Silkie thread!

[Nksg75]

Ok, here is the other one. Any guesses on the sex of this chick?

Any help much appreciated!!

 

[mom of silkies]

Quote:
Two of my silkies brooded together last year in the middle of February and hatched 3 silkie babies, but sadly a few days later the chicks died, which I think was caused by the cold. But I was thinking about stealing the chicks as soon as they hatch.

 

[abbevilleoz]

Does anyone else have silkies trying to brood this time of year? All of my silkie hens are trying to brood again, but I don't know if I should let them, because of it being Winter.

A friend of mine just had a young hen go broody but we're in the south.

 

[QueenMisha]

Thank you! I sure do hope so!!
I have a question, does anyone know if partridges can be sexed by color pattern? I remember a few people mentioning that my partridge silkie is probably female because of her pattern. That seems a little too good to be true. I thought that color sexing does not apply to silkies?
I tried researching this and just cannot find any articles about it.

At a certain age, Partridge can be color sexed. To show an example of why on a normally festhered bird, here are some adult Partridge Cochins (photos not mine):

Cock:

Hen:

As you can see, Partridge show pretty distinct coloration. With Silkies - in particular young ones - the pattern is a bit more muddled, but if you look at color + other features like the roundness of the crest and shape of the body, they should be quite easily sexable.

Ok, here is the other one. Any guesses on the sex of this chick?

Any help much appreciated!!

That should be a pullet.

Does anyone else have silkies trying to brood this time of year? All of my silkie hens are trying to brood again, but I don't know if I should let them, because of it being Winter.

My Shamo Misha just decided to brood (really Mish?! It's 25F and you decide to brood?), so yes, my Silkies are broody. Anytime Misha starts to brood they are close behind a few days later. I'm going to just let them break themselves, all my broody cages are basically in use right now. I would probably let them hatch - I've had winter hatches before and the chicks did well - but I'm waiting for spring to hatch the majority of my babies.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I have a broody sitting on 10 eggs. Right now its 30F and snowing, she's doing a good job. I've had chicks running around in the snow, and they pop under momma when they need to warm up. They feather out quickly too

I say go for it, but have a back up plan just in case there are problems.

 

[silkiecuddles]

Ok, here is the other one. Any guesses on the sex of this chick?





Any help much appreciated!!

Looks female to me. aren't you lucky!

 

[smschultz]

Anyone use a no crow collar here? Mine works just fine, but somehow the little bugger keeps getting it loose. Does this happen with anyone else?

 

[QueenMisha]

This little girl is Ragnar. She's absolutely tiny. I mean, I know Silkies are bantams, but they're big bantams. She's maybe half the size of my normal White Silkie hens, and 1/4 size of my Silkie cockerels.

 

[mom of silkies]

I have a broody sitting on 10 eggs. Right now its 30F and snowing, she's doing a good job. I've had chicks running around in the snow, and they pop under momma when they need to warm up. They feather out quickly too

I say go for it, but have a back up plan just in case there are problems.

Thanks! I think I'm going to, but just in case i'm going to have a bin in the house with a heat lamp!

At a certain age, Partridge can be color sexed. To show an example of why on a normally festhered bird, here are some adult Partridge Cochins (photos not mine):

Cock:



Hen:



As you can see, Partridge show pretty distinct coloration. With Silkies - in particular young ones - the pattern is a bit more muddled, but if you look at color + other features like the roundness of the crest and shape of the body, they should be quite easily sexable.
That should be a pullet.
My Shamo Misha just decided to brood (really Mish?! It's 25F and you decide to brood?), so yes, my Silkies are broody. Anytime Misha starts to brood they are close behind a few days later. I'm going to just let them break themselves, all my broody cages are basically in use right now. I would probably let them hatch - I've had winter hatches before and the chicks did well - but I'm waiting for spring to hatch the majority of my babies.

Yeah, it was snowing here today and that only made my little brooders more determined! I have 4 trying to brood right now, they have a little brooding huddle and constantly try to steal eggs from each other! But I think I'm going to let 2 of them brood.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Quote:
Two of my silkies brooded together last year in the middle of February and hatched 3 silkie babies, but sadly a few days later the chicks died, which I think was caused by the cold. But I was thinking about stealing the chicks as soon as they hatch.

There is always the risk that they might stray from momma overnight , and of course in freezing weather that never ends well. I have raised chicks through winter and whilst it not cost effective, the hand raised chicks are always much friendlier. The other thing you could do , is bring one of the hens into the laundry with them. It's summer here and I have chicks hatching under a notoriously ' bad mother ', so as she hatches them I move them under my little Silkie hen that receives all gifts of fuzziness greatfuly. So far she has one Silkie chick of her own and 3 X blue laced Wyandotte. They are of different age but she doesn't care, I'm expecting some light Sussex to hatch any day now.