Silkie thread!

[chickluvinfreak]

two things...in most other breeds darker is female...or i should say the breeds i have dealt with so that is interesting..please post when you know! and the second thing is what is the difference between frizzle and sizzle?????? i have always wondered! 

A sizzle is a silkie chicken with the frizzle mutation.

 

[BlueShadow]

I currently have 14 hens (Barnevelder, Buckeye, and Delaware) and 2 roos, and I am contemplating adding a few silkies to the mix. Partly because they are cute, also to have some reliable broody hens around.

So I am wondering if they are the right breed for me. Do they do well in a mixed flock? Do they have any special considerations? Anything I might want to know before I get them?

 

[Lamaremybabies]

I currently have 14 hens (Barnevelder, Buckeye, and Delaware) and 2 roos, and I am contemplating adding a few silkies to the mix.  Partly because they are cute, also to have some reliable broody hens around.

So I am wondering if they are the right breed for me.  Do they do well in a mixed flock? Do they have any special considerations? Anything I might want to know before I get them?

I have one silkie roo at the moment I used to have the roo and a hen but she passed away. I know that when you're adding silkies into a mixed flock they tend to end up on the bottom of the pecking order because they are so submissive and small but my hen was one of the top dogs while she was around. I currently have 2 barred rocks, 2 gold sexlinks, and the one silkie roo and they all get along pretty well. I'll be adding another silkie in April along with some standard sized hens but from my experience as long as you keep a close eye on them and do a very slow introduction it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Sylvester017]

I currently have 14 hens (Barnevelder, Buckeye, and Delaware) and 2 roos, and I am contemplating adding a few silkies to the mix. Partly because they are cute, also to have some reliable broody hens around.

So I am wondering if they are the right breed for me. Do they do well in a mixed flock? Do they have any special considerations? Anything I might want to know before I get them?

It's true Silkies and indeed most bantam breeds are excellent broodies but having bantams or Silkies around such large breeds as Barnies, Buckeyes, or Delies -- I would have separate pens for the Silkies away from such large breeds. Silkies are only 2-lbs so having 6 and 7-lb birds around them can lead to bullying as I found out the hard way no matter how "gentle" the larger breeds were reported to be. Research other larger broody-type breeds like Orps, etc, you might want to consider as broodies. Some owners get lucky mixing large fowl with bantams but it is tricky getting the right temperament breeds to mix with Silkie hens. Even gentle giants like Brahmas can be tempted to push around bantam breeds if they see they can get away with it. Even as chicks hatched the same day, the large fowl chicks grow bigger and faster than Silkie chicks and my Silkies had to hide all day from the large fowl chicks who picked on them for being smaller/gentler. Every owner has different experiences and this was just my individual experience.

 

[PaulaMc]

I am so wanting to get some frizzle ones. Happy and excited for you. Thus far, I've only gotten one frizzle/sizzle out of mine. Looking forward to watching your photos!

Hi

What is a frizzle/sizzle please?

Thanks

 

[chickluvinfreak]

Hi

What is a frizzle/sizzle please?

Thanks

A sizzle is a silkie with a frizzle mutation. And a frizzle is a chicken with curly feathers instead of smooth.

 

[PaulaMc]

A sizzle is a silkie with a frizzle mutation. And a frizzle is a chicken with curly feathers instead of smooth.

Erm ...what is a frizzle mutation please? Doh!

 

[chickluvinfreak]

Erm ...what is a frizzle mutation please? Doh!

It looks like that ^

 

[Hinotori]

Weekly picture day for the pullet. This is 12 weeks old.

 

[summerb123]

She is cute!