Silkie thread!

[TattooedChicks]

Poor baby, hope he/she has another Silkie companion? Silkies have a tendency to be loners in a flock of standard hens but will toodle around with another Silkie.
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It's my one and only silkie, but all the others are bantams, and I have a feeling this one will be a bit bigger than they are.

 

[Sylvester017]

It's my one and only silkie, but all the others are bantams, and I have a feeling this one will be a bit bigger than they are.

That's great that the other birds are bantams also. Still, a lone Silkie that can't fly well like the other bantams will be a loner. I am zoned for 5 hens, no roos, in my area and when we got Silkies we made certain to have at least two because they don't fly/maneuver as agile as other bantam breeds and can really use the company of a land-bound Silkie companion. Silkies can run and jump but flying is limited to skips and hops. Our two Silkie hens were not what I would call the best buddies but they always toodled together when the rest of the flock left them behind.

 

[TattooedChicks]

Of course you'd tempt me to get more birds. I'll keep that in mind as they grow up. If she turns out to be a hen and needs some extra company it will be a great excuse to the hubby to get more chickens.

The plan is to clip wings and do limited backyard turnout as adults, so hopefully they won't be too quick for the poor dear. I've already altered roosting levels to accommodate the silkie, and in fact I found it on the top rung this morning after the addition of a new middle rung.

 

[Hinotori]

I keep 3 silkie roosters in with my large fowl hens. There isn't much that's more hilarious to watch than a silkie mounting a brahma hen.

Well 2 of the boys love their big girls. The third is still mad at me and refuses to have anything to do with them. He wants his silkie hens back. He's been grudging for 7 months now.

You can tell the big girls ignore him. They've groomed the crests and beards half off the other two boys.

I've had wheaten ameraucana in with the silkies before. They got along fine. The ameraucana are pretty laid back. Once I no longer have brahma or new hampshire, I can let the big girls out when the silkies have supervised time. Those brown hatchery layers are bullies

 

[Sylvester017]

Of course you'd tempt me to get more birds. I'll keep that in mind as they grow up. If she turns out to be a hen and needs some extra company it will be a great excuse to the hubby to get more chickens.

The plan is to clip wings and do limited backyard turnout as adults, so hopefully they won't be too quick for the poor dear. I've already altered roosting levels to accommodate the silkie, and in fact I found it on the top rung this morning after the addition of a new middle rung.

Haha! Didn't mean to tempt you - just sharing what we went through. Clipping wings is good if you have no predator problems. Silkies don't fly but they DO jump high, about 3 to 4 feet.

 

[Sylvester017]

I keep 3 silkie roosters in with my large fowl hens. There isn't much that's more hilarious to watch than a silkie mounting a brahma hen.

Well 2 of the boys love their big girls. The third is still mad at me and refuses to have anything to do with them. He wants his silkie hens back. He's been grudging for 7 months now.

You can tell the big girls ignore him. They've groomed the crests and beards half off the other two boys.

I've had wheaten ameraucana in with the silkies before. They got along fine. The ameraucana are pretty laid back. Once I no longer have brahma or new hampshire, I can let the big girls out when the silkies have supervised time. Those brown hatchery layers are bullies

I love your Silkie stories and pics!

I had a Blue Wheaten Ameraucana (my avatar) with my Silkies -- she was a sweetie but a poor egg layer and she didn't live past 3 yrs. Everything I read about Amer's is either really great or not so much. I miss her pretty blue eggs but she layed only 4 or 5 months of the year. Loved my Leghorn steady layers but like our Marans, were too assertive/ aggressive around the Silkies. My best layer breeds to keep in a Silkie flock so far are Breda and Dominiques -- calm, non-combative, lightweight, friendly birds. Our Ameraucana was sweet, just not productive. Because of the Silkies and to avoid backyard divas, I've sacrificed high egg-production breeds for calmer and smaller breeds for our eggs. MED to LG is big enough eggs for our needs and our yard is peaceful again with gentler breeds.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

I just got my first Silkie chicks in mid-July. I wasn't told how old they were. I think they were 6 weeks old. I started out with a Maran hen someone gave me because she was lame. She lived with me for a few months and I got attached to her, but when she didn't seem to be getting better I took her to the vet, who told me she had a hip deformity and would always be in pain. So sadly I had to have her euthanized. After that I really missed her and decided to get a couple more chickens, smaller and more suited to be pets. So - Silkies.

My two fluffballs are doing fine. Right now they live in a big pen in my bedroom. I'm pretty attached to them and I enjoy watching their antics. First thing in the morning when I uncover their pen, the first thing they do is play. They chase each other and play fight, rearing up like roosters and kicking at each other. During this morning's chase, the brown (partridge cuckoo?) one ran smack into their roosting perch. He just shook his head and went right back to chasing the other one. I'm wondering if I should start trimming the feathers around their eyes? They're growing new feathers right now, both are covered in pin feathers.

I take them out at least once a day, one at a time, and put them on my lap and stroke them. They're getting more tame, now they put their feet on the palm of my hand, snuggle down, and they're starting to peck at my fingers and arms to explore. It's also a good way to check their health and how they're maturing.

It's funny watching them walk around on those big muff feet that look like those old mukluk boots we used to wear back in the '70's. It's especially funny watching them scratch when they're eating something tasty. The brown one actually moonwalks, sliding backwards as he shuffles his feet. I can tell when they've been eating from their feeder, the shavings are all kicked away in front of it. I give them a couple of tablespoons of chopped greens each morning, usually romaine. They love them - but WILL NOT eat them unless I serve them in a Special Red Dish. As soon as they see that red dish in my hand, the brown one starts his moonwalk routine.

Last night I had a bit of a scare. I went to cover them up for the night and the white one was gone! The sides of their pen are tall and I know they can't fly, and I've never seen them jump that high. I was searching all over the place, when I happened to see something sticking out of their feeder, which is made from a plastic gallon jug (see pic). He had climbed right up, inside the jug, to sleep! Only his tail and a bit of his butt were sticking out. The other one had crowded as close as he could get to that jug, which is how I noticed. I have no idea how he thought he was going to get back out again. Anyway, I got him out. I've now blocked off half of the opening on the jug so he can't climb inside again. I'm glad that I've always made a habit of going to check on them, many times a day.

Of course I don't know their sex yet, though they're changing every day as they mature. I'm calling them "he" for now. The white one has bright blue earlobes, which I've read mean "male" but I've done enough research to know that you can't really tell a Silkie's sex until it crows or lays eggs. The partridge one is getting some long orangey feathers on his neck now, and tonight I noticed some "stringy" tail feathers. Again, signs which I've read could be a rooster. I just want to know so that I can hopefully get a collar if I do have a roo. The way my luck often runs, I'll have two roos. I hope they will get along when they grow up.

Here are a couple of pics...

 

[Michelle Guynn]

I have 2 young ones also. I've given them girl names but have no idea what they are. Mine also live in my bedroom. I don't have to cover them at night. At 730 they settle down and I dont hear from them until morning. They also play and chest bump. I have a sq pullet who is older and she is in a big cage next to them. I just love them.

 

[Sylvester017]

FirstTimeClucky - cute Silkies - I love your Partridge. Although your Partridge has streamer tail feathers it's hard to tell male from female. My Partridge girl has some streamer feathers on her rear pouf at 6 yrs old. At 2 to 3 months the Partridge boys will be very colorful with bright deep tones with possibly some shiny black feathers while the females seem to have rounder poofier tail fluff and have more subdued browns and golds.
A POOFY TAIL FEMALE AND BLACK STREAMER MALE - 6 MOs

6 MO SHINY PARTRIDGE MALE

6 MO PARTRIDGE FEMALE

SAME FEMALE PARTRIDGE AT 6 YEARS OLD

 

[sue25]

Got my Silkies today and two Black chicks. The chicks are.a.week old. I also got 2 splash Sizzles. There beautiful. Pics will come soon but going.to let them settle for a couple of days.