Silkie thread!

[ChickenMama6RIR]

Alright I have a question. I have buff orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Leghorns, Rhode island reds, and my precious silkie. At the moment my rooster (buff orpington) is small enough to mate with her (which he has proven to do well), be my question is... When he gets bigger and older what do I do so he doesn't hurt her, or will he? I cannot separate them and I only have one silkie, so idk. Help please?

 

[silkiecuddles]

Alright I have a question. I have buff orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Leghorns, Rhode island reds, and my precious silkie. At the moment my rooster (buff orpington) is small enough to mate with her (which he has proven to do well), be my question is... When he gets bigger and older what do I do so he doesn't hurt her, or will he? I cannot separate them and I only have one silkie, so idk. Help please?

He's going to be a big boy

if you had the space, I would definitely recommend keeping them separate. But since you don't, keep a close eye on her to make sure he isn't beating her up. If he does, I think someone's gonna need to go :/
A lot of people (myself included) don't keep silkies with LF because the big birds can easily pick on them in confined space.

 

[ChickenMama6RIR]

He's going to be a big boy

if you had the space, I would definitely recommend keeping them separate. But since you don't, keep a close eye on her to make sure he isn't beating her up. If he does, I think someone's gonna need to go :/
A lot of people (myself included) don't keep silkies with LF because the big birds can easily pick on them in confined space.

Yeah He loves her though. He will lay beside her and clean her, always with her, and loves to lay in the nesting box with her while she's laying her egg He is the only one she likes. She is a tough chicken and kinda a bully to some of my other chickens, so her letting him do what he does is surprising to me lol

 

[Cynthia12]

Get her some saddles. They make some pretty cute ones. Will look up some for you.


Here is one as an example on ebay..has a photo for you to see how they work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Chicken-S...867961?hash=item281e68ab79:g:jzMAAOSwawpXs5yy

 

[krysta]

Just a cutie moment...my silkie Sugar with my white Leghorn Foghorn!

 

[krysta]

Being lazy in the sun all stretched out! They love each other and are inseparable!!!

 

[moomoodiddy]

I live around the Greenville area

that's 2 and a half hours from me

 

[Ravynscroft]

Love her... she looks just like her momma...

 

[Sylvester017]

I had a silkie rooster who was very aggressive to non-silkies. He'd rally his hens to follow him as well, but didn't need them. We called him Genghis Pumpkin (he wad orange) because of his behavior.

All of the large fowl were terrified of him because he attacked them on sight and didn't back down. His favorite tactic was to rush up on them and rip feathers out of their butt. He beat up all of my ameraucana roosters. The large fowl were so skittish because of him, that if a silkie showed up unnoticed they would freak out and run squawking as soon as someone saw it.

After 2+ years of this, an old ameraucana hen finally got fed up with his attacks one day and pecked him in the head. It caused him to go blind.

That's so sad that a peck on the brain made him go blind. I hate to see animals injured which is one of many reasons I won't tolerate combative behavior in my flock. That's something I decided not to tolerate after having a couple bully chickens - they weren't roos but bossy hens. There are some common moods in chickens like broodiness, illness, molting, etc and those are acceptable after the mood passes, but aggressive or combative behavior earns another location/home for offenders.

This is what a Marans did to one of our Silkies before we realized the poor Silkie was not molting but being eaten alive on the roost at night. I'm super-sensitive to re-home any cannibalistic or aggressive behavior chickens. This little girl is okay now but her chewed-off walnut comb never grew back:


Her feathers grew back but not the comb


I love this little Partridge girl -- she's my longest lived chicken and my constant gardening companion. She loves being near the digging!

 

[Sylvester017]

Just a cutie moment...my silkie Sugar with my white Leghorn Foghorn!

Foghorn looks like an Austra White or California White hybrid. Such a cute couple.