Silkie thread!

[QueenMisha]

Queenmisha I can see why you adore her. She will always be a ' special needs ' girl. Have you changed her feed regime? As I have posted in the past , once you have had wryneck in your flock , it is time to take a look at the feed and it is also wise to add a multi vitamin to the feed on a regular basis.

She's on a turkey/broiler grow ration, wheat-based non-GMO instead of the flock raiser corn-based ration she was on for a while. I got her at two weeks, I have no idea what she was on prior. She was on the turkey grow for the first four weeks until I switched to the flock raiser for most of my birds. It's a high quality feed, the best I've ever come across. There's
nothing better sold in the area and of my 150 birds I've never had another wry neck.

She's still on NutriDrench. I don't have anyone else on it, the stuff costs a fortune.

 

[Fancychooklady]

She's on a turkey/broiler grow ration, wheat-based non-GMO instead of the flock raiser corn-based ration she was on for a while. I got her at two weeks, I have no idea what she was on prior. She was on the turkey grow for the first four weeks until I switched to the flock raiser for most of my birds. It's a high quality feed, the best I've ever come across. There's
nothing better sold in the area and of my 150 birds I've never had another wry neck.

She's still on NutriDrench. I don't have anyone else on it, the stuff costs a fortune.

I'm not familiar with the brand but we have similar feeds here. What is the protein level in the turkey / boiler grower, ours is quite high and not really recommended for birds that are bred for longevity. Once a bird reaches the age of 20 weeks you should try to level the protein out at 15-17% .
You could try sprinkling Brewers yeast over the feed , an excellent source of thiamine and offer her a teaspoon of tuna ( high in selenium ) in soft cooked rice.

 

[moomoodiddy]

I'm a strong believer in genetics. I know that genetics don't directly cause wry necks or tails, but the tendency to have a vitamin deficiency is bigger in some breeding lines than others. And I feel like these birds should not be bred.

 

[Uzair Ahmed]

My breeders

Very nice..do you show?

Nope. Just like to have them and breed th.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I'm a strong believer in genetics. I know that genetics don't directly cause wry necks or tails, but the tendency to have a vitamin deficiency is bigger in some breeding lines than others. And I feel like these birds should not be bred.  

Some breeds are predisposed to certain conditions and the parent stocks diet does play a part in a birds susceptibility to deficiencies. I don't believe that it has any more than that to do with genetics.
For a long time breeders have been aware that the Silkie breed in general is very poor at absorbing selenium, some worse than others. I have my own line of white silkies and have been breeding them for 12 + years and in all that time have only had 1 case of wryneck.

 

[moomoodiddy]

exactly

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I would love to have some silkies but there not that cold hardy and in the winter it gets down in the teens and 20s sometimes colder and I was wondering how could I keep them warm in the winter without spending a lot of money on some sort of heater and we also get from 4- to 20 some inches of snow here sometimes so how could I keep them wam enough to survive the nights here

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

O I am in McVeytown Pennsylvania if that helps thanks

 

[Hholly]

I would love to have some silkies but there not that cold hardy and in the winter it gets down in the teens and 20s sometimes colder and I was wondering how could I keep them warm in the winter without spending a lot of money on some sort of heater and we also get from 4- to 20 some inches of snow here sometimes so how could I keep them wam enough to survive the nights here

We have similar weather. I just keep them as dry as possible(a roof over the run) and draft free. They are doing fine. During arctic cold, I keep mine locked in the coop with one heat lamp that I'm not sure really warms much of anything. They have straw to keep them warm too. Their run has some plastic to block the North wind too. Some of my silkies came from a breeder in Michigan. I'm sure their weather is as bad as Pennsylvania's. You can totally have silkies!

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Ya I just wanted one or two to help me hatch out some chicks and plus there really cute so I'm glad to hear that thanks now I can look in to finding some