Silkie thread!

[DDNONIN2016]

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

Nice set up Sylvester017. I have a huge 12X20 building that used to house my horse trailer. Someday it will be remodeled for my silkies. Its such a nice location being under huge oak trees with an adjacent 2 acre pasture that will be fenced for them. And covered (we have lots of hawks). I have 2.5 years till retirement and then I'm going to hatch some of my own eggs. I am fanatic about them having plenty of room first tho. Love your nest boxes. I love the round holes for the nests too. They are so cute. Mine also love curtains on the fronts of the nest boxes. I think they really believe I will never find their eggs if they squeeze thru those curtains lol. Going to add some PDZ and stir my shavings more, especially where they pile to sleep. I think thats where the smell is concentrated. Its not bad I just dont want any smell except shavings Thanks for all your info. Appreciate it

 

[SilkieMom8875]

That would work for me! Now if I can reintroduce my young sikies to the big girls and them get along...lol and get them to quit sleeping in the nesting boxes I'll be good to go!

We need to get my babies from sleeping in the nest boxes too!!

 

[tinychicadees]

We need to get my babies from sleeping in the nest boxes too!!

I can understand that, I have plenty of room for my big hens, but they like the boxes

....lol.

I am going to be putting my 5 month old silkies into the big coop soon, my nesting boxes are about a foot and a half from the ground, will my silkies be able to get to the boxes? I know they can't go very high from what I've been told. Any help would be very helpful!

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

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

DE didn't work for me, either. I'll keep an eye out for Poultry Protector. Maybe I'll order it on-line. Thanks for the tip! -Pam

 

[emvickrey]

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.

I use wood shavings for bedding for chicks, nests and in their house. The runs are just dirt. When it's not wet they will scratch till they make a hole then dust themselves. I sprinkle sevin dust in the hole so they can get rid of any bugs at the same time. In winter if they are shaking their heads or I see bugs I'll just sprinkle sevin dust on them and they will shake themselves and distribute it themselves. I will put down some DE on occassion in their dust bath holes too. When I had quail I would put a bowl with a little DE in it and they would have a blast dusting themselves in it. I would do that for the quail about once a week, but I don't have quail anymore. I've had issues with a few sick chickens this winter. One has been in the house for over a month because she first had a head cold then it went to her lungs and I had to take her to the vet. He gave her a shot of Bactrim with steroid and also Bactrim that I had to give her orally once a day. She is all better now but I'm afraid to put her back outside with it being so cold and she's been staying where it's warm. She may live inside till spring. I lost a couple of juveniles. I sent one for a necropsy and the results aren't in yet. The rest in that pen are doing fine though so I think I got what ever it was under control now.

 

[SilkieMom8875]

 I can understand that, I have plenty of room for my big hens, but they like the boxes ....lol.

I am going to be putting my 5 month old silkies into the big coop soon, my nesting boxes are about a foot and a half from the ground, will my silkies be able to get to the boxes? I know they can't go very high from what I've been told. Any help would be very helpful!

I am no expert on anything lol but I would think they could definitely get it them. So of my Silkies roost and it's about 2 feet off the floor!
Good luck

 

[tinychicadees]

I am no expert on anything lol but I would think they could definitely get it them. So of my Silkies roost and it's about 2 feet off the floor!
Good luck

THank you! I wasn't really sure on that one. I always hear they couldn't go high, but didn't know what they could do, this is my first winter with chickens, so I'm still learning!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: https://www.facebook.com/thechickenwhisperer a February 4th posting. I will say from re-reading it, I may have overstate the case as proven fact, when in reality it seems like there has been enough of an increase in these things that it is being more thoroughly researched. I have a mix of sand and shavings, and I find that sand retains water longer in that it remains damp for a long time. Shavings stay WET longer, but once they dry, they have no moisture at all. The type of sand may make a difference.

 

[K Epp]

 THank you! I wasn't really sure on that one. I always hear they couldn't go high, but didn't know what they could do, this is my first winter with chickens, so I'm still learning!

My bearded silkies sleep low on a pile of hay on top of a pallet. My non bearded walk up a leader and get on roost it in a giant nesting box to sleep. They use a covered cat box that dits on ground to lay in.

 

[388chick]

I

https://www.facebook.com/thechickenwhisperer  a February 4th posting.  I will say from re-reading it, I may have overstate the case as proven fact, when in reality it seems like there has been enough of an increase in these things that it is being more thoroughly researched.  I have a mix of sand and shavings, and I find that sand retains water longer in that it remains damp for a long time.  Shavings stay WET longer, but once they dry, they have no moisture at all.  The type of sand may make a difference.

i will be interested in reading what they find and how they conduct the study...looking through the comments it seemed like they only wanted to hear from people that had problems. There are so many factors in a chicken's health...I appreciate forums like this one where you get many people's advice and experiences...ultimately we all have to make decisions that work best for us and our individual situations.
Thanks so much for the link!