Silkie thread!

[Banaynaychicken]

My silkie laid her first eggs these past few days, so happy!! I wasn't expecting her to lay for another 2-5 weeks.

I haven't found her brooding though. It's almost as if something is wrong with her XD I know silkies are highly known for going broody, and I should probably think myself lucky to not have a broody Silkie, since i'm not using the eggs for breeding purposes, but should I be worried that she ISN'T actually being/going broody? or am I just one of the lucky few?

 

[QueenMisha]

Hey I have never owned a silkie before and I want some so bad do any of yall know of a good place or breeder to order them pls and thx

x2 on Ideal Poultry. They have nice birds and I've seen a few of their Silkies who were actually verging on breeder quality, proper crest, poofy, etc.

If you're anywhere in NorCal I can also recommend California Country Ranch for amazing Silkies and Sizzles.

Thanks alot for the help. If it isn't to much trouble can someone explain what a cockrel is and anything like that. I know what a hen puller and rooster are. I think a cockrel is a young rooster but I didn't know that for sure.

So essentially:

Cock: Male over one year of age
Hen: Female over one year of age
Rooster: Cock or cockerel, any male chicken
Cockerel: Male under one year of age
Pullet: Hen under one year of age (in the laying industry: hen prior to laying)
Straight Run: An unsexed mixture of cockerels and pullets.

Remember when it comes to Silkies, sexing is very difficult. In most breeds, chicks can be vent sexed at one day old (vent sexing in layman's terms is basically looking up the butt). However, day old Silkies (and all bantams) are very small; so this is dangerous for them. There are very few places which offer sexed day old Silkies. To make things harder, Silkies have many characteristics that make sexing ridiculously difficult: dark skin; lack easily sexable feathers; males and females are bred to have similar shape; etc. As such many Silkies go unsexed until the day they lay or crow.

what is the pricing on those other products?

I work at a poultry supply retailer and our pymethrin dust goes for $10 a pop. It's a large canister and in my experience a single canister will do a generous dusting of about 60-70 birds. I'll check on exactly how many pounds it is when I get up to the coop. I think around 2lbs. We don't sell Poultry Protector but I've seen it down at the other big feed store for $7-$9 for a medium sized spray bottle or similar? Gotta check on that.

 

[cade hall]

T

[COLOR=0000CD]It would be helpful if you listed your State, Province, or City in your bio pic's.  That way you will get better responses to your queries.  There are a lot of breeders on this thread and a lot of hatcheries in the U.S. and there are different Silkies i.e. bearded or non-bearded, Sizzles, etc.  Most of us on BYC have a favorite breeder source for our birds so sharing your location will help us to help you.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]Yes, a cockerel is a male chicken from birth to a year old and a pullet is a female chicken from birth up to a year old.   A cock is a rooster over a year  and a hen is over a year old.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]Different breeds can hatch at different times of the year but usually Silkies will hatch Spring through Fall.  Give yourself this opportunity to do some research about Silkies before it comes time to get them - they are a wonderful breed and it pays to know as much about them as possible because of their uniqueness. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]Reading through this Silkie thread of over 5,000+ pages has the most valuable information I have ever encountered about Silkies from people who have them as pets all the way to dedicated show breeders.[/COLOR]

Thanks for all the help and I have been doing soooo much research on silkies I have learned alot.

 

[cade hall]

Thanks for the help QueenMisha.

 

[QueenMisha]

Anybody have advice/experience with wry neck in Silkies? Got a young Buff/Buff Partridge Silkie who's got it bad. Buying a vitamin mix later today. What's the survival rate on it? She's stopped eating and drinking this morning and has her head fully curled into her back. Had it for about three days.

 

[tjo804]

Anybody have advice/experience with wry neck in Silkies? Got a young Buff/Buff Partridge Silkie who's got it bad. Buying a vitamin mix later today. What's the survival rate on it? She's stopped eating and drinking this morning and has her head fully curled into her back. Had it for about three days.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck

This might be helpful
I know many people here have cured it. So it is not hopeless.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-a-wry-neck-chick-story-with-pics-with-update

Good Luck

 

[Fancychooklady]

Anybody have advice/experience with wry neck in Silkies? Got a young Buff/Buff Partridge Silkie who's got it bad. Buying a vitamin mix later today. What's the survival rate on it? She's stopped eating and drinking this morning and has her head fully curled into her back. Had it for about three days.

With some birds it's just a matter of increasing the thiamine B1 , but depending on the extent of ataxia it can be a lengthy recovery. A good thiamine rich multi vitamin in the water and a drop or two directly into the beak should help. Many commercial feeds are depleted of any vitamins and minerals once they have been stored. I would have a good look at what you are feeding and consider adding a poultry multi vitamin to the flocks water on a regular basis. Anorexia is also one of the symptoms, so cook up some rice and add a sardine in olive oil , then mix through some raw egg. Soft scrambled egg will also help boost her appetite.
A sprinkle of Brewers yeast over the feed is also an efficient way of adding B vitamins to their diet.

 

[Alex1010]

One Of My Sizzle's, When Do Sizzle's Lay? She's 5 Months

 

[QueenMisha]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/97121/lets-talk-wry-neck-crook-neck

This might be helpful
I know many people here have cured it. So it is not hopeless.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-a-wry-neck-chick-story-with-pics-with-update

Good Luck

Thanks for the links. Glad to see many folks had luck with it. I'm seeing that a lot of the birds who recovered ended up a bit funny in the head/neck. Maybe if she recovers to walking she can be my new indoor chicken. Been needing a new house chicken...

With some birds it's just a matter of increasing the thiamine B1 , but depending on the extent of ataxia it can be a lengthy recovery. A good thiamine rich multi vitamin in the water and a drop or two directly into the beak should help. Many commercial feeds are depleted of any vitamins and minerals once they have been stored. I would have a good look at what you are feeding and consider adding a poultry multi vitamin to the flocks water on a regular basis. Anorexia is also one of the symptoms, so cook up some rice and add a sardine in olive oil , then mix through some raw egg. Soft scrambled egg will also help boost her appetite.
A sprinkle of Brewers yeast over the feed is also an efficient way of adding B vitamins to their diet.

Thnaks for the advice. I picked up the vitamins today, I actually went out to get Rooster Booster crumbles but ended up buying parrot vitamin mix instead, looks like good stuff. The feed is not the issue, I work at the feed dealer where I get my food, it's a high quality local brand and it's usually milled the same week we get it. So anything I get isn't more than 3-4 weeks since milling at the most, usually fresher, we've been ordering quite often lately.

 

[QueenMisha]

One Of My Sizzle's, When Do Sizzle's Lay? She's 5 Months

Silkies and Sizzles will often lay anywhere from 6-9 months, they're not a production breed so they can vary quite a bit.