Silkie thread!

[Hinotori]

 

[FishMtFarm]

Beautiful boys you have there!

 

[Hinotori]

The bachelor pen was open to the center today. The boys rushes over when I opened the main entrance.

It was hilarious. Some of the older boys were calling them over for the grass. The big boy in the center there is the oldest at 9 months. He found a few pieces of scratch I had dropped and called one of the tweens over and handed it to him.

Those three boys are always underfoot. Very friendly beggers.

 

[FishMtFarm]

I love it when older Roos feed the younger ones! I have some that totally take are of all the young guys. So cool!

 

[moomoodiddy]

What should I plant for my chickens and goats this fall?

 

[Hinotori]

She has the smallest crest of any of my silkies but her children all have the biggest.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

She has the smallest crest of any of my silkies but her children all have the biggest.

View attachment 1154146

She's a nice colour! Do you trim their crests so they can see? I just did that a couple of days ago with my two, and it was comical watching them crane their necks and inspect everything!

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

I have a sexing question - I think. My two Silkies were hatched in June, so they're about 4 months old. When I got them they were the same size. Just recently in the past month I notice that my partridge one is getting bigger and huskier than the white one, who's kind of slim and scrawny. Are roosters bigger and heavier than hens? Or could it just be genetics? I don't know if they're related to each other, though I got them from the same place. I don't think the white one is sick or underfed, I check their crops every day when I handle them and they're always full. They have a box for hiding or nesting in their pen, and both of them have started using it more. Do roosters sit inside nesting boxes with the hens?

 

[Hinotori]

She's a nice colour! Do you trim their crests so they can see? I just did that a couple of days ago with my two, and it was comical watching them crane their necks and inspect everything!

I don't normally trim them. The hens spike their crests up with water occasionally.

Sometimes I do have to trim. The cockerel with the huge crest was pretty much feather blind and biting anything that was within a couple inches of him. A trim fixed that immediately. He's a really friendly guy so I knew he had something wrong.

It's been a few weeks. He looks like the other boys now. He's the one in front. Hard to believe he's only 24 weeks old. The one behind is 39 weeks. They are very big boys

 

[Hinotori]

I have a sexing question - I think. My two Silkies were hatched in June, so they're about 4 months old. When I got them they were the same size. Just recently in the past month I notice that my partridge one is getting bigger and huskier than the white one, who's kind of slim and scrawny. Are roosters bigger and heavier than hens? Or could it just be genetics? I don't know if they're related to each other, though I got them from the same place. I don't think the white one is sick or underfed, I check their crops every day when I handle them and they're always full. They have a box for hiding or nesting in their pen, and both of them have started using it more. Do roosters sit inside nesting boxes with the hens?

Can be genetics. Cockerels do get bigger than hens. All of my silkies will get in the nesting box. Roosters will check out spots and call hens over to see the nice nesting spot they found.

Is there red coming in on the wing bows of the partridge? At 4 months all my boys have a ton of red.