Silkie thread!

[Iluvmysilkies]

I would agree that you have at least 1 x roo there. It becomes easier to pick in your own lines but there's always 1 that will keep you guessing.
This little guy was obviously a roo from about 5 weeks of age.


This one on the other hand had me convinced it was a roo, and then it laid an egg last week.

Oh my goodness your black one is beautiful! And your right it does have that "handsome" look about it haha. This gives me hope about my one white one who im convinced is a roo but I am hanging onto him till I know for sure because as it grows its crest is getting super thick and its comb is still flat at almost 8wks so I am hoping it could actually be a girl!

 

[mystonedgarden]

I really love my silkies. They are so addicting!! I made a grow out pen connecting to my coop so that everyone can see each other safely. Since I have a small yard, I have to alternate who free ranges when. I cant wait till everyone is old enough to free range together, but I also can wait because Im going to be sad when it comes to rehoming some of my roos.

 

[Sylvester017]

This is Seven Dust. I'm a visual person..so I share photos..thinking maybe I'm not alone.

Sevin is a pesticide for garden and livestock. It comes in diferent strengths 5% or 7% I believe. Font quote me on that. My when I had my rooster at the vet he told me to mix it half and half with corn starch if I ever used it again.

Sevin dust is a pesticide powder. Get the 5%, its for use on vegetable, fruits, ornamentals and lawns. You can find it at Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart or just about anywhere else that has a garden section

Thank you everyone! I think next time I go shopping I'll pick up the 5% and ... It won't hurt 'em if I just take it plain outta the container and apply it on and under their feathers?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not saying wrong or right but just sharting what we've been doing with the Silkies since we started with them 3 years ago. Because most chickens are susceptible to respirator/lung issues we chose not to use dusts or powders around our chickens. We have a Leghorn that sneezes so much just when she takes her dirt baths that we didn't want to add more dust to their health maintenance. This means we don't use DE, Sevin, pyrethrin (spelling??), cornstarch, etc.

What we have successfully used for the entire flock (Silkies and LF alike) is Poultry Protector. It is OMRI organic and I feel 100% comfortable using it over the commercial poisons or dusts. Poultry Protector is a liquid in a spray bottle and is at our feed store, can be used directly on the chickens or the coop (directions on label) and we don't have to worry about dust kicking up in the coop or when the chickens shake or flap their wings. I know it works well as we've been lice/mite/scaly leg free for 3 years. We were shipped two juvenile birds from a breeder and they were crawling with feather lice. Poor things. We used Poultry Protector on the young birds and they cleared up overnight. Just to be sure we applied again on the second night feeling comfortable that it wasn't a harmful poison. Easy to use, organic, and it WORKS.

A Silkie layed a softshell egg that broke in the nestbox and was crawling with ants. I sprayed with Poultry Protector and it immediately immobilized the ants so they weren't crawling up my arm as I cleaned out the nestbox straw. The stuff isn't cheap but we chose it because it was organic the same way we use organic fertilizers and NEEM oil pesticide/miticide/fungicide in the veggie garden to keep it free of strong poisons. We treat the birds and coop once a month with Poultry Protector.

 

[emvickrey]

W
What is sevin dust ? And thank you everyone for helping me! I will probably try the dust

I use Sevin duse also. Many people say not to but it works. I once got a bag of wood shavings that had mites in it and I had a bad infestation that killed a couple of chicks by the time I figured out what was wrong. Every pen I used it in had mites. I dusted all the birds even the chicks and the bedding and the mites where gone, You can bathe a bird with DAwn dish luquid and it also kills mites and lice as well as any pests on your animals, dogs, cats etc. It kills fleas on cantact so I suppose it does the others as well. But bathing a flock of birds is not as easy as dusting everything down. I also had a bird that had lice and I bathed her with Dawn and it killed them all. I removed the eggs by hand but the lilce just washed down the drain dead.

I don't buy flea and tick shampoo or anything else. Our dog gets a bath with Dawn then followed by something that smells good. Wet dogs stink, clean or not so they need a little smell good to go with their bath.

 

[Cynthia12]

I also worried about anything dust. Haven't had any problems with mine...I have not put any on my silkies, come to think of it. They are in a pen where no other birds can get to them. They are always free of mites. Yaay. I keep checking, but no buggies. My LF on the other hand, get them, as they are out there with those darn sparrows! They eat the chicken food, they drink the water, they bathe in their water. Arrgh!

 

[katzbantams]

Thank you everyone! I think next time I go shopping I'll pick up the 5% and ... It won't hurt 'em if I just take it plain outta the container and apply it on and under their feathers?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not saying wrong or right but just sharting what we've been doing with the Silkies since we started with them 3 years ago.  Because most chickens are susceptible to respirator/lung issues we chose not to use dusts or powders around our chickens.  We have a Leghorn that sneezes so much just when she takes her dirt baths that we didn't want to add more dust to their health maintenance.  This means we don't use DE, Sevin, pyrethrin (spelling??), cornstarch, etc. 

What we have successfully used for the entire flock (Silkies and LF alike) is Poultry Protector.  It is OMRI organic and I feel 100% comfortable using it over the commercial poisons or dusts.  Poultry Protector is a liquid in a spray bottle and is at our feed store, can be used directly on the chickens or the coop (directions on label) and we don't have to worry about dust kicking up in the coop or when the chickens shake or flap their wings.  I know it works well as we've been lice/mite/scaly leg free for 3 years.  We were shipped two juvenile birds from a breeder and they were crawling with feather lice.  Poor things.  We used Poultry Protector on the young birds and they cleared up overnight.  Just to be sure we applied again on the second night feeling comfortable that it wasn't a harmful poison.  Easy to use, organic, and it WORKS.

A Silkie layed a softshell egg that broke in the nestbox and was crawling with ants.  I sprayed with Poultry Protector and it immediately immobilized the ants so they weren't crawling up my arm as I cleaned out the nestbox straw.  The stuff isn't cheap but we chose it because it was organic the same way we use organic fertilizers and NEEM oil pesticide/miticide/fungicide in the veggie garden to keep it free of strong poisons.  We treat the birds and coop once a month with Poultry Protector.

I have this! I used to use it and it seemed to work but I never rlly thought about it- not sure if there are lice or mites but I think they do so I'm gunna spray the 5 hens, the roo and the coop down thank you everyone for help! I know if there is ever a problem, you guys would help me!

 

[emvickrey]

I also worried about anything dust. Haven't had any problems with mine...I have put any on my silkies, come to think of it. They are in a pen where no other birds can get to them. They are always free of mites. Yaay. I keep checking, but no buggies. My LF on the other hand, get them, as they are out there with those darn sparrows! They eat the chicken food, they drink the water, they bathe in their water. Arrgh!

If you see your birds shaking their heads they probably have mites. Before I moved where I live now the worst thing that happened is an EE got sick. It was pretty bad and she was blowing snot everywhere when she sneezed. I managed to get her well. I moved here I've dealt with mites, lice and sickness. Thank goodness there is a vet now that will see chickens.

 

[katzbantams]

If you see your birds shaking their heads they probably have mites. Before I moved where I live now the worst thing that happened is an EE got sick. It was pretty bad and she was blowing snot everywhere when she sneezed. I managed to get her well. I moved here I've dealt with mites, lice and sickness. Thank goodness there is a vet now that will see chickens.

Ok I will keep an eye on that! Good thing there's a vet! Lol there isn't rlly a vet around me, so it's you guys who help me out!

 

[RockerHen]

My ambiguous chick decided to finally be a cockerel (what I wanted)

Streamers popped out within the past week. He just needed to fill out more (especially in the tail)



And here is my interesting crew of two co-broodies, a silkie hen and a half silkie hen, a turkey poult who is about 2.5 months old and can't get over the fact that her mothers have raised more children since her, 3 olive egger babies and one leghorn/marans cross baby.

 

[Fancychooklady]

My ambiguous chick decided to finally be a cockerel (what I wanted) Streamers popped out within the past week. He just needed to fill out more (especially in the tail) And here is my interesting crew of two co-broodies, a silkie hen and a half silkie hen, a turkey poult who is about 2.5 months old and can't get over the fact that her mothers have raised more children since her, 3 olive egger babies and one leghorn/marans cross baby.

Oh he's growing into such a handsome young fella!