Silkie thread!

[chadmen2013]

sorry for the that blank post didn't mean to hit reply. Heres the hens im looking for the partridge rooster for.Haven't heard from anyone on any rooster. May be having to make a trip down your direction.

 

[destiny_56085]

I'll be around next Monday through Wednesday.. I work pretty long shifts over the weekend, so not around much at all those days.

 

[chadmen2013]

I'll be around next Monday through Wednesday..  I work pretty long shifts over the weekend, so not around much at all those days.

Thanks will have to see how things work out.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hey everyone. I was looking to get two silkie chickens to add to my acreage. I currently have ducks and alpacas. My question is about the coops at home depot. Would the Summerhawk ones be warm enough? Think -40 occasionally in the winter......

Wow! -40 !!! I think you'll have to be the best one to determine if the Summerhawk can take the kind of weather abuse your climate dishes out. You might need to have it covered by a patio roof or roofed dog kennel enclosure because the smaller pre-fab coops tend to have weaker and thinner walls -- not only that but I have yet to know of a coop that doesn't eventually warp, leak, or peel with age from weather abuse. We had a canopy over our little 4x6 coop and now are building a patio roof over our newest Barn Coop to protect from weather elements. You might be surprised at how much more room 2 Silkies will need. They need just as much (if not more) room than large fowl since they need room to run and flap their wings since Silkies can't fly. We found out quickly that a 4x6 run was not enough area for 2 Silkies.

We first bought a 4x6 custom-built feed store coop made out of OSB and chicken poultry wire for our first 2 Silkies.



We knew the coop construction was low-quality so we kept the coop tarped from the weather and then added a pop-up canopy over it to protect it further and give us shelter when we collected the eggs. (Sorry, never got a photo of the pop-up canopy over the coop).



We started with 2 Silkies in the 4x6 coop/run and quickly within a month realized these little lovebugs needed a lot more room so we let them out to forage a couple hours a day. Eventually we added a couple more chickens and made a lot of low shelters, lawn furniture, climbing rosebush on the fence, xtra lrg doghouses, and another pop-up canopy in the backyard so the chickens had places to snooze/hide during the day other than just the coop. They are out all day now with a lot of places to hide from the local Cooper's Hawk.

Sometimes under the cedar lawn rocker was a popular hiding place.


The old rosebush along the fence was a popular hideout.


The best and favourite shelters were the simple plywood lean-to's we made.



Even trash cans and wheelbarrows made hiding spots.



Pop-up canopy gave a wide area of shade from the sun or protection from a sudden rain. Burying the canopy legs into the soil kept the canopy from para-sailing away in our wind storms. The canopy cover needs replacing approx. once a year.


The doghouses are popular with all the chickens. We have 4 large houses recycled from thrift stores, yard sales, and friends.



Silkies are great little chickens. The only thing I don't recommend is to let them romp and forage on muddy chilly rainy days since their feathers don't repel the cold rain water and caked mud is murder on those feathered feet. With routine chicken health maintenance these little guys are just as hardy as large fowl and lay the largest of the bantam eggs - eggs are between 1.25 to 1.5 oz. Enjoy your Silkies!

 

[joydix]

Cute little set up there! i would not trust those prefab inexpensive coops you see at tractor supply etc. just about anywhere has predators..racoons, skunks, rats? foxes....we have an abundance here on the russian river. IF i got one i would protect also but also reinforce with hardware cloth....apron it out at the bottom for digger...and make a bigger run area if you are not going to let them out a lot ! i just ordered 8 silkie hatching eggs..first incubator attempt. hope it is successful! can't wait. love my silkie....

 

[QueenMisha]

Great news QueenMisha. It's always nice to see a success story. Remember that this is a deficiency , so it's important to see that her dietary needs are seen to.
The fact that she is the only one in your flock that has suffered with wryneck means that she will need to be treated as a ' special needs ' bird. I have a few of those in my flock .

Sorry for late response.

Yeah, she will definitely be a special needs bird now. I've been needing a new house chicken for a while so I expect this will be her. She's a much better option than the last two for sure - my first house bird was a Hamburg cockerel who started crowing very young (I loved him but that crow - so squeaky - at 5 AM? yikes) and the other was an O Shamo hen who was both huge and an absolute brat (No Misha, you cannot lay your eggs on the dining room table!). I think this girl would fair well as a house bird, with a little pen in my room and some diaper training so she can walk about.

A question, can wryneck be a hereditary issue? I had acquired these birds planning to breed them and although she is stunning, I won't if there's a chance of producing wryneck-prone offspring.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Sorry for late response.

Yeah, she will definitely be a special needs bird now. I've been needing a new house chicken for a while so I expect this will be her. She's a much better option than the last two for sure - my first house bird was a Hamburg cockerel who started crowing very young (I loved him but that crow - so squeaky - at 5 AM? yikes) and the other was an O Shamo hen who was both huge and an absolute brat (No Misha, you cannot lay your eggs on the dining room table!). I think this girl would fair well as a house bird, with a little pen in my room and some diaper training so she can walk about.

A question, can wryneck be a hereditary issue? I had acquired these birds planning to breed them and although she is stunning, I won't if there's a chance of producing wryneck-prone offspring.

Not according to the science. Some birds Aquire it several weeks after hatching whilst others will hatch with the condition. It is a deficiency , whether that is passed down through poor nutrition in the parent stock or acquired by the feeding program that the chick has been on is what you need to ' nut out '.
I recently changed to a non medicated feed that unfortunately is mostly ground corn. At 7 weeks of age one of my chicks got wryneck. This is the first case in my flock in 12 years.
Regardless of the age of the bird my entire flock have a multi vitamin added to their water weekly.

 

[schaff0912]

I am ISO some good quality BBS silkie chicks!!! I am in Idaho and willing to drive as far as Portland or Seattle. Also would pay for shipping. Anyone?

 

[cgmaster]

I hatched out a 3rd generation silkie mix yesterday morning. It's dad is pure silkie its mom is 3/4 silkie (smooth feathers) i think, her parents were a pure silkie roo and a silkie/easter egger hen

 

[tjo804]

Pictures of the gang?