Silkie thread!

[TiaRC]

hahah! I wish I had a silkie for the 10 I have in the bator now! I have Speckled Sussex, Speckled Sussex/Red sex links, and speckled Sussex/Leghorn. These will be out egg/meat birds. When the Silkies hatch out they will be about 10 days younger than the eggs I am incubating now. Would it be okay to brood them all together after a few days? Assuming everyone is healthy. I'm not sure how much bigger they are going to be than the silkies. But wasplanning on rasing them all together until it's time to introduce the mixes to the current flock. So brood together then go to the outside pen together. The outside pen will be 6x6 coop with a run of 25x20 or 50x20 haven't decided yet.

Yes they will be fine to brood together.

 

[Sylvester017]

SIL, I treat it on a case by case basis. I have one little silkie that think she is a Wyandotte. Everytime I put her in the silkie pen she ' flies the coop'.

Love your input!

In our yard if we dabbled in a case-by-case basis I'd have a dead Silkie right now from a Marans attack where we thought the LF could get along with the Silkies.

My practice now is not to tempt fate and just go with gentle nature mixing and not wait until a dual purpose or assertive natured LF reaches maturity to go ballistic on the gentler breeds. JMO. I know you have a larger operation and more space than most of us small backyarders so may not encounter our same issues.

I too have a Silkie that thinks she's Macho Man but she'd have her butt kicked all around the yard if she challenged a LF weighing 6-lbs or more! Not an equal pecking order combat . We are fortunate to have a non-combative Ameraucana breed that submits to the Silkies rather than fight We find the LF Ameraucanas and EEs a gentle non-combative LF that are very accepting of their flockmates and still are prolific layers. So much easier to just go with gentler LF to mix with Silkies from the start rather than having to keep re-homing more assertive LF when they go ballistic at maturity. MyPetChicken.com lists Wyandottes as "dominant personality" and that's enough to keep me from trying them around a small backyard with Silkies in it. I've already re-homed a vicious Marans and 2 cannibalistic assertive Leghorns and I no longer wish to take any more chances with combative or potentially dominant LF. Mediterranean class birds are not shrinking violets and too assertive even for their smaller size and heavy dual purpose like RIRs, BRs, Wyans, NHRs, Marans, etc just grow too big and get tempted to bully smaller or gentler breeds. As pullets all breeds seem to get along but at maturity around 18 months to 2 years the bigger breeds will start to strut their position and sometimes in very injurious ways. It's a chicken thing. I won't put my Silkies in such potential harm's way even if all seems ok. Our Marans seemed ok for 6 months around our Silkies and suddenly started pulling out the crest feathers bald on one Silkie and viciously attacked another Silkie pullet so she was gone the next day. Our alpha Leghorn was sweet for 3 years and then went ballistic on her other 4 flockmates including her long-time Silkie buddy/friend. Another Leg pullet turned one-year-old and started cannibalizing the crests and muffs and combs off the other LF and Silkies. I was told how sweet natured these LF were but definitely not around Silkies or gentle Ameraucanas.

To each his own and just my 2 cents IHO.

 

[I<3MyChickens-Jewel&Flash]

I need a coop...help. I currently have 14 chickens. All silkies. 2 babies and 12 adults. They all sleep piled up in corner of my little tikes playhouse I made into a coop...they only sleep in it at n8ght only.

I was looking online... is there a coop you recommend to buy that's not too expensive that can stand outdoors well.

Is 36W by 45L
I like size but want something off ground and easy to clean

 

[Sylvester017]

hahah! I wish I had a silkie for the 10 I have in the bator now! I have Speckled Sussex, Speckled Sussex/Red sex links, and speckled Sussex/Leghorn. These will be out egg/meat birds. When the Silkies hatch out they will be about 10 days younger than the eggs I am incubating now. Would it be okay to brood them all together after a few days? Assuming everyone is healthy. I'm not sure how much bigger they are going to be than the silkies. But wasplanning on rasing them all together until it's time to introduce the mixes to the current flock. So brood together then go to the outside pen together. The outside pen will be 6x6 coop with a run of 25x20 or 50x20 haven't decided yet.

Quote:
My two Silkie chicks were okay with 6 other LF chicks of the same age but the LF chicks grew bigger faster and started tormenting the two smaller Silkie chicks so that they had to hide all day and rush out to the feeder/waterer for nourishment and then were mercilessly chased by the LF chicks into hiding again. I don't mix LF with Silkies any more. I can't imagine how people say it's ok to mix them when my experience was the complete opposite.

 

[Sylvester017]

I need a coop...help. I currently have 14 chickens. All silkies. 2 babies and 12 adults. They all sleep piled up in corner of my little tikes playhouse I made into a coop...they only sleep in it at n8ght only.

I was looking online... is there a coop you recommend to buy that's not too expensive that can stand outdoors well.



Is 36W by 45L
I like size but want something off ground and easy to clean

Quality chicken housing isn't cheap. Pre-fabricated little coops under $300 are not worth the balsa wood type construction they're made of. Bite the bullet and salvage your own scrap wood to build one or get a Home Depot/Lowe's tool shed to convert. Nothing you do will be cheap where housing is concerned unless you are good at DIY projects. My 4x6 custom coop from the feed store cost $500 3 years ago and is still made out of cheap OSB board and cheap one-inch poultry wire which was easily damaged by 2 attacking stray mutts. Good luck and maybe shop classifieds for used coops or a handyman to build you one. I searched the internet and actually found a person nearby who custom builds to your order. In your State and community you should be able to find someone who can build a coop - especially now that you have a good feel for what you need and want.

 

[TiaRC]

My two Silkie chicks were okay with 6 other LF chicks of the same age but the LF chicks grew bigger faster and started tormenting the two smaller Silkie chicks so that they had to hide all day and rush out to the feeder/waterer for nourishment and then were mercilessly chased by the LF chicks into hiding again.  I don't mix LF with Silkies any more.  I can't imagine how people say it's ok to mix them when my experience was the complete opposite.

I've always brooded my lf and Silkies together. Usually even numbers. 10 lf and 10 Silkie. I also don't have any dominant personality fowl. So everyone is ok with everyone. No bullying

 

[Sylvester017]

It is tricky i agree, i do free range some good sized Cockerels that said they only interact with some EE"s and Ameraucana (well loads of ducks but that doesn't matter) i did have one little silkie hen loose in the area my Bielefelder cockerel was in at that time he was small(still bigger than her) but no he would not let her be so i pulled her it was temporary anyways..

Extreme size differences with any birds one has to use caution and know the birds and their generally reactions. Those silkie hens are small.. and pretty vulnerable. My quad of white cockerels are neither.. they are very cocky and full of themselves...

Silkies or any bantam are chickens and don't realize they are smaller than LF chickens and just do their cocky chicken thing but they get their butts kicked by the LF. I have a Silkie that thinks she's Macho Man but a year ago she would've been clawed to death by a Marans hen if I wasn't right there to see it as it happened and stop it! Being cocky or strutting their stuff doesn't mean the Silkie won't be licked or killed. Ever see a cocky Chiquaqua that challenges a German Shepherd - the GS will win THAT battle! As owners of small animals we have to use our own good judgement and understand that animals are animals are animals and that they do things instinctively and not necessarily smartly.

 

[kada6305]

There will be close to even number of silkies and our mixes. well depedning oon how many hatch out. We have 7 mixed breeds developing and i am getting 6-8 silkie eggs. I am hoping for 5 and 5 but ill take whatever I can get they will be seperated once i see any bullying besides normal pecking order. the mixed breeds will be mixed with our other flock at about 8 14 weeks or so anyway.

 

[carolsmith7878]

Hello everyone!

I have a couple of silkies that I'm not sure of what color they are. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The first 3 pics are of birds that are around 4 months old.

1. Black silkie with silver on him, named "BlackJack". He is really hard to get pics of.


2. Porcelain? silkie around 4 months old. His name is "Rufus"


3. Partridge? Female named "Bon Bon"



The rest of the birds pictured are around 2 months old.

4. Black with Red wings, neck. Male?


5. Black with red/gold neck. Female?


6. Red? male?


Group photo



Thanks!

 

[cgmaster]

I just got a white silkie chick that is almost fully feathered, it looks good except it has a single comb and some of its wing and feet feathers are not silkied. I named it snowball it is currently sitting on my chest, so far it likes to stand on my shoulder and my hand