Silkie thread!

[kssilkiemama]

Here is my boy



I should have scrolled down before I replied. Nice looking boy! He needs some girls!

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Is he a hatchery Silkie or a breeders Silkie I heard that the hatchery ones are smaller than the others and more less calm and more jumpy

 

[jas humbert]

"Is he a hatchery Silkie or a breeders Silkie I heard that the hatchery ones are smaller than the others and more less calm and more jumpy"

I'm not the original poster on that black boy but I do have a personal experience about the diference between hatchery silkies and breeder silkies.

A few years ago, I started with 4 farm store silkies. A year later I hatched out a batch of 14 silkies from a show breeder and I think there was world of difference between the two. I can't say the size was much different overall (although the breeder's silkies were a lot fuller/fluffier feathered).But the temperment was like day and night. I got the farms store birds at 3 days old but they never really tamed down and were always a bit shy and did not love to be picked up - even when I loved on them every day. The ones I hatched were so much friendlier. I no longer have any of my original farm store silkies, but my breeder silkies that I have kept all love me and love attention.All will eat out of my hand and are easy to pick up and my littel blue hen Petunia will stand on my shoes and peck at my feet until I pick her up for a little love, I can't say it works that way for everyone but it sure did for me.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Ok that's what I wanted I don't like birds so jumpy and sqawk every time u touch them like ur going to stab them or something it gets annoying when they do that that's why I wanted some silkies the ones I have gotten from a lady about 15 minutes from me they weren't silkies but holy cow do they sqawk every time u open the door to come in and do a quick check on them and make sure they are all ok and they fly off the roost and out the door I was thinking about selling them because of that but I don't think I am there is one that used to be calmer around me but now she is starting it to it sounds like a cat got caught in a fan of the car sqawking but three of them so I know just let them out when I go in so they can go outside so I don't have to here it the rest of them are all calm and don't even make a sound when I touch them

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Hehe, the little dark headed one is almost chinchilla .

Not sure how I missed this. Love them, I'm sure they'll give you some pretty babies!

 

[chickens29]

Is he a hatchery Silkie or a breeders Silkie I heard that the hatchery ones are smaller than the others and more less calm and more jumpy

That's so true. Every single silkie I have ever gotten from Tractor Supply ended up hating me. 5 days ago my mom decided to get them again, but this time I'm trying to socialize with them more than I did. The sexlink chicks are very sociable, love to be picked up and enjoy sleeping in your lap. One of them even flies up to my arm. The silkies on the other hand just stand there and start peeping loudly. :/

My silkie hens from three years ago were more mean to me than any chicken I've ever had and I really hope that this batch doesn't turn out like that. If it does then I am just going to give them away for free because I swear those hatchery silkies are gremlins and I do not want to go through that ever again. If they didn't hit you in the face with their jagged wing feathers, they tried to cut you into ribbons with their claws

Breeder silkies are okay I guess but they're far away and expensive so my mom won't buy them. I really think that quality silkies are worth the price; unless you want to end up with possessed furby chickens.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I would reccomend trying that once they start to learn there instincts and start to pull away from u and start to be a little jumpy around u to start socializing with them but it wouldn't hurt to start early

 

[Sylvester017]

Ok that's what I wanted I don't like birds so jumpy and sqawk every time u touch them like ur going to stab them or something it gets annoying when they do that that's why I wanted some silkies the ones I have gotten from a lady about 15 minutes from me they weren't silkies but holy cow do they sqawk every time u open the door to come in and do a quick check on them and make sure they are all ok and they fly off the roost and out the door I was thinking about selling them because of that but I don't think I am there is one that used to be calmer around me but now she is starting it to it sounds like a cat got caught in a fan of the car sqawking but three of them so I know just let them out when I go in so they can go outside so I don't have to here it the rest of them are all calm and don't even make a sound when I touch them

My chickens vary as to when they are noisy. My Ameraucana (my avatar) is very quiet when she's not laying about half the year. Once she starts laying she starts getting more active, squawks more, and generally a very noisy bird sometimes for no reason at all that we can tell. Then there's the two Silkies - one is so quiet she chirps little rapid chirps and only squawks if the other birds sound a predator alert. The other Silkie squawks most of the day - she is an active little girl and we think she squawks just to squawk - and when she sees us come outside she gets excitedly vocal. Our Breda hen has a low-tone voice and doesn't have the tendency to squawk loudly unless the others start a barnyard alert. Our Leghorns when we had them liked to talk in pleasant low tones and only squawked when they layed an egg. All our breeds will stay very quiet when they molt and actually hide out or stay in the coop during their molting. But in general I would think some breeds are less noisy than others. My Ameraucana embarrasses me she is so-o-o loud sometimes and just won't stop. The other breeds we have are quieter.

 

[Sylvester017]

That's so true. Every single silkie I have ever gotten from Tractor Supply ended up hating me. 5 days ago my mom decided to get them again, but this time I'm trying to socialize with them more than I did. The sexlink chicks are very sociable, love to be picked up and enjoy sleeping in your lap. One of them even flies up to my arm. The silkies on the other hand just stand there and start peeping loudly. :/

My silkie hens from three years ago were more mean to me than any chicken I've ever had and I really hope that this batch doesn't turn out like that. If it does then I am just going to give them away for free because I swear those hatchery silkies are gremlins and I do not want to go through that ever again. If they didn't hit you in the face with their jagged wing feathers, they tried to cut you into ribbons with their claws

Breeder silkies are okay I guess but they're far away and expensive so my mom won't buy them. I really think that quality silkies are worth the price; unless you want to end up with possessed furby chickens.

Silkies have surprisingly long toes/toenails plus a fifth toe and their feet are big for such little chickens. Try putting a diaper on a Silkie while it's pushing away with all of its ten toes LOL. While we had one of our Silkies in-house for quarantine and waiting for her to get big enough to join the flock we had her in chicken diapers for 3 months. For a couple weeks it was a struggle for two of us to put a diaper on her every day and then baby shampoo and blowdry her vent feathers every night. Because of all that handling during quarantine and using diapers she is the easiest of our chickens to handle today. We can even hold her upside-down on a platform for a minute when I clip her toenails and she hardly squiggles. No chicken truly likes to be picked up and held but some relax sooner than others. Our Silkies are skittish but we have one that trembles when she sees us getting ready to pick her up because she knows we are going to feed her a treat. Also, with all our pullets, we practice the "judge's hold" of picking up the chickens so we don't touch their reproductive (egg-forming) sides. The judge's hold is more secure and less threatening/harmful then picking them up by the sides. It takes a little practice but the chickens soon get used to it as a non-threatening hold.

 

[Silkie2]

Would it help if I gave my (soon to be) silkies a treat every day I held them? I really want my silkies to like me lol (they'll be my first) also I am not getting mine from tractor supply, I'm getting mine at dodge grain.