Silkie thread!

[peepblessed]

Help Guys! I need some quick advice! Today is day 18 of incubation for my Catdance babies. I just took them off the turner. However, I did not notice that 3 had already started to pip! The incubator was open for about 5 minutes! Are they going to be shrink wrapped, what do I do?? I have waited so long for these! Please advise! Thanks!

How are they doing, Kim?

 

[Sanna]

Oh yes. They are fuzzy. I think they are between 7 and 8 weeks. I had to guess how old they were when I first got them after doing much reading and looking at pictures. These funky feathers I spotted on his wings. I did a little more searching last night and I think they are filoplume feathers? It says they are hairlike and they grow around the base of contour or down feathers. I guess I can't see them on the other Silkie because they blend in on her. His coloring is a mix of browns, oranges, black and greyish blueish I guess. lol And yes, it popped into my head last night that I should get help trying to photograph him.
These are my first Silkies. I got them because my daughter wanted them so bad. She thinks they are the cutest things ever. They have grown on me for sure and I love them.

I've never heard of the filoplume feathers, I have lots to learn still! lol I did some quick reading about the feather and doesn't seem like it's anything to worry about, that's for sure.

Just something unusual for a Silkie I guess.
One thing's for sure is that you and your daughter will want more of those little Silkies sooner or later, so be prepared!

You'll be addicted in no time.

I'm new to Silkies also, and I was wondering if I should make a new coop just for my silkies? Their so small and my Americana's and RIR's are so big would they hurt them or leave them the scraps (so to speak) to eat? Their 1 1/2 months old now and less than a foot, they just sit on my lap or arm so patiently I can't believe they would get out of the way, and get knocked down all the time. Especially when their nouveau hat comes in!

I've heard that some people have mixed flocks, largefowl with bantams. I, personally, would keep them separate. Silkies are much smaller than Americana's and RIR's. And I hear those RIR's can be quite bossy at times. I have no personal experience with the breed other than the 3 hatchery hens we have here on the farm. I don't ever do anything with those girls other than feed them, they belong to the farm. But I know they're not nice when you add a new chicken to the group.
I think you should have a Silkie coop so you can have more of them because you will want more sooner or later!

Could my Silkies be telling me their gender. I sit and watch my birds every chance I get. It seems that 3 of my 2+ month old silkies are trying to establish a pecking order. They will stand up real strait and bump chest sometimes peck at each other and anything smaller in the coop. 2 of them are at it more so than the others. It they are all 3 roos how do I decide which to keep. Probable roos are 1 Chocolate colored partridge, 1 partridge with lots of gold/red. and a blue. The two I believe are hens is 1 blue partridge and 1 blue. I'm getting a white frizzle from a friend, but a 3 to 3 roo/hen ration is high isn't it?

K Epp, sounds a lot like my bird play that I was worried about too. I actually caught it on video. I thought it was rooster sparring (they were only 2 weeks old at the time) but many people here said it was normal chick play. Now just so you know, they were Black Sex Link and Barred Rock, not a Silkie. My silkie stays out of the rough housing lol. Hopefully it is just playing around like mine. And you can keep those beauties. Sounds like a fun flock of colors!

Also, what colors do you breed for a Calico? Just saw one on a site, beautiful! Does anyone here have some Calico photos?

I know pullets do the chest bumping also, I just can't remember at what age they stop the behavior. For some reason I have this memory of around 2 months, but I could be totally wrong so don't take my word on this!

 

[countrygirl74]

I'm new to Silkies also, and I was wondering if I should make a new coop just for my silkies? Their so small and my Americana's and RIR's are so big would they hurt them or leave them the scraps (so to speak) to eat? Their 1 1/2 months old now and less than a foot, they just sit on my lap or arm so patiently I can't believe they would get out of the way, and get knocked down all the time. Especially when their nouveau hat comes in!

My silkies are in the same coop/run as my standards. I have 2 silkie roos and 1 silkie hen. The silkie roos and my standard roo usually prefer to go after the big girls although my standard roo has mounted my silkie hen a few times. She seems to be fine with it. She definitely holds her own in there - especially now that she's gone broody (which I am trying to break) - she's crabby with all the other girls and pecks and chases them off. LOL. My RIR is my meekest hen in the flock, actually the lowest in the pecking order so no problems there. My Barred Rocks are definitely my bossiest and my silkie even tells them off on occasion.
However, my silkies were raised with my standard flock so I don't know how hard it would be to integrate silkies into a standard flock - maybe someone who has done this can comment on that.

 

[farmer boy]

hatching my first silkies im pretty sure their silkies my friend is hatching them for me i think the eggs i gave her was silkies eggs i hope so and i hope my silkie rooster is mating with the silkie hen who just started laying

 

[Kimmi500]

How are they doing, Kim?

Hi There,
One is out, two more are still working at it. Nothing from the other 7. But it is only day 19. My fingers are so crossed! Thanks so much for asking!!

 

[seclusionfarms]

Here is a picture of two out of three of the babies

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Some better pics (sort of) of the chicks I got at the swap the other day. Are they blue partridge? The chick in the first and last pics are the same bird. Most of the chicks look like this. Very blue with partridge in their wings. The chick in the middle picture obviously started out partridge as well, but its feathering in dark blue. And that little Polish just gets me!

 

[peepblessed]

Hi There,
One is out, two more are still working at it. Nothing from the other 7. But it is only day 19. My fingers are so crossed! Thanks so much for asking!!

With shipped eggs, it's always a relief when you at least get something! Hope they continue to pop out!

 

[jsp28504]

I got board last night and candled the 28 eggs I have baking. Only 4 showed no signs of development. They are all shaped and colored the same, now to discover which hen needs a butt fluff trim!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

While I'm posting pictures today, anyone want to guess gender? This is one of 2 chicks I hatched from my blue roo that died, its the only one I kept. I was hoping for a cockerel, so naturally, it looks like a pullet to me :/ Sorry about the dirty face, I think they use the fermented feed as hair product. Yuck!