Silkie thread!

[BY Chicken Lady]

What cuties gcorso33!

Did you make that tractor? Nice. Do you cover the top with anything to offer shade or is there a closed-in end that we can't see in the pics?

 

[Suzierd]

Very nice tractor! I love paints

 

[Suzierd]

That is a hot topic lately...I am increasing the sand in my run. I have tried different stuff and sand seems to work the best for me and my chicks. we have sand naturally all around us here in the high desert. i can get it for free from the many washes nearby.

Great that you can get the sand so easy, it works so well, they get plenty of grit, drains well, drys fast keeps their feet clean and mites won't live in it,

 

[Suzierd]

Look at all the spots on this new peep

 

[sweets3068]

It is not suggested to feed Silkies layer. They would prefer the Flock Raiser (higher protein feed) with free choice calcium. The boys will not want to eat layer - the calcium can hurt them in the long run (kidneys I believe). I would also not feed bread unless you allow it to dry to bred crumb stage. The moist bread causes most of the sour crop and vent gleet issues that come up in chickens. They aren't built to digest foods like that. Young birds molt (I think) 3 times in their first year. The last molt is usually the most obvious one. If your other birds are eating feathers then they definitely need the higher protein food. The fruit and veggies are great, as is the chance to free range and find more protein in bugs and worms.

So, when you figure out how to post pictures.. you will share your pretties, right?

I posted some before when I had asked about breeding and the possible color combinations. But I do there is another Silkie thread and I may have posted them there. Thank you so much for all that great information. The only thing I had heard about the bread before was to limit it to small amounts. Can you recommend a good book that is Silkie specific? I have found a ton of information here on BYC but is there a maybe a Silkie site I can go to?
Here they are Reese the Rooster is up front and Snickers is the hen in the back.

 

[sweets3068]

Since sand is a topic right now I have a couple of questions. Where I live the soil is very sandy. I just got my chickens this year so the coop and run are new. In the run for my large birds once the grass had all been eaten the ground has become so sandy that even after a heavy rain it dries very quickly. But I am picking up pieces of broken glass and other garbage daily! The more they scratch the more I find. Any ideas of what I can do to prevent this? I have thought of digging down and sifting the sand but the run is 10x12 and I would hate to leave the birds in the coop for the length of time it would take myself to do this.
As for sand in the coop. I have a 6x10 coop for 10 regular size birds. Right now I have a deep layer of straw that seems to be working but as I said it is a new coop so they have only been in it about 1 month. How deep do you all put the sand and would you use it for a large coop with large birds?

Next set of questions.Right now I have 2 silkies in a small coop and run outside. I have not had any issues with glass in their run. But I am planning on getting more and am getting ready to build their coop and run now. This will also be another large run. Do you have any ideas on steps to take right from the start of construction to completely avoid any issues of glass washing up in their run?

 

[sweets3068]

How soon can you tell from a picture the sex of a silkie? I got this one a couple weeks ago and it should almost 3 weeks old. The seller told me she was pretty sure it was a rooster. When I asked her how she could tell she held him over on his back, he pushed his feet out away from his body. She then picked up a bird she had told me was a hen and when she did the same it pulled it's feet in close to it's body. She said a rooster will push his feet out and a hen will pull them in. Ok??

This little baby does have only 1 long fuzzy piece that sticks out on the back of this head. But he does seem to act like a rooster.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Interesting. I have never heard of that method. Let us know how that turns out.

How soon can you tell from a picture the sex of a silkie? I got this one a couple weeks ago and it should almost 3 weeks old. The seller told me she was pretty sure it was a rooster. When I asked her how she could tell she held him over on his back, he pushed his feet out away from his body. She then picked up a bird she had told me was a hen and when she did the same it pulled it's feet in close to it's body. She said a rooster will push his feet out and a hen will pull them in. Ok??

This little baby does have only 1 long fuzzy piece that sticks out on the back of this head. But he does seem to act like a rooster.

How soon can you tell from a picture the sex of a silkie? I got this one a couple weeks ago and it should almost 3 weeks old. The seller told me she was pretty sure it was a rooster. When I asked her how she could tell she held him over on his back, he pushed his feet out away from his body. She then picked up a bird she had told me was a hen and when she did the same it pulled it's feet in close to it's body. She said a rooster will push his feet out and a hen will pull them in. Ok??

This little baby does have only 1 long fuzzy piece that sticks out on the back of this head. But he does seem to act like a rooster.

 

[Suzierd]

Since sand is a topic right now I have a couple of questions. Where I live the soil is very sandy. I just got my chickens this year so the coop and run are new. In the run for my large birds once the grass had all been eaten the ground has become so sandy that even after a heavy rain it dries very quickly. But I am picking up pieces of broken glass and other garbage daily! The more they scratch the more I find. Any ideas of what I can do to prevent this? I have thought of digging down and sifting the sand but the run is 10x12 and I would hate to leave the birds in the coop for the length of time it would take myself to do this.
As for sand in the coop. I have a 6x10 coop for 10 regular size birds. Right now I have a deep layer of straw that seems to be working but as I said it is a new coop so they have only been in it about 1 month. How deep do you all put the sand and would you use it for a large coop with large birds?

Next set of questions.Right now I have 2 silkies in a small coop and run outside. I have not had any issues with glass in their run. But I am planning on getting more and am getting ready to build their coop and run now. This will also be another large run. [COLOR=0000FF]Do you have any ideas on steps to take right from the start of construction to completely avoid any issues of glass washing up in their run?[/COLOR]

The broken glass and garbage is already in your ground? If so I would just keep working at it until its clean, shift thru any new sand brought in. In large runs people use a rake with 1/4 inch hardware cloth wired on the rake and shift thru the sand, cleans out poo and other unwanted stuff.

 

[sweetmsmisty98]

This is dad mom and her black baby.

I am fairly new to silkies. I bought a family of 6 and I got them yesterday. I got mom dad and their 4 babies that are almost 3 months old. I had never had a full grown hen before just small chicks and roos . I had to have them point out the mom cuz the hen and babies were the same size! I was shocked at how small the hens are. I love it!