Silkie thread!

[K Epp]

We have babies...

 

[Pinkaboo]

Amazing well done

 

[Sylvester017]

We all do what we can. My daughter is on a crusade to save all the ' off the track thoroughbreds ' that our paddocks will hold. She has saved 3 from the ' dog truck ' 2 of which she has worked so hard with they along with her are on our state youth development squad. It is imperative to research as much as you can about which ever animal is in your care as sometimes a vet is miles away and time is of the essence. I have a good relationship with all my vets. Avian, small animal and equine. Yes 3 different vets. With horses you have to be prepared for just about anything . Impailment on star pickets, caught in fencing wire and numerous travel injuries just to mention a few. My husband has served 30 years in the navy so he's no ' shrinking violet ' he gives the horses their injection and he has even stitched a goat 's stomached up. I'm always there helping out and doing the nurse bits. I know each and every one of my chickens and couldn't possibly eat one. A few years ago I spent 3 years in hospital and after many rounds of chemo I was sent home to ' wait and see '. My chickens were my therapy. We eat their eggs and I make a nice little profit selling hatching eggs. I keep my birds as close to SOP as possible because I know that I can find homes for good quality Roos but nobody wants mutts. That's just the way of the world!

Yes, horses are a major responsibility and expense. In 1945 when my folks bought their 25 acres Pops used a huge plow horse to till. The expense and work of keeping the horse and hard job of horse-plowing quickly got old for him and he sold the horse. He went to a WWII surplus to buy a used Caterpillar chain-wheeled tractor and two military barracks to move to the property to convert into our eventual farmhouse - talk about recycling and repurposing!

Because I was so sensitve about animals I was kept away on butchering days. Watching Pops tinker with farm equipment taught me about simple mechanics and watching Mom with the animals was my animal learning experience the first 15 years of my life. Folks raised goats, sheep, horse, cattle, geese, ducks, chickens - no pigs or turkeys, orchards of fruit, citrus, and avocado trees - plus Mom always kept a sizeable garden. After their 15 years of experimental self-sufficient farming that didn't pay off the property was rented out and eventually sold. I've lived in the city since I was 15 but still consider myself farmfolk to this day.

Yes, chickens are wonderful enoyment with or without the need for illness therapy. My Pops was a stickler for always getting pure breeds in livestock/poultry and it sort of rubbed off on me. I only get purebred pets or chickens and from breeders only - although not all breeders are the same as far as what they sell you so it's always buyer beware in my book. I love the responsible purebred breeders as I hear so many reviews where people get mixed-up breeds in their orders. At that point you still love the animals or birds but it is more difficult to find homes for the mixed breeds as my daughter found out when it took her over 4 months to find a home for a shelter rescue dog. Her father-in-law rescues and only concentrates on purebred Basenji dogs for new owner placements.

Even our feed store only displays the purebred roos in their rooster room. The feed store Silkie pen had only purebreeds brought in by a private breeder old enough so you could tell the two cockerels from the 10 pullets - that's how we got our beautiful bearded Black Silkie pullet - seems the USA loves the bearded and large-crested variety a lot. A friend offered me two free cochin-silkie mixed juvies and even I refused the mixed breeds. Keeping them pure makes a lot of difference in finding them homes. Another friend of mine had no problem finding homes for a breeding pair of Coronation Sussex that were free to a good home only if the new owner continued the breeding project. I love Coronation Sussex as I am impressed by their temperament but they would be way too large around my Silkies in our very small yard - gotta keep responsibility in mind and not let chicken math take over! Another friend sells her eggs and breaks even on chicken expenses. I however do not have the zoning or the room for such a venture but would love to!

 

[Sylvester017]

As with all silkie sexing theories this one has 50% chance of working.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I found this when researching for someone else. I thought to myself ' Sly would like this '.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ok everyone I have my small flock of silkies with my showgirl roo (15) and every eight weeks my hens go broody, and once one does its a matter of days before they all do! I've never had luck breaking them of broody, wire mesh cage or even cooling with ice. Does anyone else have the same broody mania? I don't mind so much except its so hard to part with the babies when they grow up! And find good homes for the cockerels. Anyone have any tricks to stop the brooding?

I stopped trying to break my broodies. Why? It's a natural process. Plus breaking a broody doesn't mean they'll immediately start laying eggs or behaving normally anyway. I give them a good 3 weeks or so to brood - the rest from laying so many eggs is good for them. Remove any eggs laid by the other hens ASAP or the broody will promptly set them - had one Partridge Silkie that set on a cucumber slice and guarded it with her life!

I can't have roos but I imagine you'd keep them separated from any broody hen - at least I would. Take broodies out of the nestbox 3-4x a day to eat/drink/dust-bathe. We give a Poly-Vi-Sol vitamin drop 2-3x/week because of their diminished nutritional intake. After the 4th week if they are still grumpy broody we start locking them out of the coop to mingle with the rest of the flock. It takes about another week before they get tired of being cranky and return to normal. Supposedly Leghorns don't go broody but when ours did we did the same thing. In fact we were glad she was taking a reproductive rest from laying so many eggs.

Our Black Silkie wonder leaves the brooding nest herself a couple times a day to eat/drink/dust-bathe and then returns to her imaginary egg nest. By the end of 3 weeks she's bored with the whole broody thing and returns to the flock. She's also our silly girl that asks to come into the house to lay her egg in the indoor hospital pen nestbox and then asks to be let out after she's layed the egg. Just shows how different every chicken can be.

 

[Sylvester017]

I found this when researching for someone else. I thought to myself ' Sly would like this '.

You know what's cute about this original documentary is that the narrator was saying the whole while the momma duck is walking away she's quacking to the ducklings encouraging them to leap from the nest to the carpeted floor of leaves below. This was an amazing film narrated by David Attenborough from his wildlife series! She had about a dozen babies by the time she reached the water with them.

 

[lightchick]

My partridge Silkie barely has any feathers on her legs. Does that mean she's a girl? She's 4.5 weeks old.

 

[Fancychooklady]

You know what's cute about this original documentary is that the narrator was saying the whole while the momma duck is walking away she's quacking to the ducklings encouraging them to leap from the nest to the carpeted floor of leaves below.  This was an amazing film narrated by David Attenborough from his wildlife series!  She had about a dozen babies by the time she reached the water with them.

There is a beautiful clip that includes many woodland animals to miriam stockleys ' perfect day ' the peter rabbit theme song but I can't find it.

 

[Fancychooklady]

My partridge Silkie barely has any feathers on her legs.   Does that mean she's a girl?   She's 4.5 weeks old.

No, it means that your silkie doesn't have overly feathered feet. I have some with and some without.