Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

Wow that sounds scary. Man, I hope mine arent so dedicated that they dehydrate themselves and I have to force them out several times a day and have to worry about them. I get over loaded with mommy duties as it is with young kiddos lol I got chickies to help relieve stress from everyday life, as animals always do for me, and ive always loved silkies. I hope they wont be a stress :s

ALL bantams are a broody bunch - Cochins, Silkies, Brahmas, etc - even bantam Leghorns (the LF Leghorns are not broody). So it's just a fact of life that at least 3x a day take the sleepy hen out of the nestbox and put her next to food and water - she'll take a minute to wake up and realize where she is and then eat, drink, and possibly take a dust-bath and then promptly return to her imaginary nest. After you get the hang of it it's just as regular as having to go out and collect eggs, or add more feed, or change out the water, etc. One thing I like about broody bantams - the Silkie especially - if you don't spook them they are nicer to handle in the nestbox than larger fowl who can bite very hard! My Silkies have always been gentle broodies and though they may get a little upset, are still easy to take out of their nests.

 

[Sylvester017]

Many chefs will tell you its best to let eggs come to room temperature before using them, especially for merengues! Something about how the molecules behave. I'm still buying the eggs we eat, so all of mine are refrigerated until use. God willing,I'll soon have some fresh eggs of my own!

A lot of people like meringue but I'm not a fan. I use my eggs for batters, breakfast, quiches, so room temp for those aren't a concern. I use my Egg Genie to make hard-boiled eggs and the poacher feature in it is just the right size for 4 Silkie eggs. I don't struggle with boiling pans of water on the stove anymore.

I love your info to pass along. Always learn something on BYC!

I know you will love collecting those fresh eggs!

 

[Sylvester017]

I picked up some chick grit today and the lady there told me that chicks were not suppose to have grit till they were at least 2 weeks old? Should I wait or start giving it to them now? They are 6 days old today.

Chickens/chicks aren't dumb. They know what their body needs. Our 8 day old Dom chick picked and chose what she wanted. We had 3 little dishes out with different feed and grains and grit and she used them all free-will depending on her need. At 8 days she was devouring fresh cucumber centers. Chicks start out eating the soft centers and by the time adults will eat every part of a cucumber.

My thing is to stay away from anything soy, even moreso than GMO stuff but I try to avoid both for poultry or human consumption.

 

[CheshieChick]

What are your favorite incubation methods with silkies? Dry till the end or adding water for variations of humidity throughout? The last hatch I did I ran a dry incubation. Humidity at 35-40% up till lockdown when I bumped it to 65-70%. I have a forced air Styrofoam incubator, with an egg turner. The temp was pretty steady around 99.5 F the whole time.
I had 5/21 hatch (these eggs were shipped). 14/21 were fertile and developing on the first candling at day 5. I have heard great things about dry incubations, but now ... not so sure. Thought I would ask those of you experienced. Unfortunately I'm stuck with the Styrofoam incubator at the moment LOL. I have eggs coming in this week for a hatch to start in the next few days. Would love to hear some feedback so I can hopefully have a better hatchrate.

 

[subhanalah]

What are your favorite incubation methods with silkies? Dry till the end or adding water for variations of humidity throughout? The last hatch I did I ran a dry incubation. Humidity at 35-40% up till lockdown when I bumped it to 65-70%. I have a forced air Styrofoam incubator, with an egg turner. The temp was pretty steady around 99.5 F the whole time.   

I had 5/21 hatch (these eggs were shipped). 14/21 were fertile and developing on the first candling at day 5. I have heard great things about dry incubations, but now ... not so sure. Thought I would ask those of you experienced. Unfortunately I'm stuck with the Styrofoam incubator at the moment LOL. I have eggs coming in this week for a hatch to start in the next few days. Would love to hear some feedback so I can hopefully have a better hatchrate.


  

I did a kind of dry hatch, 8 or 11 fertile eggs hatched. The three that did not hatch were fully formed,but shrink wrapped before internal pip. this time I am not going to let it run as dry as I did the first time.

 

[CheshieChick]

I did a kind of dry hatch, 8 or 11 fertile eggs hatched. The three that did not hatch were fully formed,but shrink wrapped before internal pip. this time I am not going to let it run as dry as I did the first time.

That's Kind of what I'm wondering. They seemed to be doing okay up till lockdown. It was a bummer.

 

[Sylvester017]

Awww. I have a little day old chick by it's self Doesn't look like anymore are gonna hatch. He has an Aflac duck to snuggle with, but he want's something with a beating heart!

Hurry down to the feed store and get another chick for company. That's what we did - wasn't even the same breed but close in breed size.

 

[subhanalah]

Awww.  I have a little day old chick by it's self   Doesn't look like anymore are gonna hatch.   He has an Aflac duck to snuggle with, but he want's something with a beating heart!

Hurry down to the feed store and get another chick for company. That's what we did - wasn't even the same breed but close in breed size.

I added a freshly hatched buff Brahma (not real sure that's what it is, doesn't look like pics I'D as such on here) to my two 1.5 week old silkies. First the silkies looked at it like it was an alien, but now they are thick as thieves!

 

[Spoiled Birds]

I just picked up Vi-tal from the Ifa store and Poly vi sol at walmart. Wasent sure which to try. How exactely should I mix the poly vi sol? Do I give it to her straight from the dropper and not mix it with water? Just dip my finger in it and put it on the beak? And how many drops, and how often? Can I also give it to my other lethargic chick who is laying down alot and doesent want to walk? Infact can I put it in the water for the rest of the chicks to everyday to keep them healthy or will it give them the runs? 

You mix up the gallon and put the water oout for all of them. But the really weak gals/guys do the drops on the beak. Make sure they erin some. I did this every 30 min until she perked up and kept close eye on her, and had to help her every 30 min again later that evening. That night she was up and even got out of the box I had her in. As for the other vitamin stuff the other members told you I don't know. Good luck

 

[rayray983]

I dry hatch every time but just like any incubation method anything can go wrong I've had 6 great hatches 80 to 90% then my last hatch I experimented and tilted incubator and not turn each egg individually ended up with 10% hatch rate so I'm going back to what works for me and that's more hands on