Silkie thread!

[Chicken Egg 17]

I would say hen

 

[darkbluespace]

Thank you for the article! I actually read it earlier. It was more about the first paints in America and the original breeding that led to them. I already have the paints. I just didn't know if breeding paint to paint would dilute the coloring. This is my first time breeding paints. I usually stick to BBS and white silkies.

The paint x paint hatches I have seen came out all paints with a spectrum of loud to just a few spots. The thing I really noticed was how the flaws/light patches that paints can have seemed exacerbated by the paint x paint combo. This was just a couple of hatches, but it made me decide to keep my paints with black silkies to get better quality chicks.

 

[abbevilleoz]

Any ideas in the 13 week old silkie's gender?

Judging by his size, stance, and posture I'm guessing cockerel. I have two blue males that started crowing at eight weeks. That's when you'll know for sure. Do have anything crowing near him?

 

[mom2freespirits]

This one is 13, weeks, no crowing. It's two weeks older than my three other pullets (Orpington, EE, and Barred Rocks,) and smaller than them. Maybe I need a better picture for size comparison. It's always the last one anywhere, definitely low In the order, and docile.

 

[mommabird724]

I will weigh in, although I'm sure others have more experience. I think it's a pullet given the nice full crest and hunched posture. What you said about size also makes me think so. Would love to see others' replies.

 

[Zgm12]

I will weigh in, although I'm sure others have more experience. I think it's a pullet given the nice full crest and hunched posture. What you said about size also makes me think so. Would love to see others' replies.

I agree. She looks like a pullet.

 

[Fancychooklady]

This one is 13, weeks, no crowing. It's two weeks older than my three other pullets (Orpington, EE, and Barred Rocks,) and smaller than them. Maybe I need a better picture for size comparison. It's always the last one anywhere, definitely low In the order, and docile.

Beautiful bird. While the pic with the masculine stance is a little misleading , I'd still go with pullet. . Lovely feet.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've got 1 white Silkie pullet who is 13 weeks old and I'm going to work on rebuilding my little flock this week. I have a meeting setup tomorrow with a lady who has different breeds to choose from, and I'm wondering what are some breeds that are easier to integrate with Silkies? She is fairly small, but has been around big boys (until yesterday as they all got a new home), but I'm still slightly wary of bigger breeds for her sake.

TIA!

Just my personal experience: My oldest chickens are two Silkie hens 5 and 41/2 yrs old. I've cycled through 14 chickens in 5 yrs from egg-layers to heavy to dual-purpose breeds around our Silkies. While these breeds were pullets around the older Silkies, the bigger breeds behaved. But as they matured and got heavier or got into flock drama they became abusive toward the Silkies. The only two breeds at maturity that continued playing "nice" with the Silkies were our Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (at 3-yrs-old) she continued being submissive toward the Silkies, and our Blue Breda who at 11/2 yrs-old continues being a good flockmate with the older Silkies and is submissive to the oldest Silkie. The Ameraucana has been a very sweet bird both toward humans and flockmates until she became ill and we had to put her down a couple weeks ago

. Before she got ill we ordered another Breda, a Cuckoo this time, with shipment being delayed because of bad weather. The Bredas are a curious outgoing people-/dog-friendly, unafraid, curious personality and only reach a weight of about 4 lbs but are very good egg-layers (1.75-oz eggs from 4 to 6 eggs/week) which was a pleasant surprise for us. The Breda started laying last November and still laying through our heatwaves today. The Breda has no comb whatsoever, Crow-like cavernous nostrils, vulture hocks, and feathered legs/toes. Ours is a Blue Breda (from B/B/S breeding - Black/Blue/Splash), but there are Cuckoos, Black-&-White Mottled, and some Blue-&-White Mottled project birds. I equate the friendly personality of Bredas to the friendly personalities of Dominiques except that the Bredas are a lighter 4-lb hen and less likely to bully 2-lb Silkies. I believe Polish are a good gentle breed around Silkies also except they probably would be poorer layers than the prolific Blue/Black/Splash Bredas' laying record. Bredas are not a broody breed so will lay more consistently their pretty bright white eggs. Bredas have long beautiful toe feathers that will wear down a bit in outdoor foraging but I'm used to it with our feather-footed Silkies.

Our BW Ameraucana and our oldest Silkie hen were best buddies before our Ameraucana died.


Blue Breda pullet about 4-mo-old


Blue Breda pullet about 7-months old


Bredas are great hams when the camera comes out! "Curiosity" is their middle name!


Blue Breda with our two older Silkies - a Black Silkie and Partridge Silkie

 

[Nanas Silkies]

Hey I need help urgent idk if I should be concerned but I am I was not feeling well this morning so I was not able to feed my silkies this morning and usually under them they have a bubble that is always felt watery but when I feed them they are all scarfing them down and now there bumps are hard and they keep circling there heads like no you did not but idk if they're all choking or what but I need help on whasts wrong I dontvwant tomwake up to my babies dead = (

 

[abbevilleoz]

Hey I need help urgent idk if I should be concerned but I am I was not feeling well this morning so I was not able to feed my silkies this morning and usually under them they have a bubble that is always felt watery but when I feed them they are all scarfing them down and now there bumps are hard and they keep circling there heads like no you did not but idk if they're all choking or what but I need help on whasts wrong I dontvwant tomwake up to my babies dead = (

Are you talking about their crop?