Silkie thread!

Are you sure there was a chick, and not just an exploded bad egg?

well, when I candled it a week ago, it looked like it was still alive. I can't find any signs of ANY of it there this morning. My daughter said she went out there the other day and shook the thing. so she could have killed it. :( The other chick got shrink wrapped in the egg and I just went out there and got it out of the shell. it is a SPLASH!!! yae!!! so I guess my hen really is a blue after all :) I can't understand what happened to that other chick :( I'm so sad. there is one egg left. I want to bring it in and check it out!
 
Hey guys, my Silkie broody stepped in poop and got it on her 15 eggs she is sitting on, its not a huge mess, but dirty nonetheless. Any suggestions? They are 14 days in. They were clean last night. Dirty this morning. I didnt want to rub them clean because of contamination. Should I just leave them be?
 
Quote: Yes, I love my Silkies too. Lets see - lots of questions:

1) Silkies get along well with other birds - yes. As Sonoran says they tend to be near the top of the pecking order if they are raised together. However I find that some other breeds (Wyandottes were one) are more aggressive and would not leave anybody alone - and depending on where you get your birds (if they have vaulted skulls and/or have big crests so they can't see well) they can get picked on and hurt.

2) Silkies only come in the Bantam variety in the US. There are LF Silkies in Europe. Some have talked about importing them or breeding for larger size, no clue what has come of that.

3) Nope, birds don't care if you take their eggs. The only time they will fuss is if they are broody (as Sonoran said) or if they are actually on the nest and you boot them off to get the eggs. Usually they will go right back on if they need to lay - but they can make a fuss about it. Chickens get stressed out by being moved, by any predator attacks, etc.. but they can be in extreme pain and you wouldn't notice it - so its a good idea to spend some time watching your flock and noting any oddities. Besides - its fun to watch them!
Quote: Yay - I am glad you found out your girl is Blue. Sorry about the missing egg - shaking it won't kill it unless it unless the shaking was really rough. It is possible something else happened - but momma took care of it. I would leave that last egg alone for at least another day. We say to "sit on your hands" when you are using an incubator - that goes for broodies too, let them do their job and only step in if there is a problem. The hen should be on "lockdown" and its best not to mess with her. She probably would have helped the shrink wrapped chick out when it started making enough noise to get out too... its why they are the best incubators.
 
Hey guys, my Silkie broody stepped in poop and got it on her 15 eggs she is sitting on, its not a huge mess, but dirty nonetheless. Any suggestions? They are 14 days in. They were clean last night. Dirty this morning. I didnt want to rub them clean because of contamination. Should I just leave them be?
Yes, leave them alone. Chickens hatch poopy eggs all the time.
 
Yes, leave them alone. Chickens hatch poopy eggs all the time.

LOL! okay I won't clean them. Silkies are beautiful little things, but like my shih-tzus, are dirty little beasties that look like princesses only once or twice a year, they are little swamp rats the rest of the time. I love them anyway. My silkies are currently in need of bathing because they have watermelon poofs right now. They look like little porcupines. Plus they are white, so that doesn't help.
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I screwed up. I went out to check my cochin hen today, as it is her hatch day. She got up to eat a bit so I picked up one of the eggs to look it over and dropped it onto one of the other ones and put a crack in it. GRRRRRRRR!!!! I am so mad at myself right now. I don't think it broke the membrane, but I really hope I didn't kill a chick from my own stupidity.
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I screwed up. I went out to check my cochin hen today, as it is her hatch day. She got up to eat a bit so I picked up one of the eggs to look it over and dropped it onto one of the other ones and put a crack in it. GRRRRRRRR!!!! I am so mad at myself right now. I don't think it broke the membrane, but I really hope I didn't kill a chick from my own stupidity.
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I hope not too - but that's why I say "LEAVE THEM ALONE" I am a klutz too and that sounds like something I would do.... so I don't do it any more.
 
Yes, I love my Silkies too. Lets see - lots of questions:

1) Silkies get along well with other birds - yes. As Sonoran says they tend to be near the top of the pecking order if they are raised together. However I find that some other breeds (Wyandottes were one) are more aggressive and would not leave anybody alone - and depending on where you get your birds (if they have vaulted skulls and/or have big crests so they can't see well) they can get picked on and hurt.

2) Silkies only come in the Bantam variety in the US. There are LF Silkies in Europe. Some have talked about importing them or breeding for larger size, no clue what has come of that.

3) Nope, birds don't care if you take their eggs. The only time they will fuss is if they are broody (as Sonoran said) or if they are actually on the nest and you boot them off to get the eggs. Usually they will go right back on if they need to lay - but they can make a fuss about it. Chickens get stressed out by being moved, by any predator attacks, etc.. but they can be in extreme pain and you wouldn't notice it - so its a good idea to spend some time watching your flock and noting any oddities. Besides - its fun to watch them!
Yay - I am glad you found out your girl is Blue. Sorry about the missing egg - shaking it won't kill it unless it unless the shaking was really rough. It is possible something else happened - but momma took care of it. I would leave that last egg alone for at least another day. We say to "sit on your hands" when you are using an incubator - that goes for broodies too, let them do their job and only step in if there is a problem. The hen should be on "lockdown" and its best not to mess with her. She probably would have helped the shrink wrapped chick out when it started making enough noise to get out too... its why they are the best incubators.

well, my daughter shook it and she is pretty rough, so I'd imagine she shook it hard :( she said she heard stuf jiggle inside :(

well, the chick was struggling when I went out, the foot was sticking out of the opening and it was peeping. it had been 24 hours at least. it is doing great! it is sooooooooooooooo cute!!!!!

I did the float test, but I saw nothing. we'll see! hopefully it hatches out. it was a really small misshapen egg, so I don't know if it will anyways.
 

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