Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

That is funny! Hmmm... I've kept my puffballs clean and dry, thus far. They have a big, fully covered run. Maybe I should go for haircuts?

If your Silkies are in a run by themselves then trimming their face fur isn't necessary as all the Silkies are in the same boat and don't need to see what's coming. It's when there are bully hens that you want to give your Silkies their own area. I had too many bully large fowl that didn't work keeping w/ Silkies. I eventually found the Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and Breda the best docile/non-combative large fowl around timid Silkies.

CUCKOO BREDA W/ 2 SILKIES


BLUE WHEATEN AMERAUCANA, BLUE BREDA, BLACK SILKIE, PARTRIDGE SILKIE

 

[LadyVictorian]

That is funny! Hmmm... I've kept my puffballs clean and dry, thus far. They have a big, fully covered run. Maybe I should go for haircuts?

I have seen people put them up with those smaller children's ponytails. Mostly for show birds who you don't want to cut up because you show them. I have seen plenty of polish and silkie breeders use this method and it seems to work well enough. Once mine have longer crests I am doing this to keep them clean.

 

[Hinotori]

But chickens seem to actually like nice warm baths. I've had hens almost fall asleep in the sink. Then a nice burrito wrap to soak out most of the water and the hair dryer on low speed and warm. Mine will stand there nicely to be dried off.

I wish the dogs were half as cooperative as the chickens are.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have seen people put them up with those smaller children's ponytails. Mostly for show birds who you don't want to cut up because you show them. I have seen plenty of polish and silkie breeders use this method and it seems to work well enough. Once mine have longer crests I am doing this to keep them clean.

After 6 years w/ Silkies I stopped worrying about their eye fluff. They see just fine and don't need tie-wraps. What's more concern to me is to not mix the docile Silkies w/ more assertive type dual purpose or heavier large fowl breeds. Silkies only weight 2 to 2.5-lbs and most dual purpose are 6-or-more lbs and can easily be tempted to pick on the littles.

 

[Sylvester017]

But chickens seem to actually like nice warm baths. I've had hens almost fall asleep in the sink. Then a nice burrito wrap to soak out most of the water and the hair dryer on low speed and warm. Mine will stand there nicely to be dried off.

I wish the dogs were half as cooperative as the chickens are.

x2

 

[LadyVictorian]

But chickens seem to actually like nice warm baths. I've had hens almost fall asleep in the sink. Then a nice burrito wrap to soak out most of the water and the hair dryer on low speed and warm. Mine will stand there nicely to be dried off.

I wish the dogs were half as cooperative as the chickens are.

MINE ARE THE SAME WAY

I gave them their first bath and they LOVED it, all of them passed out under the blow dryer and I had to wake them all up. They even lifted their wings up to have their wings dried out. I wouldn't say bathe them every day but only as needed when needed. When I gave Sora her second bath because of the poo she enjoyed it more because she was alone and didn't have everyone else pushing her around. She enjoys being scrubbed too, I use a very soft horse bath brush with soft rubber waves on the underside. Use it to wash my dogs too and Sora was just in heaven xD

 

[Hinotori]

I had a silkie rooster named Pumpkin. We affectionately called him Genghis Pumpkin because he was Always on a world dominating conquest. Perfectly people friendly, but oh boy, if you weren't a silkie, you were in for it. He'd rally up the silkie hens behind him, too, and take his horde out to conquer. All of the large fowl ran in fear of him. He chased off my wheaten and silver ameraucana roosters. The large fowl hens would take off if they saw silkies coming. Pumpkin didn't wait for acknowledgment, he'd just attack if he saw something that wasn't a silkie. Many a large fowl lost butt feathers to him. It was finally an old crotchety wheaten ameraucana hen that did him in. After years of him getting his way, she just wasn't putting up with it anymore and she got him in the head. It left him blind and even though he did ok through the spring and summer with the old hens, I had to put him down in the fall when he quit coming out of the coop to eat.

 

[Justjered]

Our 4 silkie chicks and a serama.

What coloring do you call this one? Partridge? Also by the looks and texture of the feathers I'm wondering if it's mixed and not all silkie like it was supposed to be.

 

[candz]

hi all. im new to the group and close to buying 2 or 3 silkie chickens. my main reason is to have a low maintenance pet for my kid, and eggs are an added bonus. i read a thread that was talking about how destructive chickens are to your garden. is that the same for silkies? we currently have 1000m2 however will be subdividing the land and will end up with 500m2 (house footprint 150m2). i really want them to free range (being a pet) at a minimum in the afternoon. are 2 chickens going to destroy my grass and plants? tia

 

[CP Chicken]

hi all. im new to the group and close to buying 2 or 3 silkie chickens. my main reason is to have a low maintenance pet for my kid, and eggs are an added bonus. i read a thread that was talking about how destructive chickens are to your garden. is that the same for silkies? we currently have 1000m2 however will be subdividing the land and will end up with 500m2 (house footprint 150m2). i really want them to free range (being a pet) at a minimum in the afternoon. are 2 chickens going to destroy my grass and plants? tia

I don't think silkies are the best kind of chicken to allow free range due to their fluffy feathers blocking their eyesight, even when you trim those feathers, they still can't see well. Like I said, you need to trim the feathers around their eyes so that they can see but you shouldn't trim it too short because it helps protect their skull, which is more like a baby's head than hard bone. You also need to trim their bum feathers because their poo sometimes gets stuck there. Because silkies are bantam chickens, the eggs they lay are tiny.