Silkie thread!

Ok, thank you and sorry I'm being a "thread hog". I use Eprinex (ivermectin) at least twice a year to take care of parasites. I only use shavings for my coops and the runs have a dirt sand mixture. I let my chickens free range all day so maybe that's the issue. She's not from my lines (I bought her from breeder), but the breeder said she'd never had sour crop in her flock before. This is also my first time dealing with it and I've had chickens for 7+ years.

Ivermectin is great for external parasites but the studies show that it isn't very effective on internal parasites in poultry .If I were you I'd use a poultry wormer twice a year, such as wazine or rooster booster.
Free ranging is fine , there's nothing wrong with them picking their own grass as they pick it much shorter. Shavings could be your problem. I've lost chicks in the past due to ingesting them. Perhaps this hen is snacking on them., she may even be eating the sand , it tends to sit in the crop without being passed .Chickens will give anything a go, it's a process of elimination all you can do is tick all the boxes and do your best.
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Hello all! New to chickens and even newer to Silkies.
Purchased this little chick from local farmer...said it was 7 weeks-old at the time (9 weeks-old now). It still peeps and doesn't have a very big crest...just wondering if 9 weeks looks about right???
(Probably pet quality which is fine with us).
A couple more questions:
Any gender guesses?
At what age does a Silkie roo begin to crow? (no other roosters in small flock)
At what age can a Silkie chick move to outside coop?

Thanks so much for any input! :)
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I usually move my silkies in with my other chickens at 12 weeks old. With her being only one Silkie, it's going to be pretty hard for her to fit in with a group of other chickens so the older she is the better. She is super adorable! I'd say her crest is going to grow a lot more because I have 3 silkies now at just about 14 weeks old and they have huge crests and when they were 9 weeks old their crest were all still really small. And by the way her coloring is so beautiful! So far I would guess hen on her gender. It depends on the rooster when they will begin to crow. I've had some start as late as 20 weeks and some crow as early as 8 weeks!
 
I bought a partridge silky and a blue frizzle (both supposed to be about a year old) about a month ago. The blue frizzle has been laying eggs for 3 weeks, but the partridge has done nothing.
These are the only silkies I've had, so I'm wondering if there's something I don't know about with this hen?
Any tips?

Thanks!
 
I bought a partridge silky and a blue frizzle (both supposed to be about a year old) about a month ago. The blue frizzle has been laying eggs for 3 weeks, but the partridge has done nothing.
These are the only silkies I've had, so I'm wondering if there's something I don't know about with this hen?
Any tips?

Thanks!

I've had hens take awhile to start laying after they were purchased as adults. A breeder told me to try giving them buttermilk but all I had on hand was whole milk yogurt, I figured I had nothing to loose so I gave it to them and two days later I had eggs!! I don't know if it was a coincidence but I definitely think it's worth a try now.
 

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