Silkie thread!

[Lacrystol]

I lost a baby tonight. I knew she was acting funny but when I would reach in to get her, she would run into the middle of the group and I wouldn't know which one she was. 7 weeks old today. My husband put them out in their cage this morning and we went to do some grocery shopping this afternoon about 5pm. When we got home I walked past their cage and she was sitting in a corner with her head stuck out through the bars. She looked dead and I dropped the groceries and yanked open that pen, picked her up and she was still alive. Her crop was empty but they had food and water. I brought her in and put her in a brooder under a lamp and kept an eye on her. I came in to ask what to do for her (here) but went back to give her some sugar water before asking here. I couldn't get her to open her mouth willingly but I think I got a little bit in her. I was afraid to try to give her very much because she wasn't holding her head up and acting like she was swallowing. I came to ask what to do and my husband called me and told me that she was still alive but panting real hard. I don't remember what I was doing but hadn't gotten on BYC yet and went back to check the chick. She had died. What my husband saw must have been her last gasping breaths.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me before this but I could have taken a drop of food coloring or koolaid and dropped it on her from outside the cage and then I would have been able to tell her from the others. Well, I think I could have, it might just have run off her feathers/fluff.

Sorry to hear about your little one... What color was it?

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

Got a question.  Aren't silkie eggs cream/white color?  

This one is about the color of the ones the breeder showed me when I bought the chicks.
The lights above may be making it look a little darker than it is, but it's a light brown with white specks.
Someone might know this, but could the white specks be the oyster shell I give them?

 

[Suzierd]

I lost a baby tonight. I knew she was acting funny but when I would reach in to get her, she would run into the middle of the group and I wouldn't know which one she was. 7 weeks old today. My husband put them out in their cage this morning and we went to do some grocery shopping this afternoon about 5pm. When we got home I walked past their cage and she was sitting in a corner with her head stuck out through the bars. She looked dead and I dropped the groceries and yanked open that pen, picked her up and she was still alive. Her crop was empty but they had food and water. I brought her in and put her in a brooder under a lamp and kept an eye on her. I came in to ask what to do for her (here) but went back to give her some sugar water before asking here. I couldn't get her to open her mouth willingly but I think I got a little bit in her. I was afraid to try to give her very much because she wasn't holding her head up and acting like she was swallowing. I came to ask what to do and my husband called me and told me that she was still alive but panting real hard. I don't remember what I was doing but hadn't gotten on BYC yet and went back to check the chick. She had died. What my husband saw must have been her last gasping breaths.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me before this but I could have taken a drop of food coloring or koolaid and dropped it on her from outside the cage and then I would have been able to tell her from the others. Well, I think I could have, it might just have run off her feathers/fluff.

Very sorry to hear, I wonder if she ate something bad? So had to know sometimes.

 

[Suzierd]

Beetle green is usually a male thing. The only birds in my flock that have it are partridge Roos. The shimmer is generally testosterone driven.

Of course it is much more noticeable in ' smooth ' feathers, which is why you will only see it in tail ribbons and ' osprey ' plumage in wing tips.

That hen in the third picture looks just like my baby that I think is a boy. I wonder if he will look like that when he grows up.

 

[Fancychooklady]

This one is about the color of the ones the breeder showed me when I bought the chicks.
The lights above may be making it look a little darker than it is, but it's a light brown with white specks.
Someone might know this, but could the white specks be the oyster shell I give them?

I guessed it might be lighting, I've never seen a silkie egg that dark. Colour spots are quite different to calcium deposits on egg shell. This chart explains it.

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

I guessed it might be lighting, I've never seen a silkie egg that dark. Colour spots are quite different to calcium deposits on egg shell. This chart explains it.

http://www.alltech.com/sites/default/files/alltech-egg-shell-quality-poster.pdf

It appears to me to be the same color and size that the breeder's eggs were,but Im going on memory and that was nearly 8 months ago.
The only other thing I can think of is that there are 3 buff pullets in the same run and they are at laying age.
Is it possible that a big bird like that would lay a tiny egg the first time around?

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

Sorry, that's 3 buff orpingtons I neglected to mention.

 

[Fancychooklady]

It appears to me to be the same color and size that the breeder's eggs were,but Im going on memory and that was nearly 8 months ago.
The only other thing I can think of is that there are 3 buff pullets in the same run and they are at laying age.
Is it possible that a big bird like that would lay a tiny egg the first time around?

It's a possibility . Pullet eggs are considerably smaller than the breeds eventual egg size.

Sussex, Wyandotte , silkie and fart egg.
Remember that the same amount of calcium is released by the hen for each and every egg, so the bigger the egg , the thinner the shell. My silkie eggs are so tough that they bounce when dropped.

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

It's a possibility . Pullet eggs are considerably smaller than the breeds eventual egg size.

Sussex, Wyandotte , silkie and fart egg.
Remember that the same amount of calcium is released by the hen for each and every egg, so the bigger the egg , the thinner the shell. My silkie eggs are so tough that they bounce when dropped.

Lol, I'd be afraid to drop it in order to test that theory.
All I know is that the silkie in question has never gone in the coop to roost on her own and yesterday it did.
Based on it's demeanor I've been thinking it was a pullet and especially due to the fact that all the other 4 silkies try to jump her if placed in that run.

By the way, forgive my ignorance, but what in the world is a "fart"?

 

[Fancychooklady]

Lol, I'd be afraid to drop it in order to test that theory.
All I know is that the silkie in question has never gone in the coop to roost on her own and yesterday it did.
Based on it's demeanor I've been thinking it was a pullet and especially due to the fact that all the other 4 silkies try to jump her if placed in that run.

By the way, forgive my ignorance, but what in the world is a "fart"?

Lol, sometimes also referred to as a ' wind egg ' . Pullet eggs that are misshaped , or overly small.

http://gardenally.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/fart-eggs.html