Silkie thread!

[NewToFarming]

Some of the first arrivals!

Will post more of the newest arrivals later!

 

[Desirai]

HELLO SILKIE OWNERSSSSS.

Um.. eh heh

Um hi! I have a question about silkies... I don't have any chickens yet but I want a silkie.. however I read that they can not tolerate heat as well.

I live in Alabama, so our summers stay 90 degrees and up pretty much from June to the beginning of October.

Do any of you live in hot climates and are able to raise silkies?

How do you keep your silkies safe from the temperature?

 

[robin416]

Quote:
I live in S. TN, there are breeders in TX, FL and the desert SW. Silkies don't appear to have any more trouble with the heat than my other birds. The important part appears to be air flow and humidity. Using fans, hosing down runs and buildings when it gets in the upper 90's helps a lot.

 

[CupOJoe42]

There are lots of tips on here about keeping the birds cool. Most birds tolerate cold better than hot. The important thing is good ventilation and that they are kept dry and draft free. It's important to monitor your birds behavior. If they are huddled together and shivering, they are probably cold. If they are spread out and panting, they are too hot. If they are spread out and happily going about their merry selves, they are probably doing fine. Some people freeze milk jugs and keep them in the run so the birds can huddle around them to cool off. Fans, fresh water, shade, and even insulation can help with keeping temperatures down. If all else fails, you can bring them indoors (ie, basement or garage.)

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
We had the worst heat wave this summer in south Kansas, and it was consistently around 113-118! It was HOT! And this went on for 8 weeks it never let up. Even in the shade, it was miserable at best. I finally set up water misters into the second week when mine were very stressed. You can buy those at Walmart, but I got the stand up "cobra" misters and set those up around the pen and kept them on the ENTIRE day. I never turned them off for the whole 8 weeks! It was too darned hot. We had so many people here that lost entire large flocks in one day when it hit 120. My oldest horse had heat-stroke twice this summer and nearly died. Other people did lose their horses and cattle. I don't know what was going on with our weather. (Usually the hottest we get is around 110). We have large turkey barns around us, and they don't handle heat well at all- that day I was talking about, they lost over 5,000 birds. Those barns are even equipped with fans and mist and it was still too hot. Anyway, I think you'll be fine- just use a water mister and plenty of shade if you hit really high temps. I had to use tarps to create shade as we are prairie out here. But if you have your pens under trees or in the shade-- that's the first step!

 

[Desirai]

thanks for the information!

random question, do chickens like water? can they swim?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
Nope, they drown. Don't have a big water bowl set out- they can drown in about anything. I even had a young turkey drown in a dog bowl! And he really wasn't that small!

 

[chickendales]

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Quote:
most chickens can't swim, they just sink. Silkies especially since their feathers just absorb water like our clothes would if we jumped in the pool in our day clothes.

Best advice on keeping them cool, when it gets over 90 and the really hot nights, have a small fan in your coop, and have an airy coop (big windows, lots of breeze available to keep it cool in there) lots of shade. if anything you can make swamp coolers with a plastic bin (trash can for instance) and a frozen gallon of water inside of it. chickens get too hot they'll sit in the bin with that frozen jug and its like sitting in front of an AC.

I raise silkies and other breeds, and am in NC, we had a few 100+ days this year and many last year. Mine did well, just keep their water cooled off (add some ice in the water once or twice a day) for any breed, they don't like drinking hot water, and neither does any animal really.

Another idea is a big shallow dish with water (1-2" of water for adults) so they can stand or sit in the water and cool off. All my birds love to do it. You have to be inventive with any animal in the extreme heat. Heat is horrible on all breeds of chickens, and all species of animals because they can't sweat like we can to cool off.

 

[Desirai]

oh gosh! don't want them to drown.

Um.. how do they see past their giant heads of fluff?? Lol!!