Silkie thread!

[mrsshutters]

So when my silkies were really young they weren't handled a lot. And now I'm kicking myself for it because they run from me and won't let me pet or hold them. They are about 14 weeks now. Anyone have advice for this? Will they always run from me?

 

[Zgm12]

So when my silkies were really young they weren't handled a lot. And now I'm kicking myself for it because they run from me and won't let me pet or hold them. They are about 14 weeks now. Anyone have advice for this? Will they always run from me?

Treats always help to make silkies nicer. Cracked corn is usually a favorite for chickens. Just put some cracked corn in your hand and call them over. Eventually they'll associate you with food and they'll start running to you and following you around. My silkies are so sweet now that they actually hop into my hand. The only problem with cracked corn is that it makes white silkies develop some yellow feathers.

 

[jas humbert]

Nearly every silkie I've very had calmed down as they reached adulthood. They all have different personalities and some will always be less cuddly than others but most of mine were much friendlier at 9 months old than they were at 3 months old. They seem to go though this wild child period when they don't love being held. Just keep offering treats and picking them up now and then. I keep mealworms as lap-only treats.

 

[CHICKENFARMER22]

Hello everyone! I was curious to know if silkie males feather out slower than the females do. I have 2 partridge silkie chicks and the one has a tail feather and the other one barely does. The one that barely does has a louder chirp too. Thank You!

 

[Lil Peeps]

Hello everyone! I was curious to know if silkie males feather out slower than the females do. I have 2 partridge silkie chicks and the one has a tail feather and the other one barely does. The one that barely does has a louder chirp too. Thank You!

With a batch of Silkie chicks we just raised the chicks were all developing at slightly different paces. The fastest developing one turned out to be a girl, so did the next two fastest and the slowest two both turned out to be boys. I dont know if thats always the case but for a lot of breeds the male's develop the slowest in my experience.

 

[Lil Peeps]

So when my silkies were really young they weren't handled a lot. And now I'm kicking myself for it because they run from me and won't let me pet or hold them. They are about 14 weeks now. Anyone have advice for this? Will they always run from me?

I would suggest spending a lot of time with them, you can definitely offer them treats to speed it up too. Ive found that my silkie hens love wheat bread, corn ( canned, frozen or fresh ) bananas and 5 grain scratch as some of their favorite treats. But every silkie is different so just find something they really like and only give it to them if they come up to you. Hold them a lot also an try to always be really gentle offer them treats and talk sweetly to them when you do so they remember it as a positive experience. I'd say spending a lot of time with them is key. I got a wild little Silkie hen in a trade and they had to catch her with a net she was so wild but in just a couple weeks of spending bunches of time with her filling her full of treats and holding her a lot she was the sweetest thing. Same with the rooster we got with her. And she was about 5 1/2 - 6 months old and had never been held as a baby. So there is always hope.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Nearly every silkie I've very had calmed down as they reached adulthood. They all have different personalities and some will always be less cuddly than  others  but most of mine  were much friendlier at 9 months old than they were at 3 months old. They seem to go though this wild child period when they don't love being held. Just keep offering treats and picking them up now and then. I keep mealworms as lap-only treats. 

I agree my silkies are calming down as they are getting older.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Treats always help to make silkies nicer. Cracked corn is usually a favorite for chickens. Just put some cracked corn in your hand and call them over. Eventually they'll associate you with food and they'll start running to you and following you around. My silkies are so sweet now that they actually hop into my hand. The only problem with cracked corn is that it makes white silkies develop some yellow feathers.

Corn is not a good treat especially for silkies, it is thought that diets high in corn have an adverse effect on their selenium levels and leave them susceptible to wryneck . The yellowing in feathers is generally ' sun bleaching ' , but corn can have an effect on the birds eye colour, hence show people don't feed it.

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/CornAndSilkies.html

 

[Fancychooklady]

So when my silkies were really young they weren't handled a lot. And now I'm kicking myself for it because they run from me and won't let me pet or hold them. They are about 14 weeks now. Anyone have advice for this? Will they always run from me?

As others have said, the more time you spend with them the better. I sit on the ground and offer them treats. As with most creatures , they are less intimidated by you once you are down on their level. My chicks walk all over my feet now and it is a challenge to get through the pen without stepping on anyone's toes. When touching or patting them come from under the chest or crop area, most birds don't like being grabbed from above , reminiscent of being clenched by the talons of a hawk perhaps. In time you will have them eating from your hand.

 

[Sylvester017]

he is pretty calm except when you let them out in the morning he is chasing after the hens for a few minutes or until I go get there feeder.

I watched a couple videos of chickens being let out first thing in the morning and the roos do seem to be frisky for a few minutes on first getting out. It's funny watching all the hens avoiding him!