Silkie thread!

[John Simpson]

No problem!! Good luck with Steph

 

[BelleFarm]

There you all are! lol I had a silkie rooster when I was younger and he was my baby, i loved him more then anything and he was spoiled rotten. Had his own bed in my room and everything lol. Well im a mom now, we finally bought a house so I finally got silkies again yesterday! They are only a day old I picked out 6 bearded, all different colors and I am hoping you all can clearify the colors on them. I picked out a Black, white, blue, splash, buff and possibly partridge or something. But now that I got them home, and can get a better look at them im really curious about two of the colors. The one I thought was a splash is soo light colored and I dont see any other colors on it. Is it still a splash or could it be a lavender or something? And the other one I am very curious about is my darker buff. Its not quite as orange as the other one, its more brownish with a grey back. Im curious what color this one will be. I picked out all the different colors that I could find  And does anyone have any pics of their silkies as adults who might have started out looking like any of mine, that they can share to give me an idea?. Im so curious what colors I should be calling these guys (well hopefully girls) Also is there a reason why some of the chicks have vaulted heads and some dont? Does it mean those will have a bigger crest then the others or will they still have a big one to? I am so excited to finally get these beautiful birds again, and get to chat about them with fellow lovers

I haven't had splash silkies before, but I've had splash polish and Easter eggers, and their colors come in as they get older- so it will probably still be splash. Though it could end up being white, possibly. And the buff one could end up being a smutty buff, which is just a buff with black thrown in on some of the feathers. It's probably not partridge, because they usually look like a chipmunk pattern as babies. And vaulted is just in the genetics, some get it, and some don't, but you typically don't want to breed vaulted to vaulted because then there will usually be a high mortality rate in the chicks/eggs. And everyone has varying opinions on vaulted being better, but you can have non vaulted birds with crests bigger than vaulted birds. So my buff rooster and hen are non vaulted, but out of their nine chicks that have hatched, four have been vaulted. You want to be especially careful with vaulted birds because they are much more fragile. A simple well placed peck could kill them. One of my vaulted chicks developed wry neck, and I believe it was due to some injury to its head, because after a month of treatment it has improved astronomically. Well anyway, welcome back to the world of silkies

 

[Half Moon Ranch]

Thank you very much for the compliment, I'll do that for sure and thanks for the heads up.
In regards to the predator concerns, the coop and run are in a fairly large fenced in back yard (really more like the woods than a yard).
The fence is about 5' high and although there are coyotes in the area, they can't get past the fence.
About the only predators I am concerned about are opossums, a feral cat or two in the neighborhood and a veritable squadron of hawks.
Neither a cat or an opossum will make it through the wire when the chickens are in the run and at night nothing it getting into the coop because I took measures to reinforce everything.
We wanted badly to let the kids have free range access to the whole back yard, but if we did that the hawks would get them all in less than a week.
My Mother lives next door so we're going to build a tractor to take them over there and give them access to an actual lawn.
I'm guessing the aversion to 1" chicken wire relates to small chicks?
In the event that we do some brooding in the coop, I had planned to go all the way around with hardware cloth to prevent that.

 

[KV Silkies]

Weather was so nice by us this weekend my babies got to take a venture outside! They were a little leary at first, but really warmed up to the idea and was hilarious watching them strut their stuff, hopping around, chasing bugs, found a worm, eating some grass, good times.... They are 6 weeks old now!

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

I haven't had splash silkies before, but I've had splash polish and Easter eggers, and their colors come in as they get older- so it will probably still be splash. Though it could end up being white, possibly. And the buff one could end up being a smutty buff, which is just a buff with black thrown in on some of the feathers. It's probably not partridge, because they usually look like a chipmunk pattern as babies. And vaulted is just in the genetics, some get it, and some don't, but you typically don't want to breed vaulted to vaulted because then there will usually be a high mortality rate in the chicks/eggs. And everyone has varying opinions on vaulted being better, but you can have non vaulted birds with crests bigger than vaulted birds. So my buff rooster and hen are non vaulted, but out of their nine chicks that have hatched, four have been vaulted. You want to be especially careful with vaulted birds because they are much more fragile. A simple well placed peck could kill them. One of my vaulted chicks developed wry neck, and I believe it was due to some injury to its head, because after a month of treatment it has improved astronomically. Well anyway, welcome back to the world of silkies

Thanks BelleFarm! I am pretty sure my lil silver one is going to be a splash to I wasent sure at first. I thought it might be lavender but as its wing feathers are beginning to grow I could clearly see silver with tiny dashes of darker grey on them so I am thinking thats the beginning of the splash markings coming in. I hope my buff with grey back does end up having black on it because I already have a bright orange one and a much lighter almost creamy colored buff, so im hoping they all look pretty different and stand apart from eachother Should I be worried if my lil cream colored chick has a very hard chest/craw? I picked it because it was obviously been eating good but his tummy is still very full and it looks huge and feels hard to the touch and I just wanna make sure its not going to be a problem. I still see it eating/drinking. Its the fattest/fluffiest looking one I have lol. Its tummy is just still very hard so I dont know if thats ok or not. The newest lil black one I just got from just a backyard breeder who bred their silkies for the first time and her birds were not the greatest quality but I really wanted a black one to go with my bunch and she was the only one I could find, and was close enough to their age so I got her. She's probably going to be the lowest quality of all of mine but oh well. She does look bearded but I dont think she'll have much of a crest when she grows up. I love her personality though. She already likes to be held and doesent seem skittish at all. I really like her anyway. My other babies are very bearded with fluffy heads and are much smaller. I have two with huge vaulted heads and the best look on them. I think they are going to be beautiful. I posted a pic of both of them a few posts back if you'd like to see them One is white, and one is buff. Thanks again for your input

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

Weather was so nice by us this weekend my babies got to take a venture outside! They were a little leary at first, but really warmed up to the idea and was hilarious watching them strut their stuff, hopping around, chasing bugs, found a worm, eating some grass, good times.... They are 6 weeks old now!

Aww they are so cute. Love all the different colors. Thats what im trying to go for also. I cant wait to let all mine out for the first time

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

Oh I have another question about silkie chicks. When is it ok to start taking them outside to explore? They are almost a week old but was wondering if I could still take them out if its warm enough outside? And how warm does it need to be outside to let them out? I see pics of babies with their moms pecking around outside and it got me wondering if that means I could do the same and let them outside for a half hr-to an hour a day to play?

I was also wondering if theres any healthy foods/snacks I could feed them apart from their chick starter crumbles?
My babies still seem soo small for being almost a week old. Some look like they havent grown at all and most of them are still light as a feather and their tummies never feel full. I see them eating but dont see them getting any bigger lol. Can I give them anything to pick up weight or increase their appetite?

 

[BelleFarm]

Thanks BelleFarm! I am pretty sure my lil silver one is going to be a splash to I wasent sure at first. I thought it might be lavender but as its wing feathers are beginning to grow I could clearly see silver with tiny dashes of darker grey on them so I am thinking thats the beginning of the splash markings coming in. I hope my buff with grey back does end up having black on it because I already have a bright orange one and a much lighter almost creamy colored buff, so im hoping they all look pretty different and stand apart from eachother Should I be worried if my lil cream colored chick has a very hard chest/craw? I picked it because it was obviously been eating good but his tummy is still very full and it looks huge and feels hard to the touch and I just wanna make sure its not going to be a problem. I still see it eating/drinking. Its the fattest/fluffiest looking one I have lol. Its tummy is just still very hard so I dont know if thats ok or not. The newest lil black one I just got from just a backyard breeder who bred their silkies for the first time and her birds were not the greatest quality but I really wanted a black one to go with my bunch and she was the only one I could find, and was close enough to their age so I got her. She's probably going to be the lowest quality of all of mine but oh well. She does look bearded but I dont think she'll have much of a crest when she grows up. I love her personality though. She already likes to be held and doesent seem skittish at all. I really like her anyway. My other babies are very bearded with fluffy heads and are much smaller. I have two with huge vaulted heads and the best look on them. I think they are going to be beautiful. I posted a pic of both of them a few posts back if you'd like to see them One is white, and one is buff. Thanks again for your input

Well the name of this ailment is escaping me, but ten years ago when I was brand new to chickens my best layer contracted it during the dead of winter, but her crop was full yet her body was wasting away. I realized what it was to late, and sadly she passed away. It is easily preventable by ensuring that the chickens have grit at all times, especially during the winter. I hadn't realized this all those years ago, because my chickens free range, yet that doesn't help them when there is snow on the ground. I am pretty positive there is special grit for chicks as well. Anyway I'm not saying your chick has this, but just that you should be wary (in case you don't already know). Well anyhoo I'm glad your chicks are doing so well I myself recently got goslings and I am quite busy keeping up with their needs since they've imprinted on me. The second I leave them they scream and scream and aren't satisfied till I come back, and then they diligently follow me around.and clamber on my lap when I'm sitting. Or try to trip me up when I'm working. Tedious little bundles of joy that I am very glad to have. I wish you all the best of luck!

 

[BelleFarm]

Oh I have another question about silkie chicks. When is it ok to start taking them outside to explore? They are almost a week old but was wondering if I could still take them out if its warm enough outside? And how warm does it need to be outside to let them out? I see pics of babies with their moms pecking around outside and it got me wondering if that means I could do the same and let them outside for a half hr-to an hour a day to play? 

I was also wondering if theres any healthy foods/snacks I could feed them apart from their chick starter crumbles? 
My babies still seem soo small for being almost a week old. Some look like they havent grown at all and most of them are still light as a feather and their tummies never feel full. I see them eating but dont see them getting any bigger lol. Can I give them anything to pick up weight or increase their appetite? 

As long as it isn't to cold, they can spend little bits of time outside. If they're not in a specially enclosed space, then they will probably need supervision. But they should be fine out there.

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

Well the name of this ailment is escaping me, but ten years ago when I was brand new to chickens my best layer contracted it during the dead of winter, but her crop was full yet her body was wasting away. I realized what it was to late, and sadly she passed away. It is easily preventable by ensuring that the chickens have grit at all times, especially during the winter. I hadn't realized this all those years ago, because my chickens free range, yet that doesn't help them when there is snow on the ground. I am pretty positive there is special grit for chicks as well. Anyway I'm not saying your chick has this, but just that you should be wary (in case you don't already know). Well anyhoo I'm glad your chicks are doing so well I myself recently got goslings and I am quite busy keeping up with their needs since they've imprinted on me. The second I leave them they scream and scream and aren't satisfied till I come back, and then they diligently follow me around.and clamber on my lap when I'm sitting. Or try to trip me up when I'm working. Tedious little bundles of joy that I am very glad to have. I wish you all the best of luck!

Thanks! I thought it might be something like that but didnt think chicks needed grit so early? Can they ever eat too much grit? If I found some and put it in there next to their food?