Silkie thread!

[darkbluespace]

Sigh.... wonder how long the drive from Northern Virginia to Oregon is. LoL

It might be a little far to drive for chickens, even if they are adorable Silkie chickens.

 

[MuscovyMadness]

It might be a little far to drive for chickens, even if they are adorable Silkie chickens.

Hate when common sense takes over. LoL

 

[Zgm12]

My babies are getting bigger! I just LOVE my little lavender babies. The color is so beautiful, prettier than I even imagined. I love that I can mix ages with my Silkie chicks, I don't have other breeds that easily do that.

I just hatched another paint chick and lavender showgirl and a few to be determined.

Beautiful babies!

 

[Janet Lynn]

My Silkies are growing fast...They really love their time outside.

 

[lorda]

My white silkies seem to have a thin layer of feathers where my greys are very thick. They are all about 3 months. Will the white thicken up as time goes on?

 

[emvickrey]

For all their maintenance, we found Silkies one of our easiest breeds to have. My 2 Silkies have outlasted every other breed we've owned. I think you have made a good choice of breed once you have accumulated research and had on-hand experience with them. If you encounter concerns this thread will be happy to assist you. I have one little Black Silkie with CRD issues and once a year like clockwork have to take her to the vet for treatment whether it's for meds, quick nasal surgery, or just to have her checked over and the little bugger keeps living a quality life! True, Silkies don't do well in slushy mud or snow so keeping those tootsies of theirs dry is important - not to mention the rest of their fluff. Double insulated walls is good, even in winter have plenty of cross-air/ventilation near the roof line but not drafty, at least a couple double-pane windows (double pane good for added insulation) for light, lots of entertainment if they're confined like seed toys/tree stumps/chairs/etc, roosting poles at 1', 2', and 3' heights, no steep-incline ladder ramps, ladder cleats no more than 3" apart (we built with 4" cleats and Silkies need closer cleats on the ramp), a ramp at least 12-in wide is better than narrow ramps, a kiddie pool for dust-baths, lots of space (it's a myth that Silkies require less room than large fowl - they can't fly well so as a result need a coop floor with just as much space to run, flap, jump, and forage as much as the large fowl), and a lot of Silkies are pile-up sleepers on floors so provide large enough covered cat litter boxes or similar design for them to pile inside to sleep in case they are floor sleepers. Mine have been nestbox sleepers for 5-yrs no matter what coop design we've had so we upkeep the nestboxes with fresh straw on a regular basis. For a walk-in coop you'll want an overhanging roof so you aren't standing in rain before walking it, and a roof over the egg-collection box to keep rain or snow from blowing into the box as you collect eggs. We built a patio slab and a roof over our newest coop so we have the rain thing solved. We used tarps and a pop-up canopy over our first little coop during rainy weather:

BEFORE - NO RAIN PROTECTION & HAD TO USE TARPS AND/OR POP-UP CANOPY OVER COOP


AFTER - NO MORE RAIN WORRIES IN SAME COOP LOCATION - WITH NEWEST COOP



SILKIE NEST BOX SLEEPERS

A couple ideas for nest boxes are you can take the door off a pet carrier and set it in the floor where they like to sleep. Put straw, hay or wood shavings inside. Or use a tote with the lid on, turn upside down and cut a hole as low as you can for them to go inside. Or you can set it on it's bottom like normal so you can take off the lid to look inside. Most of mine didn't want an enclosed nest box. The hen I have now preferred to lay and sleep outside of a box (inside the coop) and would move any nesting materials I provided her and sat right on the dirt ground. I moved her to a different pen that has grass when she was broody and gave her a dog igloo house with wood shavings in it. I put her eggs in it and she settled right down. She now preferrs to sleep in it with her babies and the daddy (roo). I made a ramp for the babies so they could get inside easily.

A little tip to keep feed dry if put outside is you can take the lid off a tote or leave it on and cut a hole in the side like for a nest box. Put the feeder inside towards the opposite side of the hole. The feed will stay dry in nearly any storm. It also keeps the chickens from roosting on the feeder and pooping in it.

 

[darkbluespace]

Beautiful babies!

Thank you!

 

[loraangel]

Silkies are so cute.  Also very popular.  Which also means a lot of competition from other entrants.  And judging is subjective.  All you can do is your best to follow the SOP standards and the rest is up to the judge(s)!  GL!  Your Silkies are adorable!!!!

Very true! Thanks I will definitely keep learning as I go!

 

[Rhapsody1]

Question for all the silkie experts on this thread. We hatched out five silkie babies, they are different colors. A few are tricolor colored, but not sure what the difference in splash and painted are? I will try to get pictures today so you can educate me!

 

[Lil Peeps]

Thank you so much! Your silkie is so pretty! This is the first time I have had and hatched my own birds. I just love silkies I'm definitely hooked for life! Lol

I know! Same! And of course! Thanks so much! I thought she was beautiful, too! I loved her a lot! She was my little baby!