Silkie thread!

[Winter1]

These are my silkies and showgirl, Know Me ...rest in peace little girl... coccidiosis took her

And this is Frost (black+white) and Sunny

 

[Nksg75]

i am sorry for your loss Winter1. Coccidiosis is terrible.
I do have a question to everyone about vaccines.
I have hatched 6 chicks 3 weeks ago, and I realize that I can't vaccinate for Mercks now since they are so old. However I have read from jeffers website that there are a few I can vaccinate for.
We are in south Texas where the mosquitos never die!! And they seem to be getting bigger and worse each year!!
I actually lost 1 hen last summer to the pox virus. It started out dry of course then turned wet, and nothing I did would bring her around!
So back to what my question was..
What do you give your silkies as far as vaccines if any, and what is the age you have given it to them?

 

[Sylvester017]

My first "fart" egg ever in 5 years! It was from my oldest Silkie - cutest little egg - I thought a Dove flew into the coop and left a deposit LOL!

 

[nuklee0]

I'm incubating 7 of my poor little ugly silkies eggs. 2 appear to be clear on day 7, but 5 look great. They are white silkies, covered by a blue frizzle bantam cochin, so I'm hoping for some cute chicks

Pictures please? Of your "ugly silkies"... What do you mean ugly?

 

[nuklee0]

My first "fart" egg ever in 5 years! It was from my oldest Silkie - cutest little egg - I thought a Dove flew into the coop and left a deposit LOL!

Wow! That is cute! Edit to add: if u crack it open, pictures please? Want to see if there is a fart yolk in there too? Fingers crossed. Or none?

 

[silkiecuddles]

My first "fart" egg ever in 5 years! It was from my oldest Silkie - cutest little egg - I thought a Dove flew into the coop and left a deposit LOL!

www I love the lil tinies. When I've cracked them there are little pea sized yolks

 

[codieshell]

Looks the size of my serama eggs

 

[foxandthehen]

I let all my Silkies out everyday, cold days, warm days, wet days, dry days, even wintery days. In my experience they fair just fine. Today was a high of 35 and all of them were out going about their normal daily business. 

They don't even seem to mind the rain or snow, but I do have a small covered area off their house to give them some relief from the weather, but I do plan to expand the cover to give them more protection from the rain and snow.

Does your Silkie sleep indoors?

He does sleep in the house. He likes to sleep in the cat tower. He goes outside with the dogs around 630 in the morning and comes back in when the sun goes down.

 

[foxandthehen]

Silkies like any other chicken love to romp in the rain and water puddles.  However, my smallest Silkie got cold and sick being soaked to the skin in cold sprinkles and had to take her to the vet.  Silkies don't have hard protective feathers like other breeds. 

I don't let my Silkies out in rain.  Light off-and-on mist or light sprinkles for 10 or 20 minutes and then stops is the best kind of rain to let Silkies romp if there's no cold wind chill.  Changing temperature from cool outdoors to warm indoors is not good either.  I've thoroughly paper-towel dried Silkies with too much moisture in their feathers and let them preen their feathers dry rather than blow-drying and put them back outdoors again.   If you are needing to bathe your Silkie because he is caked with mud then obviously you'll need to blowdry him - otherwise a thorough towel dry with him preening himself dry should be good.  We rarely get freezing temps but this week we did - I do not use heat lamps but I loosely tarp the top part of the coop to keep out any possible draft while the bottom tray has plenty of ventilation.  It's amazing what strange bedfellows cold temperatures make as the chickens huddle with each other to keep warm. 

Many times I've had to run out in a sudden downpour to put the birds back in their pen and 30 minutes later the sun comes out - only then will I let the birds out again if there's not a lot of muddy soil to cake up their feathered toes.  Use your best judgement and the fact that you are questioning it should instinctively tell you what is good or not for your Silkies.  If I question something then I don't do it till I'm sure. 

I do blow dry him after he has a bath when he gets muddy. I will dry him off with a towel if he is just damp.I know that they are sensitive to being cold and wet, so I tend to worry about him catching cold. He does have a covered area in the yard, but spends most of his time helping the dogs guard the house and looking for bugs. I am thinking about converting an old dresser into a chicken house for him as well.

 

[Alex1010]

When do you guys feed laying pellets to your Pullets? Mines are about to be 5 Months but they look so small