Silkie thread!

[AlwaysForever]

I was given 2 free Partridge day-olds that were raised with a friend's day-olds all at the same time.  However, it was apparent very quickly that the Silkies were picked on as the larger breed day-olds grew much faster and picked on the 2 smaller Silkies who had to hide all the time and run from the bigger chicks.  Later I discovered most people with bantams suggest not mixing Silkies with larger breeds because of the danger LF pose.  I learned the hard way and now do not mix anything dual purpose or combative type breeds over 5-lbs with my Silkies.  My Silkies are my barometer.  If no one plays nice with the gentlest of my Silkies they are instantly rehomed.  So far the only breed that's played nice with my Silkies is the Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar) and in the Spring am getting another Ameraucana in Blue and a Blue Breda which I'm told are exceptionally gentle and not over 5-lb.  We decided to keep our mixed flock with non-combative gentles which means less eggs but then there's only the two of us.  The APA Ameraucana makes up for eggs by being a very good layer and at nearly 2 y/o continues being submissive to the Silkies.

I have been watching. We have 8 birds total and no large breed everyone gets along fine even with the small size difference. We wanted all bantams, butcouldn't find a local source. Our 2 silkies will be sharing a coop with our 2 polish (given none are roos). My worry is about the cooler weather with their feathering. The others all seem fine.

 

[Sylvester017]

I will keep an eye out next few days and see who lays. Its a very light shade of pink, very pretty color. Hopefully the others will folow shortly. I know the pure silkies won't lay until they are about 8 months old though.

My Partridge hen always lays a cream matte egg. My Black hen always lays a pink tint glossy egg. I love the pinkish eggs that shine so pretty. The cream matte color is a bit boring but the hen that lays them is the sweetest one in the flock.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have been watching. We have 8 birds total and no large breed everyone gets along fine even with the small size difference. We wanted all bantams, butcouldn't find a local source. Our 2 silkies will be sharing a coop with our 2 polish (given none are roos). My worry is about the cooler weather with their feathering. The others all seem fine.

IMO Silkies are ok to mix with Ameraucana, Araucana, Breda, Cochin, EEs, Faverolles, Houdan, Polish, Sultan and maybe even Crevecoeur. But I still would hesitate to put gentle Cochins, Faverolles, Crevies, or gentle Sussex or Brahma in with bantams just because of the temptation of larger breeds bullying small breeds - it's a chicken thing and even the gentlest large breed can be tempted!

My feather-footed Silkies have been toodling around in the downpour rain so we had to bring them in to dry off because it's not good for them to get soaked to the skin - they don't have the oil-protected feathering of our Ameraucana who was having a ball digging around for worms and grubs in the rain! After paper towel drying the Silkies' fur we let them spend about an hour getting themselves groomed dry and then let them outdoors again after the rain stopped. In the summer Silkies love breezes blowing through their fur but during the rainy days the slightest wind can chill them so we have to watch out for them more than the other breeds in winter.

 

[AlwaysForever]

IMO Silkies are ok to mix with Ameraucana, Araucana, Breda, Cochin, EEs, Faverolles, Houdan, Polish, Sultan and maybe even Crevecoeur.  But I still would hesitate to put gentle Cochins, Faverolles, Crevies, or gentle Sussex or Brahma in with bantams just because of the temptation of larger breeds bullying small breeds - it's a chicken thing and even the gentlest large breed can be tempted!

My feather-footed Silkies have been toodling around in the downpour rain so we had to bring them in to dry off because it's not good for them to get soaked to the skin - they don't have the oil-protected feathering of our Ameraucana who was having a ball digging around for worms and grubs in the rain!  After paper towel drying the Silkies' fur we let them spend about an hour getting themselves groomed dry and then let them outdoors again after the rain stopped.  In the summer Silkies love breezes blowing through their fur but during the rainy days the slightest wind can chill them so we have to watch out for them more than the other breeds in winter.

That is exactly what I am worried about. It has been damp and not exactly summer weather. My EEs and my maran enjoyed being out today even though it was a bit wet and cold. They didn't appear chilled at all. I left my polish and silkies in the brooder.

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Here is updated pictures of my 4 Silkie mix chicks that hatched the first part of Feb. They were 3 weeks on Sunday.

The 4th chick was the runt and is considerably smaller and more timid than the other 3. I have not pick outs names yet without knowing what sex they are.

 

[tjo804]

Hello Silkie peeps.

I have one silkie roo he is black. I gave him a home when the neighbor decided she wanted only hens for eggs. He had been her daughters pampered pet and the only chicken on their little farm.

It took some time and work but he is now a full member of my flock, and he really loves the Ladies!

I am looking to add some new Silkies to my yard and am going to re model my brooder into a 2 story Silkie Condo. This is the brooder now.


I will have access in April to go through a mix of 100 bantam chicks that will come in to the feed store they said I can count toes and check skin to find my silkie in the mix. I am very excited and any housing or choosing suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am currently working my way through this blog reading everything.

 

[seminolewind]

I love silkie roos. I had 2 but now I've had my one for 7 years. From 2 roos and 2 hens, all I ever hatched was girls. 3 hatches, all girls. When I wanted another roo.

So I'm patiently waiting for my hatching eggs.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I love silkie roos.  I had 2 but now I've had my one for 7 years.  From 2 roos and 2 hens, all I ever hatched was girls.  3 hatches, all girls.   When I wanted another roo.

So I'm patiently waiting for my hatching eggs.

Silkie Roos are the cutest little feather dusters. I hope that you get at least one from your hatch.

 

[Sylvester017]

That is exactly what I am worried about. It has been damp and not exactly summer weather. My EEs and my maran enjoyed being out today even though it was a bit wet and cold. They didn't appear chilled at all. I left my polish and silkies in the brooder.

It's always good to be safe than sorry where Silkies are concerned. They think they're as hardy as the LF but really they need monitoring if the weather is harsh. We've let them toodle around the yard if there's light sprinkles but if it is raining they are brought in until the deluge stops.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hello Silkie peeps.

I have one silkie roo he is black. I gave him a home when the neighbor decided she wanted only hens for eggs. He had been her daughters pampered pet and the only chicken on their little farm.

It took some time and work but he is now a full member of my flock, and he really loves the Ladies!

I am looking to add some new Silkies to my yard and am going to re model my brooder into a 2 story Silkie Condo. This is the brooder now.


I will have access in April to go through a mix of 100 bantam chicks that will come in to the feed store they said I can count toes and check skin to find my silkie in the mix. I am very excited and any housing or choosing suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am currently working my way through this blog reading everything.

I don't know how friendly your feed store owner is but our guy will let us know when his customer brings in Silkie juveniles into the store for sale. He knows Silkie babies from the hatchery can be any sex but his private customer will raise his Silkies until they're about 3 months old and easy to ID the sex. That's how we got our Black Silkie pullet. She was the prettiest girl out of 8 pullets and we paid the $10 and hurried home with her! She's our littlest noisiest busiest hen in the flock today and she loves bossing the flock.

I like your brooder barn. I saw the same model raised off the ground with a run area located below with a ramp going into the nestboxes. I thought it was a nice model as a temporary or quarantine pen with a double nestbox on each side. Again I would put a popup canopy over it to protect from UV sun or rainy days for protecting the egg collection box when the lid is open. Our first little 4x6 coop was placed on a paver stone walkway patio with just 4 paver stones removed in the center of the pen for the young chickens to have a place to dig or dust-bathe. It's messy but we clean it up and put more dirt back onto the floor. On rainy days our 3 hens like to dust-bathe in the only dry dirt available in the pen!