zookeepersgirl
In the Brooder
I am also in the wet part of Washington and I have raised Silkies for a few years now. We did some weatherproofing of the Silkie coop last summer by changing their welded wire fence to a cedar fence to help keep out drafts. We put windows into the fence to let the light in but not the wind. We also put a cedar roof over one end but it was more for shade and protection since it does let some rain in, more like drips than a downpour.
Our coop is a converted insulated dog house with a covered porch that was custom built for a huge dog so it keeps out the drafts. We can't keep the Silkies from choosing to stand in the rain but they have lots of dry options. The coop is raised so they can go under it as well but they will still stand in any rain puddles they can find. We figure that as long as they have a warm dry coop to sleep in they can get wet if they insist.
I worry more about the young birds than the adults. We raise chicks indoors and then put them out in the coop but my goal is to set up a nursery where the hens can brood the chicks. All of our chicks start in the Silkie pen with Silkie hens to snuggle up with but the Orpington chicks move to a grow out pen once they are as big as the Silkies. We need to change our steps to a ramp for baby chicks to get in and out of the coop so for now they are inside until they are feathered out completely.
Our biggest challenge is having the adult birds knock over the chick waterers and eating the chick starter so we set it up in a compost bin and prop the door high enough to let the chicks in and keep the adults out so it works like a creep feeder. We had a smaller brooder doghouse in the Silkie pen for the Orpington chicks to sleep in and they can be taught which house is theirs but it takes some training. You have to show them at bedtime how to go where you want them so we "walk" them to bed instead of picking them up and putting them to bed. If chickens go to a corner of the pen and then are transported from there to the coop, they will go to the same corner every night out of habit because it works for them. They don't learn well under stress either so it takes gentle nudging to teach them how to put themselves to bed in their own coop. The Silkie chicks need to learn to go in the Silkie coop and not the small coop since that is their home.
We had chicks hatch on Easter but I already culled out the ones we did not want to raise. We are not keeping blues right now, only splash, since our rooster is blue and we want more splash hens under him. We also sold two discounted splash chicks for toe issues. One had four toes and one had a sixth toe coming out of its fifth toe. We sell unwanted chicks as a straight run and later we sell off the boys so we can keep our girls. After this year we will need to replace our rooster because we are going on his second generation.
We started with poor quality Silkies to use as incubators and brooders but they were not good mothers so now we just keep breeder quality that could be show quality even though we don't show our birds due to biosecurity. We do sell pullets at times but we pair them with roosters that are too nice to take to the auction. I have a nice splash rooster that will need to go soon so I have to see if I am ready to replace a hen for him or send him to the auction. I list nice roosters for a couple weeks to see if anyone needs a breeding rooster but too many areas don't allow roosters so they are usually doomed to die after all we put into raising them. I think all our pullets are looking good enough to keep right now but I have not spent much time looking them over while I am waiting for surgery before I am back on my feet again.
There are alot of pet quality Silkies available in the area but be cautious getting chicks from people who have a revolving door of chickens coming onto their property. More than once I have sold pet quality chicks to someone only to have them raise the price and resell them days later. I do not vaccinate any of our chicks because I need to know my birds are healthy and not asymptomatic carriers so if they are exposed to disease carriers they will be symptomatic. Having vaccinated birds is fine as long as they never leave your property. Mareks is spreading uncontrollably as more and more asymptomatic carrier birds are allowed to transmit the disease to unsuspecting bird owners. Masking symptoms of a disease is the best way to start an epidemic. The only reason breeders would need to vaccinate their chicks is due to confirmed cases of disease and subsequent exposure to disease on their property. Having healthy birds that are free of disease is better than having diseased birds that appear to be healthy.[/quote
Thanks for the info!
You sell and raise pullets?!! Can I message you some questions about that? I would love to start raising and selling pullets and would love to have some advice.
Do you ship your chicks? I might consider buying some female silkies to brood my eggs.
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