Silkie thread!

[Ravynscroft]

Is this a lavender chick

Looks too dark for lavender... maybe blue?

Need to see the back of the crest, but it's looking a bit swept back like a roos... I won't guess though until I can see the back... a good side profile shot would help more...

ETA: thought the comb doesn't look particularly rooish... ugh, Silkies are hard, lol...

 

[codieshell]

better pic a chick

 

[codieshell]

That's the only pic I have

 

[RubyNala97]

These are my 7 new babies. These four are blue & 1 week old. They're so tiny all 4 fit in my hand. These are about 2 weeks old. 1 light blue and 2 splash Apparently the flash was on and the light blue one got scared and jumped straight up in the air LOL.

I really love your chicks! I'm a big fan of the vaulted skulls but it does make it harder for them to hatch. Can you please tell me where or what breeder you got them from? I think they are beautiful!!

I bet they're tired of me picking them up all the time lol

My very first 2 silkies that I hatched were handled a lot! But they are so friendly now! They always jump in my lap. I think it's great to hold them a lot!

This little chick has a porcelain mom & white dad. I'm guessing pullet & anxious to see how she matures. Not sure if she would be considered partridge?

Beautiful! *She* looks like my blue partridge!

 

[Adorkable]

@RubyNala97 I got them from someone here in Oklahoma about a couple of hours away from where I live. She is on BYC and goes by the name of Jeansrie. I have no idea if she ships eggs or anything. Each day that passes I fall more in love with them. I also got some pretty showgirls with the silkies. Can't wait for them all to grow up!

 

[RubyNala97]

@RubyNala97
I got them from someone here in Oklahoma about a couple of hours away from where I live. She is on BYC and goes by the name of Jeansrie. I have no idea if she ships eggs or anything. Each day that passes I fall more in love with them. I also got some pretty showgirls  with the silkies. Can't wait for them all to grow up!

Ok, thank you! I will ask if she ships. Like I said, I really am a fan of the vaulted skulls and I fell in love with your pic!! I said "I want some of those"!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

What age do you suggest when buying from breeders?

We bought our Black Silkiie pullet from a breeder who brought in 10 Silkies at the feed store I used to frequent. The birds were old enough to identify the cockerels from the pullets - about 4+ months old. We made an appt for the day the breeder brought in his birds and we fully intended to purchase another Partridge but fell in love with a little Black pullet instead. It was difficult deciding between 2 Black pullets since they were both beautiful so we picked the calmest one. She turned out a little pistol when she grew up and we just love her to pieces. After having had a Partridge cockerel and pullet Silkie for a few months I felt comfortable identifying the sexes of the older juvenile Silkies from the breeder.

Silkies are difficult to differentiate the sexes when they are chicks so I didn't want to make a mistake by accidentally getting another cockerel. That's why we waited to get a juvenile pullet not quite at POL. The roos will have streamer feathers coming out of their crests and tails and usually stand taller and more erect while the pullets have rounder crests and rounder bunny tails and stand a bit lower. The boys seem to get much larger walnut combs than the pullets. By 5 months old the Partridge boys will start having more colorful deeper colors in their feathering while the pullet will not be quite as spectacularly or deeply colored. With solid color Silkies like the Black or White it might take more than 5 months to be certain of the sex.

There is a DNA lab test around $25 that a breeder can charge to ID a chick's sex but it takes 4 weeks or longer to get the results. We decided to pass the chick stage and go directly to a breeder for an easily identifiable juvenile - no guesswork, we didn't have to brooder a chick, and the juvenile was young enough for us to bond and socialize. Silkies are not like LF breeds that you need to socialize as chicks. We didn't have our Silkies as chicks but as older juveniles and they were easy to socialize and handle - really sweet-natured birds that shouldn't be mixed with large heavy dual purpose LF.

 

[Sylvester017]

Are banana peels good for silkies?

Banana bunches are sprayed to kill spiders and tarantula type arachnids before shipping so banana peels with pesticide sprays are not good for humans or animals. Watermelon peels and cantaloupe peels on the other hand are a tasty treat. We leave extra fruit on the melon peels when we cut off the rinds for the chickens.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ok, thank you! I will ask if she ships. Like I said, I really am a fan of the vaulted skulls and I fell in love with your pic!! I said "I want some of those"!!!

Someone on this thread said the vaulted skulls are more susceptible to injury. Silkies are vulnerable to head pecks or head injuries but if I understand correctly the vaulted skull is more vulnerable. Any input anyone?

 

[stengelc]

My silkie /frizzle is 2 weeks old. I've had her 3 days. Today She is walking backwards dragging her head on the ground. What is wrong with her. Her sister is fine.