Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

I like watching them fight over the hard boiled eggs, I just throw them in whole, you could probably do the same with scrambled! I really want some eggs to eat, but I'm all out

I have an Egg Genie so it's easy to hard-boil the eggs. I used to cut the boiled eggs in half and the juveniles had a blast picking and chasing around for bits and pieces. Messy but fun!

 

[Fancychooklady]

We had to do a lot of sanding when we made our new ramp. The wood was too rough for chicken's feet IMO and we spent a day sanding down all the wood and rounding square corners. The wood steps were smoother but still had enough "grab" for their feet. One Silkie likes it so much she savours the climb slowly up to her nestbox to sleep. The younger Silkie takes a quick run up it to jump into her box. The picture below shows the narrow ramp that came with the coop and the newer wider ramp next to it. The little ramp had 7 steps but we put 6 steps so that they were still close enough (4 inches apart) for the Silkies to comfortably use and for the LF as well. We never used the skimpy little ramp because it was lightweight and the chickens were always knocking it down so we stopped using it. There was no way to secure a ramp to the nestbox ledge because a built-in low perch is in the way when we needed to lift it up for cleaning. One of our Silkies got knocked off the nestbox ledge by a kooky spooky klutzy Ameraucana and got bruised so we built the new heavier wider ramp to give the Silkies a chance to get out of her way. The Ameraucana is a sweetie but klutzy. The ramp is not hinged or hooked to the ledge. We used a flat heavy block wall topper brick at the base and the heavy ramp is very secure this way - pounds better than the old skimpy ramp that came with the coop.

We just painted ours and the screw works well to keep it in place. In our Sussex pen the screw is driven directly into the perch. Different approach same outcome.

 

[bamitsbrittany]

From day one in the coop all my Silkies sleep in the nestboxes. They get on the perches during the day but at dusk they do their bedtime talking and cooing and climb the ramp slowly or jump up to the nestboxes. They like the cozy round-holed nestboxes for privacy and our boxes are so roomy 3 fit comfortably together in one if they want. One time I found 4 chickens in one box! Our perches are about 20 inches off the floor and so is the nestbox ledge.

Some people say Silkies pile up on the floor of a coop and I never heard of that before because ours always slept in the boxes. When we have a sick Silkie in the house we set up a Kidz Homz lidded storage bin with straw for them in the indoor pen to use for laying eggs but they sleep in them too. Guess we have odd Silkies LOL.

When it rains, and in fact every evening at dusk, we tarp the entire 4x6 coop down to the patio stones after closing their door for the night. Keeps wind or rain out and protects the coop wood from moisture.

Seems like coop configurations are what determine where a hen will choose to sleep. Our low perch probably didn't make our Silkies feel as secure as the round-holed cubby nestboxes.

Can I see a photo of your nesting boxes!? I want mine to be like that... everyone else I talk to say theres just cuddle up on the ground. =/ I dont want that

 

[Rainier]

My daughter picked out a chick for the "banty" chicks bin at Del's. She picked him/her because it was the only one that looked the way it did. I posted pic's asking what type and all replies said a white silkie. I noticed that his/her wings are coming in and I'm worried we are doing something wrong. I searched for pictures of what the wing feathers look like when they are first coming in but couldn't find any. He/She is very active and although runs when you try to pick him/her up doesn't cheep in distress once in your hands.

They are fed a medicated starter/grower feed and have some ACV with "mother" in the water.

First day




Yesterday

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

I have an Egg Genie so it's easy to hard-boil the eggs. I used to cut the boiled eggs in half and the juveniles had a blast picking and chasing around for bits and pieces. Messy but fun!

How much is ok for these lil guys to eat? I have 5 in there and they are only 10 days old. Could they over eat the eggs?

 

[bamitsbrittany]

My silkie babies =]

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

My silkie babies =]

Adorable! And great pics!!!

 

[Iluvmysilkies]

My silkie babies =]

Yes great pics, and they are beautiful! I cant wait till I can let my babies outside and take pics this summer

 

[silkie2001]

Has anyone else noticed that baby silkies don't realize that they can't fly?

Ha, me!

I've seen them try so many times!

 

[silkie2001]

Wow, I just saved a 2 week old silkie chick from the jaws and unfriendly death of a dog!

I feel horrible for keeping off guard.