Silkie thread!

[Zgm12]

In a few days I'm going to be bathing my silkies and I read somewhere that you can use shine spray (meant for human hair) on them to make them shinier and replace their natural oils after a bath. Is this true? If so, would all brands be okay or only some and then what brands? Thanks!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thank you, I do have layer feed for the older birds, I will give it the chicks too. It has been on medicated starter. Thank you much!

Something like flock raiser is good for a mixed flock and youngsters. It's low in calcium so you would need to have crushed oyster shell/calcium carbonate on free take for your layers.

http://purinamills.com/chicken-feed/products/flock-raiser/

 

[andreacroyle]

no sign of wattles and its neck is not long. Sometimes it helps to post close up of face and approximate age too. Cute bird BTW, have fun with it!

thanks for the comment/advice! okay, only the males have waddles? I will post a close up of the face but i cant tell you the age because i bought them from an auction. i know that they are less than half the size of my full grown silkie roo. and when i got them 5 weeks ago neither one of them had any streamers at all. my black one here has started growing the (maybe?) streamers on the top of the head but no where else. and neither one of them have a pointy tail.

I don't see any streamers in the tail. Right now it looks like a female to me.

Thanks! so, males get waddles, a pointy tail and dark blue earlobes?

my black one here has started growing the (maybe?) streamers on the top of the head but no where else. and neither one of them have a pointy tail.

I would say pullet. The ' osprey ' feathers are often lighter on black birds.
Next time you are handling her just gently pull the wing out. If you see a gap between the primary and secondary feathers she has split wing, but she may just have longer ' ospreys '.

do you mean split.. like damaged? i will check her wings in the morning.

Has anyone corrected or had any experience with a rolled toe at six weeks of age? It's the outside right toe and its curved under the foot. It hatched this way, thought we had it fixed but it's gone back and seems to be sore now. I Have a splint on it now, wondering how long I should leave it on?

maybe there is something in here that can help?? https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

In a few days I'm going to be bathing my silkies and I read somewhere that you can use shine spray (meant for human hair) on them to make them shinier and replace their natural oils after a bath. Is this true? If so, would all brands be okay or only some and then what brands? Thanks!

i have no idea about the product or if my opinion is correct, but i am wondering why you would want to wash off their oils to replace their natural oil? my guy was so so poopy when i brought him home so i soaked him in warm water and everything came right off...except for the lice. i tried DE for the lice but it only gave me an asthma attack.

 

[happyssunny]

 

[happyssunny]

before hair cut ;

after hair cut

But how to hold her head? She keep moving non stop I want to cut more it's hard and I m so worry I may hurt her eye...

 

[fawkestheman]

So cute! I love the big poof! Thats a hen? Ive never seen one with that big of a poof!

 

[Zgm12]

I posted this on the sexing silkies thread but no one has replied. any ideas on sex and why it's wing feathers are much lighter than its very black body ? FYI brand new in quarantine. its definitely getting the blue earlobes, is that a male trait only? I thought possible a female, but it sure is getting a lot of streamer type feather on its head. it does stand taller but was scared of the flash

I just realized that my post didn't work, so here it is again. It looks like you have a little hen/pullet! All silkies get blue earlobes it is the silkie standard. The lighter wing feathers are nothing to worry about unless you want to show at a large show with competitive breeders (judges tend to like the pure, extremely dark, jet-black birds). The lighter feathers may be because of the sun bleaching the feathers (sun bleaches feathers and makes them appear brown or lighter just as it does to human hair) or it is just the bird's natural coloring (osprey feathers can be lighter on dark birds). Good luck with your little one!

 

[Zgm12]

thanks for the comment/advice! okay, only the males have waddles? I will post a close up of the face but i cant tell you the age because i bought them from an auction. i know that they are less than half the size of my full grown silkie roo. and when i got them 5 weeks ago neither one of them had any streamers at all. my black one here  has started growing the (maybe?) streamers  on the top of the head but no where else. and neither one of them have a pointy tail.  


Thanks! so, males get waddles, a pointy tail and dark blue earlobes?

 my black one here  has started growing the (maybe?) streamers  on the top of the head but no where else. and neither one of them have a pointy tail.  

do you mean split.. like damaged? i will check her wings in the morning. 


maybe there is something in here that can help??   https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

i have no idea about the product or if my opinion is correct, but i am wondering why you would want to wash off their oils to replace their natural oil?  my guy was so so poopy when i brought him home so i soaked him in warm water and everything came right off...except for the lice. i tried DE for the lice but it only gave me an asthma attack.  

All silkies get wattles. The males get larger circular ones that are lighter in color. The females usually get them later than the males and they are smaller, more attached and darker in color. If you don't see wattles on your silkie it is probably because it is bearded which means that there will be a small puff of feathers underneath the beak hiding the wattles. Here are pictures of my non-bearded pullet and of my bearded pullet:
Bearded:

Non-bearded:

Also, whenever you bathe a chicken you are taking away some of their natural oils. The shine spray is supposed to help replace the oils taken away in the bath and make the feathers shinier and healthier. I don't where I read this or if it is true and safe. I am asking whether anyone has used this before and if it works and is safe. I am also asking whether all brands are okay or only some.

 

[Fancychooklady]

All silkies get wattles. The males get larger circular ones that are lighter in color. The females usually get them later than the males and they are smaller, more attached and darker in color. If you don't see wattles on your silkie it is probably because it is bearded which means that there will be a small puff of feathers underneath the beak hiding the wattles. Here are pictures of my non-bearded pullet and of my bearded pullet:
Bearded:

Non-bearded:

Also, whenever you bathe a chicken you are taking away some of their natural oils. The shine spray is supposed to help replace the oils taken away in the bath and make the feathers shinier and healthier. I don't where I read this or if it is true and safe. I am asking whether anyone has used this before and if it works and is safe. I am also asking whether all brands are okay or only some.

Unless you are showing I wouldn't be spraying anything on the birds. Only pet quality birds will have lighter / reddish coloured wattles.

 

[Zgm12]

Unless you are showing I wouldn't be spraying anything on the birds. Only pet quality birds will have lighter / reddish coloured wattles.

I decided not to spray the silkies. Thank you for your help! I know that all silkie wattles should be a dark mulberry, but I noticed that when my roosters were young cockerels their wattles were a tad lighter (still mulberry) in color then the hens and they are show quality. When they were around 7 months their wattles became dark mulberry. The hens always had had dark mulberry wattles. That is what I have used as an indicator of a rooster and it has seemed to be true on other people's roosters both pet quality and show quality. I don't know maybe it is just an odd coincidence. It is similar to what they use in telling gender of other large chickens (like Rhode Island Reds) when their young.