Silkie thread!

[suebgbr]

I think food dye would be fun. They do it to poodles and it does them no harm. Either that or paint their toenails a different colour lol!

I signed the Dallas petition. I am in England. Wonderful sites like this spread the word wide.

 

[bardies]

My 5 week olds! They are getting big. They don't sleep under momma anymore and she has been laying eggs in the brooder box, so I think it's about time to put her back with the flock so I can bond with them a little bit. They aren't as mellow as the last hatch. Just a little disclaimer, these are not the ones I was asking about dyeing with diluted food coloring in the bath, their mommas are really hard to tell apart. I wouldnt ever color chicks.

These are beautiful! I would be ok with the idea of dyeing but would make sure that it wouldn't be anything to attract pecking by the other birds.

 

[Sylvester017]

My 5 week olds! They are getting big. They don't sleep under momma anymore and she has been laying eggs in the brooder box, so I think it's about time to put her back with the flock so I can bond with them a little bit. They aren't as mellow as the last hatch. Just a little disclaimer, these are not the ones I was asking about dyeing with diluted food coloring in the bath, their mommas are really hard to tell apart. I wouldnt ever color chicks.

I agree w/ suebgbr about painting just one toenail, maybe the one in the back leg up high where there's less chance to be scraped off during dustbathing or scratching in the soil/shavings. Fingerpolish comes in so many different colors so that each hen will be different & won't discolor your birdies' feathers like dye or food color. Red, orange and purple dyes/inks stain badly on feathers/plastics/clothing from our experience. Whatever method you use is safe but just remember certain colors may not remove easily from feathers. A baby chick we got from a feed store had a blue dot on her head & on her rump to ID her as a Dominique & not a Barred Rock so color doesn't hurt them but it sure detracts from their appearance.

 

[Sylvester017]

I got a new cage. I may use it for chicks. Spent a fortune in it.... its 48x24nits great size

It'll be great for a couple weeks. You'll be surprised how fast they'll grow and run out of space LOL! Nice cage for babies though or to use later to isolate a sick bird. The thing I hate is the scrubbing each time I use mine for a different purpose. I sponge brush w/ baby soap, then vinegar, then bleach, then alcohol, and rinse and rinse, then dry in the sun because I'm such a fanatic! My bathtub gets used because it's roomy - used more for washing bird things than for human showers. Then I have to find space to store it between uses - ugh! - Smiles

 

[Sylvester017]

So I have 4 week olds to 1 year olds. They will be going outside as soon as it warms up, but the majority of them havent ever been outside. I went to tsc to get feed and bought medicated dumor show poultry feed. I figured it would help the 4 week to 5 month olds have a leg up on coccid before they go outside. Any thoughts? Have any of you used this?

I think it's a matter of preference and what the circumstance is as to how many chicks and where they're housed. I never used medicated chick feed because I never had more than two chicks at a time and we cleaned their bedding 1-2x a day. However, if there are a LOT of chicks and running around in a small space then medicated chick feed might be a good idea. I and my chicken friends are organic thinkers so the less medicated/antibiotic stuff we use the better we like it but again a matter of preference dependent on how crowded the conditions. I wouldn't use it much after 3 months old because coccid is more a chick ailment then juvenile ailment. I like your thinking to do what you think best for your babies. It's a commitment just like a puppy or kitten would be and everyone has different ideas what works best. You choose your best method - Smiles

 

[Sylvester017]

I dont .... mine always went in garage in there cage at night. I dont feel cofortabke with timed ones...,as I woukdnt kniw if my cat woukd be l8cked in garage. He likes to sleep with them lol

We never got a timed door because it was my DH who worried one of the girls would either get locked out or pinned by the door. Our girls go in to roost at different times and we prefer to check on them ourselves before closing them up to make sure no one is locked out or something unwanted gets locked in - Smiles

 

[KristyAnn]

So everyone, I've got these two lil ones here and I thought they were silkies givin to me, but now I'm wonderin if they're mixed or just bad quality 6 week olds. What you think?

 

[kabhyper1]

I think it's a matter of preference and what the circumstance is as to how many chicks and where they're housed. I never used medicated chick feed because I never had more than two chicks at a time and we cleaned their bedding 1-2x a day. However, if there are a LOT of chicks and running around in a small space then medicated chick feed might be a good idea. I and my chicken friends are organic thinkers so the less medicated/antibiotic stuff we use the better we like it but again a matter of preference dependent on how crowded the conditions. I wouldn't use it much after 3 months old because coccid is more a chick ailment then juvenile ailment. I like your thinking to do what you think best for your babies. It's a commitment just like a puppy or kitten would be and everyone has different ideas what works best. You choose your best method - Smiles

Thank you. I have 18 silkies. 7, five month olds 5, five week olds, and 6 one year olds. The older ones have been outside all their lives until November when they came in due to weather. The 5 month olds were brooded inside and just stayed in due to weather. The five week olds also have never been outside. I plan on only using one 50 lb bag of the medicated show feed before they go outside. I don't like medicated feed and prefer to keep it organic and natural, but they are my babies, and I don't want them to get sick from coccid exposure because I never took precautionary measures. I want them to have a smooth transition outside with as much immunity as I can give them. Hopefully it will start warming up soon. It has been a really bad winter. We are due for single digit temps this week again. ugh.

 

[Jharper]

So everyone, I've got these two lil ones here and I thought they were silkies givin to me, but now I'm wonderin if they're mixed or just bad quality 6 week olds. What you think?

They look just to be bad quality. Maybe hatchery birds?

 

[Sylvester017]

I am thinking of getting a silkie in my first flock would that be a good idea?

I wouldn't get just one but at least a pair of Silkies and not in a flock w/ LF over 5 lbs. We had a sad 3-year experience to learn this the hard way - no matter how gentle tempered a LF is said to be, they will bully Silkies just because they can. We had to re-home a 7-lb Marans & a gentle 4.5-lb White Leg who after her 3rd year moult started getting nasty to all her flockmates including her best buddy Silkie she grew up with. So either go bantam or go LF but just expect the bantams to get sassed or possibly injured from LF. The LF and bantams seems to do ok together as pullets/chicks but things can turn around in their adult years as LF learn they can hurt the Silkies pecking hard at their heads or pinning them down and clawing them hard. A 2-lb bantam is no match for a 6-9 lb hen. We have whittled our flock down to 4 birds - 2 Silkies, 1 Buff Leghorn (smaller than White Legs), & an APA Ameraucana pullet who is submissive and not interested in flock politics. In fact the 2 LF are bossed by the alpha Partridge Silkie who is the oldest little hen and both LF respect the 2 older Silkies. We'll see how long this continues when the Buff and the Ameraucana get past their pullet stage.