Silkie thread!

[AlienChick]

My silkies have finally laid their first egg at 8 months old!!

Congratulations on your first egg!!

It certainly takes 'em a while, but they eventually get there!

 

[buckskinluvr]

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is very exciting!  I think I'll start saving them.  But, it is still really cold outside.  maybe that isn't a good idea? IDK!  

I read a thread on here about hatching out fertile trader joes eggs... whicfh means, they must last quite a while before they go bad?

I had silkie eggs in my fridge for almost 2 months, not stored the correct direction, or turned and I had over 50% hatch rate. I'd say that's pretty good.

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

My chicks are a week old now...I think I have a sizzle!!

Really cute! I love the color. Did they come from your own pens? Congratulation, they are lovely!

Nice find! Found my friend a baby white silkie in a tub squished underneath sussex and maran chicks. This silkie will be spoiled rotten! I am currently on babysitting duty, "she" is in my shirt snuggling at the moment. She won't let me put her down! Everytime I try to put her back in her box she cries loudly until I pick her up again. She will also only eat and drink with my hand in the box.

What a cutie pie! You were lucky to find it under all of those chicks! Congratulation, she is pretty!

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

Haha, since you asked so nicely!! They are soooo cute. We have more due to hatch in the next week or so too! There are a few other breeds mixed in with the Silkies but mostly, they are all Silkies!

While I am on a picture hunt...




This is totally the cutest-yet-awkward Silkie stage, right? I love them as their feathers are growing in.




My favorite three month old white. I am pretty sure it is turning out to be a he though. That's not a bad thing, I just was hoping for a gorgeous white hen!

Wow that are a lot of chicks! Did you get 100% hatch rate?
Congratulation on all of those babies, they are so cute!!!!
Your 2 teenagers are very pretty too, especially the last picture

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

My Macho had quite a close call today. They were out freeranging, and a LF EE hen wandered up near them. Of course, Macho ran after her, all three pounds of him, to mate her, but she didn't take too kindly to that and turned around and thrashed him. She must have hit his head, because after the first hit, he collapsed to the ground instantly and didn't get up or move. I thought for an awful moment he was dead, just like my silkie/polish. I picked him up, and he was still breathing and blinking, but acting very dazed, not wanting to stand, and shaking. I put him in the dogloo to get his bearings, and he sat in there with his head down in the shavings for about an hour before slowly standing up and rejoining the flock. Now he's out and about, his usual self, popping his wings, crowing, chest thrust out. I'm thinking he maybe got a concussion. I hope it's not anything serious like a hematoma. I hope this teaches him to choose his women more wisely

Shortly after his accident

Oh I am so sorry he got hurt. I am hoping he is back to normal and feeling better. Keep us updated please.

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

So, this is what I came home with from the Congress....and I took terrible pictures for a change. lol
I'm still not a 100% sure if this was the right hen for my cockerel, but I'm going to give it a shot. First time breeding! lol
Her wings aren't great but the cockerel has really nice wings. And, her feet are better than his, which to me was important.
Her cushion is much better than it seems. She wasn't too happy about having to pose for pictures after the car ride. She sort of froze in one place..

At least to my amateur eye, she has pretty good overall type. Apparently that's one of the most important things you should look for in a breeding bird?

I'm hoping I'll have the right genetics when I breed her to my cockerel in the spring. Can't wait!!

Almost looks like this lady has some scaley leg mites starting, I'll have to take care of that.

She looks really cute but as other mentioned she is probably scared. Give her a few days to settle down. What does you make you think she has scaley leg mites?

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

I'm so sorry I've forgotten.

Who was interested in seeing (pictoral) updates of my 4 baby chicks? 3 of them had "chipmunk" stripes and we were going to watch to see if they actually became partridge or ended up blue like their momma (Mysty Blue). The daddy was a splash and momma a dark blue. Should I start a seperate thread or private message instead of posting on here?

It wasn't me but I still would love to see some lol.

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

Yes, she seemed to be a little tired and scared with everything going on. She did settle in her little quarantine pen nicely, though. She thought the food dish was the best thing ever! I bet she was hungry..
My cockerel is a splash. This is him, probably about a month ago. I have to take some new pictures of him.

Very nice

I love splash!

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

I've experienced the determination of hens that desperately want chicks...I have 3 mixed color oegb. Teeny, teeny girls, way smaller than my silkies. I got rid of all my oegb roos long ago, as I just wanted to keep the hens as broodies, not breed them. Back before I got my silkies or wyandottes, I had a mixed flock of LF layers. The only roosters I owned were a white leghorn, a RIR, and a WCB polish, all huge LF boys. When cleaning out a brushy area next to the coops, I came across a little oegb hen, on 6 bantam eggs. I was a little amused, and thought, those won't be fertile girl, just give up. But I thought I would candle, just for the heck of it. EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS FERTILE. And they hatched, and grew into medium sized birds, smaller than LF, but much bigger than their mother. I have one left as a broody. I assume the leghorn was the father, because of her flopped over comb. I have no idea where her almost crele barring/lacing came from.


Get this, she is brooding her own eggs here, top. And she mated with the HUGE SLW we have (she's about 4 lbs, he's about 12), and successfully hatched chicks from him. Like mother, like daughter

This is her mother. You can see how tiny she is compared to the silkie chicks. This tiny girl mated with a LF leghorn.

She is tiny, but what a great mommy. She is very pretty... and those chicks... to die for!

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

I had silkie eggs in my fridge for almost 2 months, not stored the correct direction, or turned and I had over 50% hatch rate. I'd say that's pretty good.

I don't remember which temperature we are supposed to store fertile eggs.