Silkie thread!

[RubyNala97]

Here's some "better" photos. She/He loves to get away!

That's a hard one to tell! I'm a little more stumped now. Still leaning towards boy because of the way he/she stands, more upright posture. And the crest is more pointing towards the back. But I'm not sure. I don't see any streamers or the tail feathers. Waiting for others to guess too!

 

[Aleee44]

He/She stands upright usually when I'm getting to close to get ready to run lol!
For the most part she/he is taking dust baths and laying around or eating.

 

[RubyNala97]

He/She stands upright usually when I'm getting to close to get ready to run lol!
For the most part she/he is taking dust baths and laying around or eating.

Here is a recent picture of my white pair. Male on the left, female on the right.

 

[Fancychooklady]

He/She stands upright usually when I'm getting to close to get ready to run lol!
For the most part she/he is taking dust baths and laying around or eating.

At 9 weeks of age , your guess would be as good as anyone's. Keep an eye on the comb and wattles, at this stage they are quite small.

 

[sophiesflock]

Hi! I am getting my first chicks in September; 2 buff orpingtons, 2 welsummers and 2 easter eggers. I also really want to get 2 or 3 silkies but since it's so late in the season and I live in Canada there's nowhere to get them until spring. I'm thinking of getting them in spring and Intruducing them to the flock then but I've heard it can be hard to do that with birds that are smaller and funny looking (like silkies). Do you think I could make it work? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Fancychooklady]

[COLOR=0000CD]Chickenjunkie.com said that . . . a vaulted skull is a hole or unclosed portion of bone in the top portion of the Silkie’s skull. This genetic trait was introduced into silkies via crosses with the Polish breed of chickens. The Polish were bred into Silkies to improve crest size. . .[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]Is that breeders' understanding of where the Silkie's vaulted skull originated - from crossbreeding to Polish?  As if the Silkies didn't have enough strange things going for them like 5 toes, feathered legs/toes, missing barbicels, melanism, crests, beards, turquoise earlobes, incessant broodiness, someone decided "let's add a vaulted skull" !  I know, I know, I digress![/COLOR] [COLOR=0000CD] [/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]The vulnerability of having the hole at the top of the skull to expose soft brain tissue to injury really frightens me for the safety of the bird.  When my DH saw the vaulted skull structure he was horrified and said it would never be a characteristic he wants in our backyard flock.  This characteristic may be acceptable for show chickens that are isolated and in a safe pampered environment but for practicality of a backyard free-range flock we saw no value in perpetuating the vaulted skull other than satisfying vanity.  Wow!  Did I say all that?  Our two hens do not have vaulted skulls but after molt they display the fullest and prettiest crests/beards - of course after a couple weeks romping around in the backyard the feathers get dirty or matted or sparser or faded - but then even if our girls did have vaulted skulls I imagine the foraging in our backyard would produce the same matted feather result - in which case the worn out feathers wouldn't look good on either a flat OR a vaulted skull so we see no benefit to the vaulting (at least in a flock or foraging environment).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]This is JMHO and not directed at anyone who feels differently but just sharing an opinion.  Wonder how other Silkie lovers feel about the safety of this trait?  Of course this is a matter of personal preference but certainly needs to be mentioned often enough for newbies to be aware of the pros/cons of the trait.[/COLOR]

I have both vaulted and non vaulted. I don't breed specifically for either but not all large round crested birds have vaulted skulls. Silkies as a breed can be very disadvantaged and are , in my opinion not at all genetically designed for free ranging. It is by popular demand that many breeders are breeding them with much bigger crests. I trimmed all of my youngsters crests away from their eyes , this week and it's amazing to watch the personality changes in them. They are now, (with their newfound vision) , much braver and far more adventurous. I've come to the conclusion that whilst many people prefer the appearance of large puffy crests, they fail to link the clumsy , shy charismatic behavior with their limited vision.
Vaulted skull varies in severity, in its mildest form the thin layer of bone will harden and once the feathers grow in , it is difficult to pick them out in the flock. In its severest form the birds will suffer a cerebral hernia,(usually when they are still chicks ) and sadly , die. It's also worth noting that some of these birds will survive until they experience their first extremely hot summer, then they are at risk of cerebral hemorrhage which the first symptoms are ataxia and wryneck .

 

[Sylvester017]

Maybe i should give this up. i lost a silkie nd two seramas to a coon.. i now have mo more of either but ill have a dead coon tonight..

A very secure hardware 1/2 inch hardwire mesh should keep out stray dogs, possums, and raccoons. Regular hex poultry wire is too flimsy to keep out little dogs let alone larger stronger 'coons, etc. Our city raccoons come out of the street drains at night and are as big as small goats so after 4 years of worrying about security we finally invested in a dog kennel-type fencing set up on paver stones so the dogs/raccoons/possums can't tear/dig in.

So sorry for the loss of your sweet babies!

 

[Sylvester017]

I have both vaulted and non vaulted. I don't breed specifically for either but not all large round crested birds have vaulted skulls. Silkies as a breed can be very disadvantaged and are , in my opinion not at all genetically designed for free ranging. It is by popular demand that many breeders are breeding them with much bigger crests. I trimmed all of my youngsters crests away from their eyes , this week and it's amazing to watch the personality changes in them. They are now, (with their newfound vision) , much braver and far more adventurous. I've come to the conclusion that whilst many people prefer the appearance of large puffy crests, they fail to link the clumsy , shy charismatic behavior with their limited vision.
Vaulted skull varies in severity, in its mildest form the thin layer of bone will harden and once the feathers grow in , it is difficult to pick them out in the flock. In its severest form the birds will suffer a cerebral hernia,(usually when they are still chicks ) and sadly , die. It's also worth noting that some of these birds will survive until they experience their first extremely hot summer, then they are at risk of cerebral hemorrhage which the first symptoms are ataxia and wryneck .

Happily our yard is small enough for our little flock to be safe ranging - definitely agree that Silkies or any gentle breed should not range in large open-area expanses. Even in our little cottage backyard we have several shelters and plants for the hens to hide/snooze in. Thanks for your additional insights!

 

[emvickrey]

A little update on the black pullet that I had so many to help keep her alive and get her well.

She is doing very good right now. She hasn't had to have any additional vitamins in a while. Her egg shells are perfect. She hasn't grown much and I'm sure she is done growing. Good thing I have mostly small roos. I had moved the splash hens into a bigger pen and moved the splash roo and the black pullet all into the same pen but the splash hens did not want the black pullet around so I had to move her to my special needs pen where I housed my house hen and roo this summer. They are all getting along just fine.

She needs a name. I normally name my chickens as a name suits them but none have came my way on her. As of now she will be staying here since she is so small. I'm afraid somebody may not be as careful not to put her with a roo to large or with other chickens that will peck at her. Otherwise, I'm attached to her no Anywaw.

She is so sweet. Anyway here she is when I put the splash's together with her.

As you can see, she stands alone. I caught all 3 of the hens abusing her and removed her immediately.

Anybody have a name for a sweet and cuddly little girl that survived a brain injury?

 

[Fancychooklady]

A little update on the black pullet that I had so many to help keep her alive and get her well. She is doing very good right now. She hasn't had to have any additional vitamins in a while. Her egg shells are perfect. She hasn't grown much and I'm sure she is done growing. Good thing I have mostly small roos. I had moved the splash hens into a bigger pen and moved the splash roo and the black pullet all into the same pen but the splash hens did not want the black pullet around so I had to move her to my special needs pen where I housed my house hen and roo this summer. They are all getting along just fine. She needs a name. I normally name my chickens as a name suits them but none have came my way on her. As of now she will be staying here since she is so small. I'm afraid somebody may not be as careful not to put her with a roo to large or with other chickens that will peck at her. Otherwise, I'm attached to her no Anywaw. She is so sweet. Anyway here she is when I put the splash's together with her. As you can see, she stands alone. I caught all 3 of the hens abusing her and removed her immediately. Anybody have a name for a sweet and cuddly little girl that survived a brain injury?

That's great news and I think that you have probably grown attached after all the nursing of this little one. My vote would be ' sparrow ' . My favorite song is by the ' seekers ' and it is called ' fly little sparrow ' . I sang it to my children whenever they were sick.