Silkie thread!

[388chick]

Recent research indicates a significantly higher incidence of coccidiosis and respiratory illnesses in birds on sand.

Hmmm... When I was investigating I saw nothing but recommendations. Do you have a link to the article...I would surely like to see it. I definitely want to keep my little ladies happy and healthy. Thanks!!

 

[PaintedFeathers]

Your paint is adorable!

Thanks =D

 

[themadchicken]

Also how long do silkies last, production wise before they start "shooting blanks"?

are you talking about hens or roosters?

 

[Sylvester017]

May I please have some opinions. I built my silkies a new coop with a linoleum floor. I have a thick layer of pine shavings for bedding since they dont roost. Well, after a week its getting soiled and stinky quick. Would Stall dry or Sweet PDZ be warm enough for them to sleep on? Then I could use the kitty litter scoop to clean it ever day. I have a cochin hen that is a little handicapped and she sleeps in the stall dry on the droppings board in the cochin coop. I have felt under her on sub-zero nights and she always feels warm.

Hello DDNONIN2016 - I don't presume to give anyone advice because to each his own. But I can share my experience about housing our own Silkies and LF hens (4 girls total). I have a 4x6' coop 4' tall (which we elevated on blocks a few inches so we can stand inside a bit without breaking our backs while cleaning - LOL. The coop was custom built and on display at a local feed store. I was drawn to it because it had 3 round-holed nestboxes (most small coops only provide 2) plus I had read that chickens prefer round-holed nestboxes for privacy better than open square entrances. Also I liked the open wire around 3 sides of the coop for ventilation. Also liked the ramp leading up to the 6" wide platform against a 4' side with 3 built-in round holed nestboxes elevated 18" from the open floor. There's a huge drop-down egg collection door to access from outside. The door is flush with the wall of the coop and not one of those rows of nestboxes that stick out from the coop w/ the slanted roof door for egg access (never liked the egg boxes w/ slanted roofs that stick out of the coop - I always worry rain will leak from an unsealed crack and seep into nestboxes). The 3 round holes into the nestboxes are low on the platform but inside each nestbox it's about 16x16" x 2-1/2' tall. The round-holed design also saves most of the straw from being kicked out by laying hens. The opposite 4' wall has a perching bar also 18" high. The 6' side has the door we can walk into the coop and it's left open daily for the girls to go free-range and they can come in whenever they're ready to either lay an egg or roost for the night. We promptly lock the door when the last hen roosts at dusk. We use a tarp to cover the coop at night and currently are expanding with an exercise kennel adjacent and putting a canopy over the entire construction when complete.

I assumed the pullets would use the perch bar to roost for the night but from Day 1 in the coop, all the girls, including the Silkies, found they liked sleeping in the secluded round-holed nestboxes. There has never been one night that a hen has slept on either the perch or the floor of the coop. We've had up to 5 hens at one time which meant some had to double up in a couple boxes but the boxes were so roomy we once found 4 hens piled in one box! Cold winter nights or Hot summer evenings the girls never sleep anywhere but the nestboxes. It means a little extra cleaning and more straw to add every day or so but if the girls are happy so are we. When a Silkie goes broody and spends most of her time sitting on imaginary eggs in a nestbox, we drop the back egg door to provide ventilation during heatwaves - heatwaves always make our Silkies go broody! We lined the bottom of the wood nestboxes w/ plexiglass squares not just for easy cleanups but to keep OCD Silkies from scratching the bottom so hard it splintered toes to bleeding. No more problems now.

The ramp leading up to the platform has finally fallen apart but before we could construct a new ramp, the Silkies were jumping the 18" up to the 6" platform to enter the round-holed nestboxes that's how determined they were to lay their eggs in the boxes or not to sleep on the floor. I didn't know Silkies could leap so high. During the day they will occasionally use the perch to sit and groom but not for long as our Silkies are constantly on the move free-ranging.

Because we've had this wonderful coop before adding hens to it, we never knew Silkies were floor sleepers because our hens always slept in the roomy clean straw nestboxes from Day 1. It wasn't til I read stories about people having their Silkies pile up on the floor to sleep that I ever heard of such a thing w/ Silkies - Smiles

 

[Sylvester017]

Anyone have a answer.

Have only had my pullets for 3 years and had to return the roo to the breeder after it was said he was a "pullet." We aren't zoned for roos. Anyway if the pullets can lay well into 6+ years I would assume the boys would be good too. Hope someone w/ experience has an answer. You can search engine Amber Waves Silkies website and see if they can help. They've kindly helped me w/ questions.

 

[Sylvester017]

Wood ash has been recommended as a mite/lice deterrent in the literature for generations; I have never heard of anyone having issues with it. DE, on the other hand is KNOWN and documented as causing respiratory issues, and its effectiveness is not well documented. I have used it in the past and found it minimally effective at best. If you really want something that works in their dust bathing area, use either sevin or permethrin dust.

Thank u Sonoran. With the warning to humans about eye/lung protection from using DE I think I won't use it. Stuck w/ this 10-lb bag now. As for the pesticides, I will save that if there is ever an infestation. For now the organic Poultry Protector from the feed store is the best preventative for me so far for 3 years now. Thank u so much for your input - Smiles

 

[Sylvester017]

i am new on here and a new breeder i am wondering what i should expect from my fist hatch

??

Glad to see newbies on BYC.

Can't resist: What you should expect from your first hatch?? Well, CHICKS, of course!! - Smiles

Seriously though, what is it you're wondering? What percentage will hatch? What to do w/ the chicks after they hatch? What colors to expect? There's tons of info about hatching chicks but need a more specific question as we can go wild trying to figure what question is bothering you most. There are a lot of knowledgeable and experienced people who can help but a specific question would really be helpful - Smiles

 

[kabhyper1]

I have lost 2 chicks and one adult got respiratory illness from wood ash. I'm not saying no one should use it, I am just putting it out there that it can cause problems. More so in very young chicks who sleep under a broody that has dusted in wood ash. I never ever use DE in dust baths. I rarely use DE at all. My chickens get coarse sand and the dirt around their coops for dust bathing, and we keep their coops clean. If there is an incidence of lice or mites, we have used poultry dust, but I am now going to use something else because it has caused respiratory issues also. I might add that the only chickens I have encountered issues with are silkies. My large fowl flock doesn't seem to be bothered by ash, DE, or poultry dust.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have lost 2 chicks and one adult got respiratory illness from wood ash. I'm not saying no one should use it, I am just putting it out there that it can cause problems. More so in very young chicks who sleep under a broody that has dusted in wood ash. I never ever use DE in dust baths. I rarely use DE at all. My chickens get coarse sand and the dirt around their coops for dust bathing, and we keep their coops clean. If there is an incidence of lice or mites, we have used poultry dust, but I am now going to use something else because it has caused respiratory issues also. I might add that the only chickens I have encountered issues with are silkies. My large fowl flock doesn't seem to be bothered by ash, DE, or poultry dust.

To kabhyper1 - I've never raised chicks under hens as we aren't zoned for more than 5 hens & no roos. There are so many factors to consider in raising babies. They are so delicate. We raised a baby in the house w/ all the care, cleanliness, warmth & socialization you can give 1 chick & still lost her at 19 days old to a violent unexpected seizure in our arms. We raised 2-mo chicks/juvies w/ no problem in-house, but she was our only chick experiment & it traumatized us. Don't know if we'll chance babies again.

It makes sense that chicks would get a lot of dust-ingestion breathing & nesting under a Silkie momma's fluff. I've seen how much dust flies out of a Silkie when she flaps wings after a dust-bath so makes perfect sense. Also I wonder about all the poop that accumulates in sand, straw, chips, shreds, dirt, cat litter, linoleum, concrete, etc, at the bottom of coops. After housing our first 2 Silkies in a coop for their first 2 weeks, we didn't like them stepping in the floor crud - even if it's cleaned daily one watery poop gets stepped in & I didn't feel comfortable about it. That's when we monitored free-ranging the backyard. The little buggers were so surprisingly hardy, cleaner, & healthy, that they've never been cooped all day since. They have a couple low-rise yard shelters to hide or snooze under. They've dug holes to China to the point you can't even see their heads above the dust-baths but they seem healthy & happy in the natural environment. It's amazing in this routine that the nestboxes actually have been staying cleaner too considering it's where they prefer to sleep at night (BYC Post #43184 coop boxes).

As for using poultry dust, it has never been my choice for our Silkies or LF. As I've previously posted the organic OMRI Poultry Protector liquid sprayed in the coop crevices & directly on the hens per directions has been effective for 3 years for us. A bit costly but I don't know how much safer you can get than organic OMRI classified products. I save actual pesticides as a last resort and so far haven't needed to use them in 3 yrs. Since using Poultry Protector has worked for us so far, I won't upset the apple cart & NOT add extra ingredients to their dust-baths. All the experience & advice on this thread has helped reinforce sound practices & common sense.

 

[DDNONIN2016]

How much space do they have?  If it is getting that soiled in just a week, my guess is that the space is too small.  Larger shavings are less absorbent than smaller ones.  You can add Sweet PDZ to the shavings and stir it all up; that should help some.  I really don't know of any reason other than cost as to why you can't use just Sweet PDZ

The new coop is 6X8 for 12 birds. I am using the larger chip shavings because it seemed like they sneezed a lot when scratching around in the smaller chips. The bags of smaller chips I get seem to be dustier. The entire south side of this new coop is open but I have it covered with clear plastic because of the single digit temps right now. I did not cover the ventilation along all four side at the top. I think they are just so happy with the new place to play that they never go out
Maybe that will wear off soon and if it would warm up I think they will spend more time in their run. They have a 12x14 covered run and 20x20 open run.
I am going to add PDZ to the shavings. They will love that to dust bathe in.