Silkie thread!

[chickydee64]

My hatch from the weekend

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: A black feather or two in the tails is very common in buffs. IMO, the birds are too young to sex. I certainly do not see any that I would say are female, but it is possible...

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Unless it had a broody mama duck, the actual mama will ignore it completely. At best. You are correct that chickens do not swim, but for that matter, muscovies are not noted for being partial to water. I will say that my drake will take first dibs when I fill their baby pool. My old drake didn't, but he sure loved it when we had irrigation!

Ducks do not need to LEARN to swim; they can do that from the time they begin producing oil for their feathers. No reason the duckling needs to swim before then.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I think both your "Buffs" are Smutty Buff. They look very young to me, I wouldn't have guessed they were girls from the pictures. Time will tell. The Buffs have no fluff - were they molting? I would check them over for lice and mites.

Whites should always be White - boys and girls.

Quote: Ducks hatched and brooded by chickens will go swimming - and momma hen will panic! That behavior is instinctual - just like clearing their nares is (nose under water) and doesn't need to be taught.

I think that is the duck momma - check out the big webbed feet.
I never even enlarged the photo! LOL! Yep, mama is a duck. I assume the white is not a silkie? Or were they sharing nests? or ???

 

[PaintedFeathers]

This is my sikie bantam, shes not looking all that good, shes missing some feathers around her comb and there are little bloody scabs there too, not sure whats wrong but i think she will be ok.

(My first post.. Yay)

This isn't a full silkie, but she's very pretty =) is she broody? Also she may have dry pox if she has scabs on her comb, and check for mites. (best to check them over at night with a flashlight)

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Very well said.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: A bath is a good idea. Use shampoo and make sure they remain warm until dry. You can use a hair dryer or a heat lamp. (Not sure f your temperatures--in hot weather I just let them air dry, but it's too cold in the evenings for that now, although our daytimes are in 80-90s.

It is really way too early to tell what their quality will be; give them several more months to mature.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
The Smutty Buffs will probably clean themselves off of the sticky, it may take some time. Don't be afraid of bathing them, just make sure they do not put their heads down in the water and keep water out of their mouths, they will be fine. What I see is they look young and gangly - not lower and older. Did the previous owner also trim their crests? The Whites look fluffier in both body and crests than the Buffs do.

You can use the Buffs to incubate eggs, and you can hatch out their chicks but they will not be able to be shown - unless you get some without any of that black. I believe judges will allow for a little bit of "smut" in the tail of boy Buffs, but yours appear to have the dark wings also - which is frowned upon. Buffs (I have been told) are hard to keep correct, and if mixed will loose their all over Buff color and start showing darker/lighter areas. Buff is supposed to be all one even color.

I have a Buff I am using to work on Partridge - the first generation cross had one Dark Buff girl (no smut), one Blue Smut boy (beautiful but not correct for Buff) and one Smutty Buff Girl. I will breed the Smutty Buff girl back to her Partridge dad.
Sometimes buffs clear with successive molts. Not always, though.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Some birds are bred for feathersexing; silkies are not.

 

[ChickNmamma]

I just got silkies today!! My first chickens ever. There is 7 hens 1 rooster. They're in ruff shape tho . I think they have mites....

ewww. skinny things also. But I couldn't leave them at that place horrible conditions. Any suggestions how to get them healthy & happy. Are there any special things I need to know about silkies?

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Silkies, sorry it is such a rough start. You did good to rescue them - and you have received good information on how to care for them. One thing not mentioned is they don't always roost - some like to sleep in a big Silkie pile on the ground - do not be concerned if they do this.

This is my sikie bantam, shes not looking all that good, shes missing some feathers around her comb and there are little bloody scabs there too, not sure whats wrong but i think she will be ok.

(My first post.. Yay)

Welcome to BYC!

Hooray for first posts!

She looks pecked on - but if its scabs perhaps check for the mites as suggested. She isn't a full Silkie either, but she sure is pretty. I have a half Silkie that looks similar to her.

Sometimes buffs clear with successive molts. Not always, though.

Do you find this to be true if they have black in their wings as well?

I noticed after staring at my "Buff" hen for a few hours the other day that she has a teeny bit of "blue" in her tail. I seem to recall some were using blue to remove the smut from the e^b (Partridge) based ones.. That may be where my Blue Smutty Buff boy got his blue - because his dad sure doesn't have any!

I would like to clarify on my comments about the Smutty Buff vs Buff. I don't breed for this color, but this is what I read in the Show Silkies thread. The Wheaten based Buffs are the clean buff chicks. The e^b (Partridge) based buffs have that faint partridge color (that I was calling "smut") as chicks on their backs. They are both acceptable bases for Buff but the Wheaten ones are "cleaner" as adults - except they have redder combs.

Its when they get older that you can see the dark in the Partridge based ones' wings and tail that they are called Smutty Buff - still Buff but not Show colors, unless it molts out. Buff is not easy to keep "Clean" and those ones lost some of the modifiers that keep the colors clean and even.