Silkie thread!

[RockerHen]

Double post .....

 

[RockerHen]

And a triple post...

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I see all this talk of eggs....hatching eggs, first eggs, my hens must be sitting in their snug little coop laughing at me! They're 8 months old, no squat, just nothing. In fact, my rooster just started attempting to mate the hens, and they're response? They beat the crap out of him! I'm really itching to get my incubator out and hatch a few fuzzies. Little brats! :-D

 

[DDNONIN2016]

I see all this talk of eggs....hatching eggs, first eggs, my hens must be sitting in their snug little coop laughing at me! They're 8 months old, no squat, just nothing. In fact, my rooster just started attempting to mate the hens, and they're response? They beat the crap out of him! I'm really itching to get my incubator out and hatch a few fuzzies. Little brats!

Awwwww I hope you get some eggs soon. I want to see the fuzzies

 

[DDNONIN2016]

I havent tried that... I did add some oats to their feed though and they ate that...

Mine wouldnt go near it at first. But when piggy finally stumbled across it and dug in that was it

 

[Sanna]

So I was just complaining the other day that my little cockerel hasn't discovered his inner 'macho' yet after someone posted a picture of a little cockerel with his chest out looking all manly. I think it was a white one and even younger than mine.

Well this is little Ace Ventura today!

Look at that pose!

And there he is with his girls and the random Cochin. The buff in the back cracks me up. The look on her face...and the fluff on the head...

Actually, I'm not so sure it's a "she".. I'll just have to wait and see.


Ace and my white pullet with very, VERY flat 'hair'. lol



What do you guys think of this guy?? Looking ok so far for 4,5 months?? Is there hope for a breeding bird? Maybe even shows?

I'll have to get some wing & foot pictures to show as well.

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

Feeding time!

 

[peepblessed]

She is dragging down like it weighs a ton

Silly things.

Here's one of few of them looking miserable

Great photo!!!

Hi All...I have a 7 month old silkie that just started laying last week. The first 4 days she laid everyday then she skipped Friday, layed Saturday and hasn't laid since...my concern is that last night she didn't sleep in the silkie pile like she always does..she slept alone and this morning when I took their meal worm treats out to them...she was just randomly pecking the air instead of getting the treats like she always does from my hand and yesterday she didn't come out at all for treats...it concerns me because she has never acted that way...none of this started happening until she started laying. Is this normal behavior? Just concerned about her!! Let me know your thoughts!!

I don't like change in behavior. First layers sometimes lay large double yolks and they can get stuck. If you catch it early you can help. If the trim didn't do the trick, here is some help for egg bound.
EGG BOUND
Here is some good advice from eggchel about how to help an egg bound hen,
I hope this helps your girl out!

Separate her.
Plan on keeping her separated from the other hens for a couple days so that
you will know if she passes an egg, what condition the egg is in (although a
broken egg will often be eaten right away) and so that the other hens do not
peck at her vent if she has egg yolk or blood in the area.
Examine her externally.
Examine her by gently feeling her belly from the outside. Can you feel a hard
egg? If so, you
can give her a warm bath (see instructions below) and massage her belly
towards her vent to help move the egg out.
Examine her internally.
Now, I can understand that you might not feel that you know your hen well
enough to check inside her vent for an egg or shell pieces, but it really
might be necessary. You could put on a pair of surgical gloves if that makes
you feel better and put some
vasoline or mineral oil on your finger and then just gently feel around inside
her vent to see if you can feel a hard egg or sharp shell pieces.
This will not only give you an idea of what might be going on, but it will
also apply some lubricant where it might do some good if there is an egg stuck
in there. If you feel any broken pieces of shell, see if you can carefully
slip them out without cutting her.
Unfortunately, they sometimes get twisted inside and it becomes impossible for
the egg to come out without surgery, or it causes the reproductive tract to
prolapse (invert itself outside of the vent). If that happens then you need to
gently push the prolapsed part back inside and hope it stays, but often that be
comes chronic and requires culling.

Giving a chicken a massage bath:
You can use rubbermaid tote, a baby bath, a 5 gallon bucket or an old dishpan
for the bath. I use the sink on my back porch or the laundry sink. (Some folks
use their kitchen sink but I dont suggest that for sanitary reasons... )
Check the water temperature the same as you would for the baby, good and
warm but not hot.
Lower her gently in the water. It should come up to her back. Keep your hand
over her back to prevent sudden escape attempts and to keep her from losing her
footing and panicking. Either one will result in her flapping her wings and
you will get soaked.
Massage her belly gently moving in the direction of her vent. She should
relax in the warm water. Some birds even fall asleep.
Getting her dry.
After the bath, wrap her in an old towel and put her under a warm lamp or
inside the house to keep her warm. Keep her wrapped in the towel for at least
15 minutes, or longer, to absorb as much of the water from her feathers as
possible. Then move her to a rubbermaid tote or a dog/cat carrier with a lot
of shavings to help dry her. Again, keep her inside until she is dry, it
will take overnight, and she needs to be in a warm place. I use the regular
red 250 watt heat lamps. I hang it over the birds, but make sure it gets put
up high enough so they don't burn their crests.
Last year I put several under the heat lamps to dry and blow dried one fully.
I couldn't tell a difference. All birds ended up being little fluffy puffballs.
Plus, it's alot less work to just plop them down under a heat lamp rather
than blow dry each one.
I also use liquid glycerine in the rinse water.
It takes a long
time for them to get dry all the way to the skin unless you want to speed the
process with a hair dryer or heatlamp. Amazingly, after the first minute or
two, they
dont seem to mind the hair dryer. Just be sure to frequently use your other
hand, between the hair drier and the bird, to be sure that it isnt too hot.

Feeding time!

I thought they were sheep!! Just gorgeous!!

I see all this talk of eggs....hatching eggs, first eggs, my hens must be sitting in their snug little coop laughing at me! They're 8 months old, no squat, just nothing. In fact, my rooster just started attempting to mate the hens, and they're response? They beat the crap out of him! I'm really itching to get my incubator out and hatch a few fuzzies. Little brats! :-D

So I was just complaining the other day that my little cockerel hasn't discovered his inner 'macho' yet after someone posted a picture of a little cockerel with his chest out looking all manly. I think it was a white one and even younger than mine.

Well this is little Ace Ventura today!

Look at that pose!

And there he is with his girls and the random Cochin. The buff in the back cracks me up. The look on her face...and the fluff on the head...

Actually, I'm not so sure it's a "she".. I'll just have to wait and see.


Ace and my white pullet with very, VERY flat 'hair'. lol



What do you guys think of this guy?? Looking ok so far for 4,5 months?? Is there hope for a breeding bird? Maybe even shows?

I'll have to get some wing & foot pictures to show as well.

Ace is looking very nice!! In 3 months he should look awesome!

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Well, I put the chooks outside, and made them some warm oatmeal. LF's love it, Silkies do not. I haven't found anything to get them to eat much! They are too light for winter, not eating much. Tried lots of food, lots of additives that I've found on here, no go. I still need to try applesauce. They are on game bird feeder with little bit of scratch. Frustrating!

I made oatmeal with raisins for them this morning and they gobbled it up. I have noticed that they are very picky about foods.

 

[ChicksNherps]

I gave Nori a bath today, she must have had a growth spurt in the last couple weeks because she is HUGE! She has always been so tiny and now she's nice and plump

Probably from all the extra protein for winter.