Silkie thread!

[chickachickayea]

Tiny is so pretty!! And that's so EGGciting!!

Thank you! She's so fluffy and cute, some days I can't handle it!

how fun!!!

So much fun for my first time chicken keeping!

And a good sized egg it is too !

It is on the small side but I knew it would be just because of the breed, but it'll do just fine!

Silkie eggs are actually quite sizeable for a 2-lb bird!  Our girls lay between 1.25 to 1.5-oz eggs but more consistently 1.25.  Congrats to Tiny!  You call you Silkie "Tiny" and we call our littlest Silkie "Mini" since she's a mini-chicken .

Ha! She was named Tiny because out of our original Silkie flock, she was the smallest... because she was the only pullet! So cute!

Aww how cute, congrats

Thank you!

 

[chickachickayea]

Tiny was toodling about this morning, seeming a bit anxious and vocal, I picked her up for a couple lap cuddles, then I noticed her going in and out of the coop. She went in at 10:15 and I let her be, until I went to check on her at 10:30...

All nestled in and ready for round two!
She was so quiet during the whole thing - she was only vocal when she was pacing around before she went inside. She sat there for a bit and then stood up give a big push...

Tah-dah!

Silkie egg size comparison to quarter and large store-bought egg.


I promise I won't do this for every egg!

 

[Little Fuzzy]

I also have one Silkie among a mixed flock of nine. Although they were raised all at the same time my Silkie is a little standoffish from the rest. I noticed that her puffed out feathers onto of her head and under her eyes kept her from seeing well and she followed the herd at a distance. I gave her a bath and trimmed her top notch into a mohawk and trimmed around her eyes. She took off like a shot being able to see properly. Some people tie their top notch up. I would watch her to see if she can see properly. Also my girl did not get up on the perch till she was about 11 months old. Silkies can't really fly so she slept on top of the nest box near the roost. I had bought a second Silkie chick but it died the first week, and since I bought over my limit I did't replace it, but I wish I had they are so cute.

 

[chickachickayea]

Need advice, please help! I have a small flock of four chickens, only one of them being a silkie. I am new to raising chickens and brought the first three home together at 1 week old. A Black Sex Link, an Isa Brown, and a Buff Orpington.  Approx 7 weeks later, I brought the silkie home and he/she is about one week younger than the rest. (I'm leaning towards a roo but not 100% sure yet) They are 16 and 17 weeks old. At first, when I brought him home, they did very well together (I did introduce them slowly just to make sure) Yesterday I noticed that he was sitting off by himself, instead of toddling around with the rest. I checked the crop and it seems fine. Last night, he slept on the coop floor instead of up on the roost which is something else that not his normal behavior. This morning he ate scrambled eggs and I witnessed a normal poo but he is still not very active. I'm worried that he is either sick or maybe feeling lonely because he doesn't have another silkie friend to hang out with? Should I have gotten 2? I haven't seen any aggression with the other chickens but maybe they're excluding him? I tried to be very descriptive so I apologize for the long post but I'm hoping with as much information as possible, someone might be better able to help. 

I am no expert, but have been told that Silkies are better off in a mixed flock when they have a buddy, or similar bantam breed friend (that whole 'birds of a feather' had to start somewhere, right?)

I have a flock of 3 right now, I raised my Silkie since week 1 and mixed in 2 New Hampshire Reds when they were about 8 weeks old (a 4 week age difference from my Silkie). They got along very well and continue to do so, despite the size difference. I will have to watch out for any behavior changes as the 2 reds mature however.

They are most likely sorting out pecking order, and unfortunately your Silkie may be on the bottom, especially being the newcomer and I'm assuming the smallest

I can't give much advice as I am also new to chicken keeping, but I wish you and your birds the best of luck!

 

[lovechicks1293]

Tiny was toodling about this morning, seeming a bit anxious and vocal, I picked her up for a couple lap cuddles, then I noticed her going in and out of the coop. She went in at 10:15 and I let her be, until I went to check on her at 10:30...


All nestled in and ready for round two!
She was so quiet during the whole thing - she was only vocal when she was pacing around before she went inside. She sat there for a bit and then stood up give a big push...


Tah-dah!


Silkie egg size comparison to quarter and large store-bought egg.


I promise I won't do this for every egg!

good job tiny!

 

[Crazy For Color]

I am no expert, but have been told that Silkies are better off in a mixed flock when they have a buddy, or similar bantam breed friend (that whole 'birds of a feather' had to start somewhere, right?)

I have a flock of 3 right now, I raised my Silkie since week 1 and mixed in 2 New Hampshire Reds when they were about 8 weeks old (a 4 week age difference from my Silkie). They got along very well and continue to do so, despite the size difference. I will have to watch out for any behavior changes as the 2 reds mature however.

They are most likely sorting out pecking order, and unfortunately your Silkie may be on the bottom, especially being the newcomer and I'm assuming the smallest

I can't give much advice as I am also new to chicken keeping, but I wish you and your birds the best of luck!

They've been together for 8-9 weeks and have done great up until yesterday when I noticed the silkie staying away from the others. He is a bit smaller but comes in close with the buff orpington as they mature slower than most breeds. I'm on a search for a friend for him/her, but with the time of year I'm just not having any luck. I will keep looking, Thank you for your advice! I appreciate it and any other that is hopefully offered

 

[chickachickayea]

They've been together for 8-9 weeks and have done great up until yesterday when I noticed the silkie staying away from the others. He is a bit smaller but comes in close with the buff orpington as they mature slower than most breeds. I'm on a search for a friend for him/her, but with the time of year I'm just not having any luck. I will keep looking, Thank you for your advice! I appreciate it and any other that is hopefully offered 

Hmm that is odd to just act like that suddenly... Poor thing. I guess just keep an eye on them if possible. Have you checked craigslist? Or any of your local threads on here?

 

[PouleNoire]

I ordered my Silkies from my pet chicken. 1 White and 2 blue all 3 are 2 months old and healthy. As soon as you see the colours you want available you need to order. Thet sell out very fast. I placed my order in December to have them shipped in June. A few weeks after ordering they were sold out! So you may need to order 6 months or so in advance.

I'm planning on that, checking at least once a day. We are waiting mainly for the white variety, going back and forth between the other color, probably buff or blue. Glad to hear yours are doing so well! These will be our first silkies and I'm excited to learn more about this breed!

 

[Crazy For Color]

Hmm that is odd to just act like that suddenly... Poor thing.

I guess just keep an eye on them if possible. Have you checked craigslist? Or any of your local threads on here?

I'm keeping a very close watch and I've looked on Craigslist with no luck. I can't seem to find local threads or regions on here. I'll keep looking TY

 

[chickachickayea]

I'm keeping a very close watch and I've looked on Craigslist with no luck. I can't seem to find local threads or regions on here. I'll keep looking TY

What state/region are you located in?