Silkie thread!

[mom of silkies]

IMO your LFs are all considered non-combative gentle fowl which is why there seemingly are no incidents. The breeds you listed are generally sweet breeds to mix together. There are always exceptions but mellow breeds are a joy to have together.

yeah I agree they are all VERY gentle breeds. I have white leghorns i call them "crazies" i would NOT put my silkies with them but the gentle breeds you have I would put my silkies with.

 

[cutipatooti]

Wow! I can't believe how developed they are for 6 weeks. I think it will depend on their mature personalities.

 

[mom of silkies]

Yeah it all depends on the chicken, some hens lay at five months others nine it all depends on that chickens abilities.

 

[cutipatooti]

I have 4 silkies about 8 weeks old right now. I got them from what I felt was a reputable breeder. They breed some of the more rare colors like silver partridge and cuckoo. They look like silkies but 2 of them do not have black skin. I'm going to email the breeder but wanted to know what you all that of this. Is this something that happens from time to time? Is it due to bad breeding? Or is if from outcrossing to get the different coloring?

 

[cutipatooti]

Here are some pics of the chicks in question

Cuckoo... The eye looks unusual to me, all my other silkies have dark eyes.

This one has a vaulted skull and I have no idea what color you call it.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Here are some pics of the chicks in question

Cuckoo... The eye looks unusual to me, all my other silkies have dark eyes.

This one has a vaulted skull and I have no idea what color you call it.

The barred gene in cuckoo leaves the skin colour incomplete. This link should be helpful. It shows examples of possible genetic traits.

http://www.chickencolours.com/Lemon Silkies.pdf

 

[lilpeepers]

Just a few days to go until we might see chicks hatch from the eggs Arrowroot is setting on. Arrowroot is sharing a coop and outdoor pen with three other Silkie pullets (hatch mates). Before going broody, she appeared to be the alpha hen. (Actually, I thought that she was a roo until she started squatting.) I am hoping that I won't need to separate her and the chicks. I cleaned the coop in preparation for the hatch. The nest that Arrowroot is in is one of three nests about 10 inches above the floor. There is room under the nests and one of the Silkies lays her eggs there. One has been laying eggs in Arrowroot's nest and one in another nest. I am expecting that after the chicks hatch that she will move down to the floor with them. If she hasn't moved out of the nest after a couple days, I am planning on moving her. Is that what should happen? Should I move her to the floor sooner? It is currently getting down to 32°F in the coop at night, sometimes colder.

The pop door from the coop to the pen is 16 inches above the floor and accessed via a stair made from cement blocks (two steps on the inside and three on the outside. Can I leave the stair in place or should I remove the lowest step until the chicks are at least a week old or jumping on top of the quart jar waterer? The chicks will be NH or BR mix, not Silkies.

Anything else that I should watch for?

We do have an option to completely separate mom and chicks from the other Silkies if it becomes necessary but we are hoping to be able to keep all the Silkies together.

Hi There Annalog, I'm excited to hear about your hatch! My silkie is doing just great with her two babies, who are already quite big (2 weeks old).
My experience is that the little chicks will be up and about after about day 2 - leaving mom's side more and more. I wonder, how hard would it be for you to add ramps to her nest? Possibly cardboard or wood, with slats so they can get their footing down to the ground. (And/or soften a possible tumble out of the nest?) My momma is still in her maternity ward (small coop), which we moved out of the shed and into the yard. It is about 8' off the ground. I added extra ramps for the mom and chicks to get down to the ground, and they have navigated this quite well. They forage in the yard with the rest of our flock, and at night she gets the babies into bed in the maternity ward. At first, she tried to go into her old coop with the crew, but the babies could not navigate the ledge, and we didn't build a ramp for them into the old coop.
If you do want to move her, I would think that a few days after the hatch, that should be okay? I just would be scared to do anything until she is done sitting. Once mine was up and about (after about 2 days, I took the unhatched eggs away and she was puttering around) she was fine with me adjusting her old nest in all kinds of ways (it needed a cleaning and I relocated it within her tiny coop so the waterer could go in the back nesting box corner so sawdust wouldn't keep getting kicked in it).
Being in VA, it has been very cold at times (20 degrees F) and they seem to do fine. When it's cold, momma hunkers down and babies run under her, wherever she is (in the coop or out in the yard). Keep us posted.

 

[lilpeepers]

But all in all, I would think that moving her down to the ground as soon as you can after the hatch is the way to go. The babies wont be able to get back to the nest if they fall out (possibly getting chilled), and the momma will be quite distressed. Could you slide something like thick paper (grocery bag stuff) under her nest and then gather up all the corners and move the whole thing all together to a new nest on the ground?

 

[chickee]

The 3 chicks I hatched for the NYD Hatch-a-Long. They are out of my Catdance Silkies. Now to figure out if the partridge color is coming from the porcelain x white or the porcelain x porcelain.

 

[chickiebaby1]

Have to share some of mine!!! These are just at 10 weeks old. I just love them, they get prettier everyday.