Silkie thread!

[WVduckchick]

I have had silkie's for a little over a year now as a hobby. Love them! Great pets! However one thing is really troubling me. When I have a hatch off there will be Days before all the eggs in the nest hatch. Back in March I thought it was probably due to the weather and Temp changes but I have had the same problem all summer. I just had a hen hatch off 8 but it took 11 days from the first one hatching to the last. Luckily I was able to move chicks to a bantam that had just hatched off and she took the chicks. I feel like some of these being late is because i suspect another hen was getting in the nest and laying eggs after the original hen had started setting. But it doesnt explain all the other hatches and even on this one there was 48 hours between the first chick hatching and the second chick. Is this common with silkies or does anyone have another explanation?

48 hours is not too uncommon, but if they take longer than that, then its likely that another hen added to the nest. You can mark eggs under a hen with a permanent sharpie marker (anything less will rub off). Then you will know if any get added.

I date the eggs under a broody, and also draw a big circle on the fat end of the egg and color it in. That way its easy to find, without having to bother the eggs.

 

[Britras]

Do y'all think "she" will keep this uneven coloring? It seems like she has taken on more gray feathers since I brought her home, but maybe that's just wishful thinking? I got 3 silkie siblings about 4 weeks ago, the other two are solid black. They were born on June 23, so about 3.75 months old. One parent was white, the other was black (can't remember which color was which for the mom/dad).
All pics taken tonight at dusk-- so the coloring looks different bc of the lack of light.

She looks blue not black or grey, sometimes blue can look black but you can tell if you look at under fluff black is black all the way down blue has a lighter under fluff , they are very pretty

 

[CluckyInKY]

She looks blue not black or grey, sometimes blue can look black but you can tell if you look at under fluff black is black all the way down blue has a lighter under fluff , they are very pretty

YES!!! I was hoping for Blue. The feathers are definitely lighter underneath, almost white! That's what made me think that the feathers would eventually be lighter. Does this mean she/he will continue to get lighter? Will the color ever be solid? It's kinda splotchy right now- kinda looks black with spots of blue coming through randomly. The coloring is shown in this picture... although the silkie didn't appreciate the bright flash from my camera.

 

[Britras]

YES!!! I was hoping for Blue. The feathers are definitely lighter underneath, almost white! That's what made me think that the feathers would eventually be lighter. Does this mean she/he will continue to get lighter? Will the color ever be solid? It's kinda splotchy right now- kinda looks black with spots of blue coming through randomly. The coloring is shown in this picture... although the silkie didn't appreciate the bright flash from my camera.

I only have bearded silkies but I'm pretty sure the standard on color is the same , no the color should not be an even blue all over the head should be a bit darker and the spots or splotches you see are just the underfluff showing thru, silkie feathers tend to "split" or not lay smooth enough to cover lighter underfluff like smooth feathers would that's why true black and white silkies don't have spots or splotches they are the same color all the way down to skin , hope that helps

 

[aliren]

Not sure if I'm asking in the right post/ thread but here goes.i just put my 5 month old silkys in with my older ex battery hens, they been around each other for around 3months, and seem to get on ok , the thing I'm concerned about it there food as the silky are on growers pellet iv put in there own feeder and lots of pots around the pen with their food so they don't eat the layer pellets/mash , but the other girls are eating it all , I read that you shouldn't give a young silky layers, not really sure how I'm going to work this out unless I just feed them all growers, but do the older girls need the layers? It wasn't meant to happen putting them in yet but my husband come back with 2 other hens which were going to get there neck rung, so iv had to put them in the spare coop.

 

[cochinfan05]

I'm second guessing myself on my sweet "Buddy". He's about 5 months and I've always thought he was a cockerel. (Larger comb) I'd really appreciate it if the experts could take a look.

I'd also like any insight regarding his beak. Became "crooked" at about 3 months, but since he's the chunkiest of this clutch I don't think it bothers him. It also seems to align with the bottom fine.......

Just as a reference, these are his sisters.....just guessing

And this is his brother.
I think what's throwing me off are the streamers on the paint, were Buddy's aren't as prevalent.
Sorry for all the pics but I really love these guys! Thanks for any advice.

 

[Sylvester017]

Not sure if I'm asking in the right post/ thread but here goes.i just put my 5 month old silkys in with my older ex battery hens, they been around each other for around 3months, and seem to get on ok , the thing I'm concerned about it there food as the silky are on growers pellet iv put in there own feeder and lots of pots around the pen with their food so they don't eat the layer pellets/mash , but the other girls are eating it all , I read that you shouldn't give a young silky layers, not really sure how I'm going to work this out unless I just feed them all growers, but do the older girls need the layers? It wasn't meant to happen putting them in yet but my husband come back with 2 other hens which were going to get there neck rung, so iv had to put them in the spare coop.

Since you have more than one feeding station, keep grower feed in one station, layer feed in another station, and just oyster shell/lime/or food-grade calcium carbonate in a third feeding station. The pullets/hens will choose the most nutritious feed their body needs -- sometimes they go for the grower, or higher protein game feed, or sometimes just the layer feed and sometimes all. I have organic layer Scratch N Peck, organic 3-grain Scratch N Peck (3 grains only), oyster shell, calcium carbonate, and wild bird seed as a treat to scratch after in the dirt -- in addition to cut-up fresh greens/produce, mealworms, raw shelled sunflower seeds, etc, and I have female ages from 5 months to 5 yrs together (Silkies and Breda). They seem to eat the stuff their body needs at the time. When my hens are not laying eggs they never touch the oyster shell. But they start eating it extra when they go back to laying again. My breeder said she leaves out feed from grower up to layer feed out for her juveniles and they choose what they need. If you leave out just one type of feed like grower only then the layers would suffer nutrition and vice versa so having 2 or 3 types of feed out at different stations will ensure all bases covered for a mixed age flock. Hope this helps.

I hope your rescue of batteries goes well. The poor things are engineered to exhaust themselves laying so that after two years they are poor layers or in ill health My friend rescued 3 of them and all died before a year of having them poor things! They require additional chicken vitamin supplementation -- I recommend Rooster Booster granules added to wet feed or mixed into cooked organic brown rice. Since I have only 3 hens at the moment I've additionally been giving them one drop of children's no-iron Poly-Vi-Sol liquid vitamin drop on the side of their beak to lick up with their tongue -- 1 or 2x a week to ensure they are consuming some vitamins into their diet. I have a sneaky Silkie that will eat all her feed but leave all the Rooster Booster vitamin granules behind in the feed dish! She is one chicken I have to make sure gets Poly-Vi-Sol supplementation since I can see she is ignoring her chicken vitamins!

 

[Cynthia12]

Love her!!..hope you all got things back together by now!

 

[Cynthia12]

Roosters or pullets ?

Hard to tell by just the faces..but going by comb color, could be the first two are girls...and by the tops..possibly a boy in the middle also.

 

[Cynthia12]

I thought I would get a couple of photos of my mums before they go. It's fall here!! My little girl didn't know what to think of those smelly things.