Silkie thread!

[chickendude9]

Thanks guys! So I have four silkies and four regular chickens who will be in the same coop and yard. How do you suggest I give them their different foods?

 

[aoxa]

They are all cute , but if you really want to show you should probably start off with some show stock but that is sometimes expensive. You already pointed out problems with each that would make them less than desirable for show purposes.

Try and decide just what you want.. bearded-non bearded , color and find a local show breeder to get a few chicks from and grow out few nice chicks with show potential.

I agree.

None of these birds are show quality, and would not do well in a show. I don't mean to be harsh or anything, because they would make great pets and broodies, but are not show quality birds. Number 1 is your best one. She may get better, but the other two.. I would not use these birds as breeders either, as their combs are too red and large. The white rooster has very little foot feathering.

 

[jessicaroo]

Their regular food should supply them with their regular vitamins. I will supplement with red cell every now and then but my house silkie is fine without the uvb. People keep poultry in the house all the time without issues. Also, a starter/grower food is ideal for silkies rather than layer(too much calcium can damage their kidneys)... just throwing it out there

in case you didn't know...

How long should silkies eat starter? Can I switch them to layer around the time I switch my standards? (18 wks- give or take)

 

[aoxa]

How long should silkies eat starter? Can I switch them to layer around the time I switch my standards? (18 wks- give or take)

You never have to switch them to layer. Your silkies nor your standard birds.

Just offer free choice oyster shell.

Silkies are so up and down with laying (ie: taking break to be broody) so layer is not recommended. They do not need it when they are not laying, so their kidneys have to filter out extra calcium that their body is not using. This can lead to kidney damage. Better to let them decide how much calcium they need by having oyster free choice.

Some birds need more calcium than others. Even with layer some birds need more than what is provided.

 

[chisNchickens]

Haven't visited the silkie thread for a good long while! Here are some pictures of my two white pullets I will be showing this month, although they look a lot more mature now (pics about a month old). I produced these two late last fall. And then my lone splash hen...will be showing her too but will probably sell her.
I have an incubator full of silkie eggs and three broodies on more, hopefully I will have more eggs to share before too long!
These two haven't started laying yet...

 

[Sanna]

Haven't visited the silkie thread for a good long while! Here are some pictures of my two white pullets I will be showing this month, although they look a lot more mature now (pics about a month old). I produced these two late last fall. And then my lone splash hen...will be showing her too but will probably sell her.
I have an incubator full of silkie eggs and three broodies on more, hopefully I will have more eggs to share before too long!
These two haven't started laying yet...

I wouldn't mind ordering some eggs from you if this is what you're hatching.

Would you ship chicks?

 

[Sanna]

I need help again!!!

I know this is a problem that happens all the time to lots of people. My partridge pullet I was planning on showing in about 20 days, has gone broody. Going on 2 weeks now...and of course she has lost weight and she's a bit thin.

I kept trying to kick her butt out of the coop several times a day but that hasn't worked. Today, I put her in with my Cochin cockerel and his girlfriend, thinking he'll keep running her around. Two hours later, she was in the coop AGAIN!
I am going to give them a day or two, to see if anything changes. I was hoping Beaker was going to give this pullet a run for her money being that he thinks he's such a ladies man.
Incase this plan doesn't work, do you guys have any other ideas on how to break a broody hen out of this habit? I'd hate to take her to a show because she's thin and she's not carrying her wings as nicely as she normally would when she actually moves around.. Or maybe she'll snap out of it before too long.....I hope. I won't give her any babies because she kept picking on my blue hen's chicks.

Girls. They're impossible!

 

[silkielover5]

Unfortunately I lost the best silkie chick sexer is history he was a old English bantam rooster I would put in the brooder with 3 month old chicks and he'd separate the males and the females for me he was only wrong twice and his reword would be getting to live with the lady's tell they grew up. Now I gotta find a new one :/

 

[silkielover5]

[COLOR=FF0000]I need help again!!![/COLOR]
I know this is a problem that happens all the time to lots of people. My partridge pullet I was planning on showing in about 20 days, has gone broody. Going on 2 weeks now...and of course she has lost weight and she's a bit thin.   I kept trying to kick her butt out of the coop several times a day but that hasn't worked. Today, I put her in with my Cochin cockerel and his girlfriend, thinking he'll keep running her around. Two hours later, she was in the coop AGAIN!
I am going to give them a day or two, to see if anything changes. I was hoping Beaker was going to give this pullet a run for her money being that he thinks he's such a ladies man.
Incase this plan doesn't work, do you guys have any other ideas on how to break a broody hen out of this habit? I'd hate to take her to a show because she's thin and she's not carrying her wings as nicely as she normally would when she actually moves around.. Or maybe she'll snap out of it before too long.....I hope. I won't give her any babies because she kept picking on my blue hen's chicks.

Girls. They're impossible!

You could put her in a raised wire cage and apparently the air flow underneath her will break her. I've also heard about putting a bag of ice underneath them to cool down their chests. Not sure how well either one works but worth a try

 

[silkiemomma42]

Here are pictures of my sweet blue silkie babies on the day we got them and yesterday! We got them from a fellow BYC member. They are our favorite birds. I was wondering if there was any way to begin to discern gender, They are very different looking birds. the lighter is B-Mo, and the darker is Lorraine (hopefully). I think they are just beautiful! Any advice would be really helpful! Thank you!