Silkie thread!

[Sylviaanne]

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

She was white. I got her and her siblings from a lady who only had whites. I have one a little older who is supposed to be blue but compared to my Blue Splash Cochins I got at the same time, it is white. I also have Sam who is 5 1/2 months old now. Got him from BillS here in BYC. He had to rehome Sam. I had 11 and if what I am seeing on their little heads is correct, I got a bunch of roos this time.

 

[FoxholeFarm]

Hey there! I'm a "new" silkie owner.

We had one years ago who was our house-chicken. We knew nothing about keeping chickens and it doomed her to a very short life. This year we know much much more and have been keeping layer hens for over a year with great success. I still feel like I don't know how to care for my silkies though. We have had them since Saturday the 13th and introduced them Sunday night. My huge black Orpington has been bullying them incessantly and I had he locked in a crate so the others could get some rest, but yesterday I forgot to lock her up for several hours and she bloodied my silkie who is now missing a patch of feathers on her back the size of a large egg. The wound was weeping but not visibly bleeding, so we cleaned her, put neosporin on it and put her back in the coop to sleep. This morning our formerly silent silkie is screaming bloody murder and hiding. Where before she would come up to you and hop in your lap, she is now skittish and runs away while screaming and squirms and squalls if you hold her until she can get away. I've brought her inside and she is in a crate under heat. I don't know what else to do. Please if you have any advice I would appreciate it. We don't want to lose our sweet little silkie.

 

[chicken pickin]

Hey there! I'm a "new" silkie owner.

We had one years ago who was our house-chicken. We knew nothing about keeping chickens and it doomed her to a very short life. This year we know much much more and have been keeping layer hens for over a year with great success. I still feel like I don't know how to care for my silkies though. We have had them since Saturday the 13th and introduced them Sunday night. My huge black Orpington has been bullying them incessantly and I had he locked in a crate so the others could get some rest, but yesterday I forgot to lock her up for several hours and she bloodied my silkie who is now missing a patch of feathers on her back the size of a large egg. The wound was weeping but not visibly bleeding, so we cleaned her, put neosporin on it and put her back in the coop to sleep. This morning our formerly silent silkie is screaming bloody murder and hiding. Where before she would come up to you and hop in your lap, she is now skittish and runs away while screaming and squirms and squalls if you hold her until she can get away. I've brought her inside and she is in a crate under heat. I don't know what else to do. Please if you have any advice I would appreciate it. We don't want to lose our sweet little silkie.

I think it is best for Silkies to be in their own flock. Some bantams and even certain friendly large fowl breeds do ok with Silkies but as a general rule of thumb Silkies should not be in a flock with Large Fowl chickens. The fact is they can get seriously injured as you have already seen. I would not put these Silkies back in with the others.

I have 3 Silkies and I keep them in a separate coop/run to keep them protected.

Do you have the means to house them separate from your existing flock?

 

[FoxholeFarm]

I think it is best for Silkies to be in their own flock.  Some bantams and even certain friendly large fowl breeds do ok with Silkies but as a general rule of thumb Silkies should not be in a flock with Large Fowl chickens. The fact is they can get seriously injured as you have already seen. I would not put these Silkies back in with the others.

I have 3 Silkies and I keep them in a separate coop/run to keep them protected.

Do you have the means to house them separate from your existing flock?

Crap. I didn't plan for this, but I can figure something out if need be. It seems to really be only the one bully though so I may be better off removing the bully rather than the others. I will give them a few days to recover from their injuries under heat and then we will figure it out.

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

Looks like a pullet to me.

x2

X3

So then it's a win, win because we got our first egg, even if it was from a BO and our first foray into Silkies isn't a complete bust.
We're getting ready to cull our BO roo and we'll keep an eye out for bullying among the BO girls against our Silkie pullet.
She's a sweetie and we want to take good care of her.
Maybe after I off load some Silkie roos we can gt her a friend or two.

 

[flynntheduck]

Here are my silkie babies. They are 8 days old. The white one is named Yeti (might change it if I come up with something better) and the blue is named Ash.

 

[FoxholeFarm]

How much space do silkies need? I need to rethink my coop and make them a safe space in there and I want to be sure I'm not cramping them. Is 2'x3' enough floor space for two silkies?

 

[lightchick]

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.

So sorry for your loss!

 

[lightchick]

My Silkies crest is all crusty and wet looking because she got into the garden and was eating tomatoes and got it in her crest. How should I get it out without getting water in her eyes?

 

[FoxholeFarm]

My Silkies crest is all crusty and wet looking because she got into the garden and was eating tomatoes and got it in her crest.  How should I get it out without getting water in her eyes?

Warm damp cloth held to her crusty crest should soften the tomato goop enough to wipe it away.