Silkie thread!

[dstinett]

how long after my hen begins to lay should I wait to incubate eggs? I am assuming like other animals that she needs to be fully mature to produce good quality. Opinions?

 

[Fancychooklady]

how long after my hen begins to lay should I wait to incubate eggs? I am assuming like other animals that she needs to be fully mature to produce good quality. Opinions?

Personally I would wait 4-6 weeks, till the ' pullet ' eggs are of average size. In some birds it can take that long before the eggshell quality is ready for incubating anyway. Plenty of people incubate pullet eggs but it has been my experience that the incidence of ' quitters ' is increased .

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

x2. I usually try to wait on incubating pullet eggs. Sometimes, I just can't help myself though, and pop them into the incubator as an "egg-spiriment". I've gotten some really nice birds from pullet eggs, but they are few and far between.

 

[Teila]

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.

De-lurking to add that I have two pre-fabricated coops both around the $300-$400 mark.

If you are not 'handy' at all; live in suburbia with no real predator threat and only a small flock; there is nothing wrong with pre-fab coops. It all depends on your location and circumstances.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Just sharing a few more pics of my oddball cockerel, he's got me stumped! But he's pretty!

This is what he looked like when I decided I was going to keep him (wet crest and all), just your normal, everyday blue:

Here he is today:



He's got some bigger white splotches on his other side, which he wouldn't let me photograph, of course

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Just sharing a few more pics of my oddball cockerel, he's got me stumped! But he's pretty!

This is what he looked like when I decided I was going to keep him (wet crest and all), just your normal, everyday blue:

Here he is today:



He's got some bigger white splotches on his other side, which he wouldn't let me photograph, of course

I love him! He reminds me of a blue roan horse!

 

[Zgm12]

What is a good price to sell show quality blue/black/splash silkie eggs and chicks for?

 

[Sylvester017]

De-lurking to add that I have two pre-fabricated coops both around the $300-$400 mark.

If you are not 'handy' at all; live in suburbia with no real predator threat and only a small flock; there is nothing wrong with pre-fab coops. It all depends on your location and circumstances.

There's nothing wrong with pre-fab coops but the ones under $300 are generally more flimsy, hold less chickens than stated, and need to be placed inside a sturdy pen enclosure. Many who have bought the pre-fab coops have been disappointed with split/broken wood, mismatched pre-drilled fittings, had to reinforce the walls, add extra bracing, fortify with glue, add more pen space, etc.

Living in the city doesn't mean you don't have Raccoons who are possibly the honery-est wildlife to invade backyards and you'll never know you have them until you get chickens. They are becoming a growing population and are preferring citylife over rural areas. The mommas bring the kits out at night to teach them everything she knows and with those manipulative opposing thumb claws and collapsing spines can get through the smallest coop, garage, barn door openings with their cunning. What they can't squeeze through they will tear open and are clever at figuring out how to open locks. They are amazingly strong for their size and figure the best folcrum to knock over or open heavy lids and knock over trash cans. I've had the dubious pleasure of picking up trash in a backyard for an hour after a visit from such a wild one! And don't confront one as the adults are vicious and especially if they have their kits in the vicinity.

Raccoons don't necessarily kill chickens for food but for the frenzy of the chase. And they have long slender arms to pull through cheap chicken/poultry wire to tear off chicken feet or heads. No city backyard is safe from this growing menace. Ours come out from the city storm drains at night and we never knew they existed in our neighborhood til we got chickens!

 

[Fancychooklady]

I made the mistake of buying one of the balsa wood ones and over a period of 18 months it has fallen apart. The only way to preserve them in the weather is to add a tin roof and to paint in a good solar guard paint. I paid $200 for a 3mx3m garden shed on gumtree. Painted put a door and window in and it will last a lot longer. SIL is correct about keeping predators out. We had 2 x dogs raid the chickens and they chewed through the hutch door , pushed on the aviary wire until it collapsed and then killed my best silkie pullets. I've seen your set up teila and it's lovely. Your babies have a little oasis, and it is just fine for suburbia, but we only have ' drop bears ' in Aus , not those nasty grizzly kind.

 

[Teila]

There's nothing wrong with pre-fab coops but the ones under $300 are generally more flimsy, hold less chickens than stated, and need to be placed inside a sturdy pen enclosure. Many who have bought the pre-fab coops have been disappointed with split/broken wood, mismatched pre-drilled fittings, had to reinforce the walls, add extra bracing, fortify with glue, add more pen space, etc.

Living in the city doesn't mean you don't have Raccoons who are possibly the honery-est wildlife to invade backyards and you'll never know you have them until you get chickens. They are becoming a growing population and are preferring citylife over rural areas. The mommas bring the kits out at night to teach them everything she knows and with those manipulative opposing thumb claws and collapsing spines can get through the smallest coop, garage, barn door openings with their cunning. What they can't squeeze through they will tear open and are clever at figuring out how to open locks. They are amazingly strong for their size and figure the best folcrum to knock over or open heavy lids and knock over trash cans. I've had the dubious pleasure of picking up trash in a backyard for an hour after a visit from such a wild one! And don't confront one as the adults are vicious and especially if they have their kits in the vicinity.

Raccoons don't necessarily kill chickens for food but for the frenzy of the chase. And they have long slender arms to pull through cheap chicken/poultry wire to tear off chicken feet or heads. No city backyard is safe from this growing menace. Ours come out from the city storm drains at night and we never knew they existed in our neighborhood til we got chickens!

Hi there Sylvester017

I posted a reply because I thought your comment "Pre-fabricated little coops under $300 are not worth the balsa wood type construction they're made of" was a little on the generalization side and a brush away, do not go down that path.

I agree with your comments regarding the construction as some are better than others. I also agree that they are not predator proof to some predators but I was just trying to point out that, for some chicken keepers, they are fine.

Luckily we do not have Raccoons in Aus but we do have other predators that a pre-fab coop may not protect your hens from; but again, it depends on your location and circumstances