Silkie thread!

[Sassysouth]

I think I may have 2 Silkie cockerels, but they are only 17 weeks. I also have other bantams. I have a bantam cochin cockerel that is the boss man, but very sweet. The Silkies tend to so their own thing, just wondering how things will go with 2 male and 2 female Silkies.

 

[FishMtFarm]

My sister in law has two male silkies and one female and hers do just fine. The dominant one breeds the hen and the other guy is SOL and just pals around with them.

 

[Sassysouth]

My sister in law has two male silkies and one female and hers do just fine. The dominant one breeds the hen and the other guy is SOL and just pals around with them.

Thanks. I figured that might be the case. Yesterday I was staring mine down and noticed my 2 black ones had streamers and one started crowing this morning.

Do your Silkies use regular nesting boxes with a ramp? Do you make a lower nesting box or do they just make a corner in the coop to use?

 

[FishMtFarm]

My silkies are all different. Some will use ramps or fly up in a low nesting box and others just find a dark quiet corner. I also have a lot of birds but they do prefer to stay low so put your nesting boxes on the ground.

 

[NNYchick]

Does anyone else have problems with poo sticking to feathers under vent. I have one pullet that I am having a problem with. It has been since the snow started and they don’t get out in the yard. I have looked and it doesn’t appear to be vent gleet, there is no discharge and Her vent looks normal, I haven’t seen any loose poos in their run. She is laying and she does have some streaks of blood on her eggs otherwise they are normal looking. She acts normal and is eating and drinking fine. I can’t get the poo off her right now as I’m going to have to soak her in water to get it off and it’s too cold. It’s like she poos and little by little it builds up. I did bath her a few weeks ago and cleaned it up and trimmed the feathers a little but it didn’t help. Is there something that could be wrong with her I’m not thinking of?

 

[FishMtFarm]

Nope, some of mine get poopy butt cause they are just so fluffy it hits the feathers and freezes on. Just when you can, trim and clean it up a bit so it doesn't build up too much.

 

[Hinotori]

I have a couple girls who don't squat well enough and get dirty butts. They get butt baths and trimmed

 

[NNYchick]

Good that isn’t anything serious Tomorrow I’ll bring her in an soak her get her all cleaned up and give her a spa day in the house. I noticed she could use her nails trimmed too. Boy this winter has not been a good one for my first one with chickens I’ve been a nervous wreck worrying about everything.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

Good that isn’t anything serious Tomorrow I’ll bring her in an soak her get her all cleaned up and give her a spa day in the house. I noticed she could use her nails trimmed too. Boy this winter has not been a good one for my first one with chickens I’ve been a nervous wreck worrying about everything.

I know what you mean. This is my first year with chickens. I bought three Silkie chicks, one died suddenly after two months and then my white pullet got sick and died around Christmas. I still have my partridge pullet left and she's in good health laying eggs now. But I'm still paranoid about their health and I'm always picking them up to check them over and make sure crops are full and there's no sign of sickness.

I also have a white Bantam Cochin hen whose owner wanted rid of her because she stopped laying. I got her last summer. I planned on putting her in with my Silkies, but she had other ideas and wouldn't stop bullying them. She lives in a split pen with the partridge pullet. Now that she sees the pullet laying and hears the egg song, she's started laying too, only once or twice a week. She also has a huge, wide fluffy butt, which gets dirty with poop. She looks like a poopy feather duster from behind. I just grab her every so often and trim the dirty feathers off. She's due for another "buttscape" right now.

Finally there's my 12 week old sizzle frizzle Showgirl (try saying that three times fast!). I'm pretty sure he's a cockerel but I won't know until he crows of course. His comb is bigger and pinker than a standard Silkie comb, but it's still a walnut comb. He doesn't have any sign of wattles. It could be a throwback to his Turken genes. I've seen some Showgirls with pink skin and straight combs. Anyway, I'm thankful he's doing well and is healthy, and he makes a pretty good and very smart pet. He's learned to climb right up on my arm when I open his cage. I call this "chickenry" (as opposed to falconry). He's sitting on my shoulder as I type this.

 

[Hinotori]

Your such an enabler... My husband is going to ban me from your house one of these days!


Don’t eat them yet! I’m definitely interested in them. The separate run isn’t built yet. So I need to get hubby to build it. And my Ameraucanas have yet to start laying after their molt. The inside portion of the coop is done though. I’ll keep in touch.

Do you time your hatches to catch a hen when she’s broody? How many chicks can one hen handle?

I see my phone did eat this when I tried replying the other day.

I usually set eggs under hen and in bator at same time if I'm doing lots. Depending on the hen, I can fudge how long they have to sit before they get chicks. The chick thief only needs to set a few days and she'll take them. Most will take them after a couple weeks setting.

A silkie hen is fine with about a dozen silkie chicks. 6-8 ameraucana chicks in my experience.

Many of my hens will co-parent. 2 hens can handle 28 silkie chicks just fine, but it was pushing it.


I'll have some white chicks in the first hatch. They are gold based, not silver so they do get a bit of yellow in the plumage from sun exposure. I also feed corn in the scratch so the adults all have a yellow cast from that. They hopefully will be friendly chicks. Ashes the rooster is friendly enough and an awesome photo model. Pumice the stalker hen is in that pen so hopefully she passes on her excessive friendliness. The temperament has proven to be highly hereditary. Even boys from that line are friendly without being constantly handled.