Silkie thread!

[Sylvester017]

That's what I'm afraid of! It's happened to me more times than not... I'm excited and very impatient to find some!

I started out with 2 Silkies and thought that was all we would have -- more as pets rather than for eggs. One Silkie turned out a cockerel and had to be re-homed. I got addicted to having the Silkie pullet laying cute Cadbury Chocolate-sized eggs and decided to add another Silkie pullet to replace the cockerel, added 3 Leghorns, and one Marans for larger eggs. Big mistake! The bigger hens were nice for eggs but terrible as flockmates to Silkies. We lost some LF juveniles ordered from private breeders and lost a feed store Dominique baby. Eventually we added a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana and a Blue Breda which these two lighter-weight LFs turned out to finally be the kind of breeds that played "nice" with the two Silkie pullets. Shoot! if I had known beforehand how great Silkies were going to be, I should've stayed with an all-Silkie flock and avoided the LF hassles. Sillkie eggs are the biggest of the bantam eggs, around 1.25 to 1.5-oz, they are prolific layers when not broody (we have a 5-yr-old lays 4 to 5 eggs/wk!!), they are adorable personalities, they don't fly out of the yard because of the type of fluff they have for feathers (but they still jump very high!!!), and they make great broodies/mommas if you need incubating. They are busy backyard foragers, know how to hide from aerial predators (we have many shelters/plants/doghouses/canopies for snoozing/hiding), and it's no wonder the BYC Silkie thread pages outnumber the other BYC breed pages (not to offend other breeds but these Silkies have got to be the most popular chicken in the world as backyard pets!!!). Silkies are not just another pretty face -- We have been so happy with the resilient character and health of Silkies, their good-sized eggs and production, and their sweet adorable spunky funny personalities. Glad I experienced having several LF breeds just so I could appreciate how really useful Silkies could be as our only backyard chicken. I cycled through 13 chickens in 5 years only to realize we should've stayed with Silkies from the start! Of course, if you want meat dual purpose birds Silkies will not be the ticket -- but for eggs and as pets we've been delighted.

 

[abbevilleoz]

It's a DQ in the show ring but you can still get some very pretty ' pet ' quality birds with anywhere from 4-7 toes. I've only ever had one chick hatch with 4 toes and whilst I kept it as a pet I chose not to breed it. Some believe that this along with straight comb are a result of inbreeding. I like to change my roo out every 2 years .
If you are not breeding or showing I can't see that 4 toes should make the experience any less enjoyable .

I agree , unless you intend to show the offspring it's not a big concern. Feet are one of those things a lot of us neglect to check. I'm trying to fix feet issues in my little flock now.

 

[QueenMisha]

Have I shared Napolean here before? I don't think so. He's my bosses' bird, but out of the 100 or so cocks and cockerels I've had experience with, he's without a doubt the best rooster I've ever met. That said, he's probably the worst hatchery quality I've ever seen and only loosely fits the description of the breed. Those wattles...

 

[silkiecuddles]

Have I shared Napolean here before? I don't think so. He's my bosses' bird, but out of the 100 or so cocks and cockerels I've had experience with, he's without a doubt the best rooster I've ever met. That said, he's probably the worst hatchery quality I've ever seen and only loosely fits the description of the breed. Those wattles...

a lite rough looking. Just a little.

Napoleon is on of my favorite names for male birds.

 

[abbevilleoz]

Have I shared Napolean here before? I don't think so. He's my bosses' bird, but out of the 100 or so cocks and cockerels I've had experience with, he's without a doubt the best rooster I've ever met. That said, he's probably the worst hatchery quality I've ever seen and only loosely fits the description of the breed. Those wattles...

He is different! It's a shame he's so far off the mark. Passing on good personality traits is just as important to me as looks

 

[Duskeh]

Aww, they are so adorable! I have 4 silkie hens and a rooster c: 2 buffs and 2 partridge silkies, and my rooster is a red.

 

[Britras]

Hi all! These are my Christmas babies I was wondering what the partridge might look like when full grown? Has anyone had any similar ones? Looks like they are starting to get darker adult feathers under all the fluff, also how does the blue look? Thank you!

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Have I shared Napolean here before? I don't think so. He's my bosses' bird, but out of the 100 or so cocks and cockerels I've had experience with, he's without a doubt the best rooster I've ever met. That said, he's probably the worst hatchery quality I've ever seen and only loosely fits the description of the breed. Those wattles...

He is really cute but those wattles are as big as his head I am surprised he is letting u hold him in ur hand like that

 

[silkiecuddles]

Hi all! These are my Christmas babies I was wondering what the partridge might look like when full grown? Has anyone had any similar ones? Looks like they are starting to get darker adult feathers under all the fluff, also how does the blue look? Thank you!

Aw so pretty!!!

 

[QueenMisha]

He is really cute but those wattles are as big as his head I am surprised he is letting u hold him in ur hand like that

That's the great thing about him, he doesn't care if you touch him. Sometimes I roll him on his back and he goes to sleep. I've set him on his back on top of my head a couple times and he'll sit there for like 5 minutes. He's probably the chillest chicken I've ever met.