Silkie thread!

[HoP]

I have a question and hoping someone can answer for me.
I have two Silkies (I posted photos here last night). They were hatched the same day and now are about 10 weeks old. I know these are not sexed, so I am waiting.
I am pretty sure that the black one is a female..not so sure the white one is.
Here is my question:
They are very different in size even though they were hatched on the same day. The white one (Lady Gaga) is getting very big. She is getting the wattles, comb, etc., however the black one (Phyllis Diller) is still really small. She is only about 8 inches high, (from her middle back). Seems healthy, very energetic. She does not have any tale tale sign of comb or wattles.
Is this normal?? Is she going to always stay small like this? I don't even know how big (tall) they get really, but since she will be laying eggs, I am assuming she is going to have to get bigger. I would not think it abnormal if the white one wasn't half her size.
(Personally, I think that Lady G is really Mr. G) Time will tell.

Any answers are appreciated..Thanks!

 

[NewToFarming]

Quote:
It sounds like Lady Gaga could be a boy!

My experience raising silkie chicks is the ones that are showing to be bigger at the same age are usually boys. Silkies are smaller than a standard chicken. I think it depends on lines because some silkies appear to be bigger than others. Don't let the size worry you though. My Lucy is the tiniest girl out of all of mine but she is the head silkie girl and isn't afraid to stand up to any roo she doesn't was near her! She even decided to protect me one day when one of the roos thought he could flog my leg which really surprised me!!! Your 10 week olds should get some bigger and also fill out more but they won't get as big as standard chicken because they are considered a Bantam breed. Hope this helps!

 

[Brody's Broodello]

In breeding Silkies you can get the rare chick that doesn't seem to grow with the group. They look like miniatures, grow super slow, feather in slower. But appear perfectly healthy otherwise. If you keep them, they do finally get to normal size, just take twice as long. My son insisted that we keep one white pullet, named Tiny. She looked like a 2 month old at 5 months. He felt sorry for her, and we joked abouyt the bird at a show, when he saw her in the sale pen. He went nuts, begging, crying, PLEASE don sell Tiny! So Tiny went back home, she held her own in her age group here, even though she was less than half her size. Well it took her a while, but Tiny grew over the winter, and you wouldn't be able to tell which one Tiny was. She is totally normal. And just an FYI these birds go on to produce normal size, growing chicks. It's just a thing with the breed.

 

[critterranch]

i bought some suppose to be pure white silkie hatching eggs. is it possible to get any weird recessive colors out of this? i have a weird looking chick but it hasnt fluffed up yet.

 

[renovationmom]

Quote:
I put a patio mister along the front of my coop, and it is working excellent to keep everyone cool. It does get the ground just in front of coop damp, and everyone is having fun scratching up bugs in the soft dirt, and they are a little damp and dirty, but cool and very happy. Only draw back is it is really attracting the flies bad.

Try changing the angle of the mister heads, and perhaps run if for several shorter periods of time.

Thank you, I will try this!

 

[muddyhorse]

Quote:
wait until it finishes drying and fluffing. how is it different Pattern ? black ? some white chicks hatch yellowish others will be grayish.

 

[Hens & Hounds]

Not show quality but my favorite silkie Miss Bluey Bumble

thought i would share her cuteness w/ you all....she loves to be picked up & carried around & would rather be w/ me than her flock....just the sweetest fuzzy bumble (as I call her) ever!! How could anyone not love silkies?

 

[Cetawin]

Brody's Broodello :

In breeding Silkies you can get the rare chick that doesn't seem to grow with the group. They look like miniatures, grow super slow, feather in slower. But appear perfectly healthy otherwise. If you keep them, they do finally get to normal size, just take twice as long. My son insisted that we keep one white pullet, named Tiny. She looked like a 2 month old at 5 months. He felt sorry for her, and we joked abouyt the bird at a show, when he saw her in the sale pen. He went nuts, begging, crying, PLEASE don sell Tiny! So Tiny went back home, she held her own in her age group here, even though she was less than half her size. Well it took her a while, but Tiny grew over the winter, and you wouldn't be able to tell which one Tiny was. She is totally normal. And just an FYI these birds go on to produce normal size, growing chicks. It's just a thing with the breed.

Good to know as I have, what I believe is a blue partridge like that.​

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Birds that mature slowly tend to live longer. Some lines mature more slowly than others. I sometimes see photos of birds that are said t0 be 2 or 4 or 6 months old and think MAN, that bird looks a LOT older than that! My birds tend to mature pretty slowly.

However, I do have a few birds who simply are small. I have a couple of silkies who are about the size of OEGB, and they are fully mature birds--the only additional growing they might do would be getting fat (if I allowed it).

Do realize that US silkies are all bantams. The standard goes by weight, not height. Longer feathers make a bird look larger than it is weight-wise. Silkie weights are:

Cocks--36 oz
Hens--32 oz
Cockerels--32 oz
Pullets--28 Oz

 

[CarolinaChickenKeeper]

We've had lots of rain, and my little white fur balls have turned to a muddy brown.
Not sure what I've got here, but it is supposed to be 3 pullets and one cockerel. One has a crossed beak, poor little thing. Here's hoping its not the roo. Time will only tell......