still stay out there. So we closed the door to the run so they will sleep at night inside. But we can't seem to get them to go back inside at night. Everynight I go out to lock up and they are piled up on one side of the door or the other but always outside. We prop the door open so they can go in and out as they please during the day. I have to pick most of them up and put them in the coop. They stay once they're in there but it's not on their own. Even the RIR and BO pile up with them. We have been doing this for 2 weeks now everyday and they still don't get it.

Are they 2 weeks new or did they just revert back to this behavior 2 weeks ago?
It sounds as if they do not know that the coop is theirs. If they are new, they have to be locked up in the coop for 1-2 weeks. And...they might be afraid of the dark.
Hang a low watt UV buld in the coop, turn it on 1/2 hour before dusk and tell them to "go to the light"

After you carry them into the "light" for a few days, they should get it.
Mine are "going to the light" by themselves, now. But when I don't turn it on, won't go in. It's now on the Xmas light dusk+2 hour timer.
They are 10 weeks old and are afraid of the dark.

Good luck!
Brenda​

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Quote:
Its can be difficult to sex any day old chick if you haven't had alot of practice at it, most chicks you won't get a good idea until about 7 weeks or older, but silkies are by far the hardest chickens to sex! Most hatcheries only sell straight run on bantams and silkies because the smaller chicks are EXTREMELY hard to vent sex and tend to come with unreliable results from what I understand.

With silkies, they really are a breed that you may have to wait till you get a crow or an egg to know for sure. At the earliest you'll be having to wait atleast 10+ weeks for alot of silkies to get undisputable rooster signs.

good luck!

Thank You! I guess I will just have to wait and see. If you were to order Silkies from a hatchery, which one would you choose? Thank You again : )

I am partial to the blues blacks and splashes. I do not currently have any splashes but I have the following : 1 mean white hen, 2 laid back buffs (ones a traditional buff the other I call blonde - lol), a black rooster, and 3 youngsters that are about 10 weeks old that are blue.

I am looking around for a splash or two, near me there is a show breeder and I may wind up buying from her again, she has some beautiful splashes as well as white, blue, & black. I may fork out the money to get me a black and two splashes off her.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Question folks, how high do you guys put your nesting boxes for silkies? Ground level, 1 ft, what? I have had no issue with previous silkies nesting anywhere from the lowest boxes @ 18" off the ground to one who picked the highest nesting area (really it wasn't for nesting but 2 silkies and a cochin when I had a mixed flock of pets used the high shelf box for a nestbox) which was about at my face height, so around 5'!!! But now I have these 3 silkie hens and I put the temporary boxes down low for the moment till I install some on the outside for easier access. Right now the nests are about 10-12" off the ground, still ground clearance for the silkies under neath it to walk so it doesnt take up the floor space...atleast 1 of them does use the middle nesting box only..the youngests sleep in one of them at night, and the other two layers use a spot on the ground of the coop directly below the nest boxes...I don't get it, lol.

So how high or low are your guys' silkie nest boxes?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
I dont even use nesting boxes, they dont use them anyway. I just make sure that I clean the coop often. The girls will always lay the eggs in the corner, and sort of round out the shavings into a little nest.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Sundown, I'm just finding out how diverse silkies can be, I'd heard when I first got them a few years back that they only roosted on the ground or extremely close to the ground and the same with nesting...Then I had 5 silkies the first 2 I got from someone local they were breeder stock out of show birds and these two would go into the rafters of the coop to sleep with the other members of my mixed flock (this was 5 years ago) but then i got 3 others ones and they used the lowest few boxes between about 18" and 36" off the ground and roosted on the lower poles about the same height...Then I had branched and gotten a few others after that and those did variously, one on the ground the rest usually 12-18" of the ground (when i seperated them into a coop of their own to breed).

I dont have any of those other birds and I only recently have gotten these 3 hens and a very funky roo (he's got great feathering and feet/toes but his comb is like it starts of correct then branches at the top end to a single look X_x - i know they were hatchery stock when i bought them, so I don't really care they are pets for my daughter) about 8 weeks ago now, they've been in their coop for about 2.5 weeks (once they were released from quarantine prison) and they lay great, i'm getting 2 if not 3 eggs a day so someone tends to lay daily...

But its just a bit wierd to me, so I figured I'd ask. - lol- I may still stick 2 nesting boxes on the outside and just do them 6" off the ground to give clearance and it will just look nice.