Silkie thread!

[NewToFarming]

Quote:
Congrats!!!

You will fall totally in love with your silkies!!! Where did you get the eggs? Sounds like an awesome deal!

 

[flitter]

Wow! Great! Pictures from their baby book? After they hatch, of course!

You sound as excited as I'll be, soon. I've ordered some through BYC auction from cjexotic.

 

[Teresaann24]

Momma and 21 chicks can you find momma?LOL

 

[peepswiththepoof]

Quote:
Love it!

Here are 32 of my fuzzy butts:

 

[Teresaann24]

LOL, I love pics of lots of silkie chicks looks like a cotton ball fight...LOL

 

[Ravie]

I don't know where to post this, but I wanted to brag on my Silkie hen. Her name is Smoke and I purchased her from another BYC breeder.

For full disclosure, I used to scoff at Silkie owners. I felt that it was silly to keep a chicken that is merely cute and not a good producer of eggs or meat. I thought that keeping a broody hen or two was the best use of a Silkie and that people who actively breed and collect them were silly and just had a pet complex.

Boy, have I done a 360!

I purchased a Silkie to sit on some eggs. According to her original owner, this particular bird was a good setter. I bought her in March and she has yet to go broody. I know why that is, and I'll get to that later.

The main reason I'm posting is because of her laying ability. Out of the last 41 days, she's laid 34 eggs! I believe she is out-producing my black and red sex-links! Not only that, her eggs are what I would consider medium sized. The yolks are as large as any other standard egg, but there seems to be a little less white.

The reason she hasn't gone broody yet is because she's EXTREMELY picky about location. For her first month, she insisted on laying her eggs in a cat crate in my garage. She couldn't get up to the crate herself and had to be lifted. Once there, she'd plop down and lay her egg and then wait patiently for me to lift her back down. My husband and I found her behavior to be cute and endearing. Eventually, we had to train her to use the same crate when its on the ground. We leave home a lot and she was holding her eggs back (to keep from laying) and frantically flopping about in front of our closed garage door. I was afraid it'd make her sick. We moved the crate outside (it looks terribly tacky in front of my garage) and she does go in there to use it. She also prefers the company of people to the other chickens. Whenever someone is outside, she stops foraging to keep pace with us as we move around the yard. Sometimes, she even squats as if for a rooster and wants us to pick her up. I think keeping up with us makes her tired! She's small! She also makes me laugh because she sings her "egg-song" at all the wrong times!

Yep, I have silkie-itus. I have a young chick now and I suspect he might be a rooster. He's about 12 weeks old and is starting to develop some reddish wattles. I hope I have a pair soon!

 

[HatchingFever]

Hey do these silkies look good there entered in the del mar fair so how do you think they will place

 

[emvickrey]

Here are my new sizzle and silkie chicks. 15 of them. One is still in the bator. They came from a greay roo and black hen, white roo and white hens and lav splash hens. The sizzles are from a calico silkie roo and 3 white sizzle hens.

By emvickrey at 2011-06-10

 

[BunsNChicks]

Can you house silkies on wire?

 

[torrelee]

Headed to look at a litter/clutch/passel???? of 2 day old black silkies in about a half an hour. Crossing every finger and toe that I have that I get a pullet, but buying two and praying to the silkie gods that I get at least one girl. I swore up and down to my BF that we wouldnt have and roosters in deference to our neighbors. I'm not sure if I should look for small and shy and hope they are girls or just close my eyes and pick one.... the next couple of months will be nervewracking, but I'm so excited for my first silkie!!!