Silkie thread!

[marlo1968]

Okay Silkie lovers, a question....My black hen, Lovey, died yesterday for no apparent reason. I got her on April 30th, she laid 3 eggs since that time, one on June 1st, one on June 22, and one on June 24 (yesterday). I found her dead in the nest box where she laid her last egg. Any ideas? She was hopping around yesterday morning, eating and scratching like normal, pecking at the other hens when they got too close, which was usual for her. She was free ranging with all the other hens most of the day, which is normal for her, then I went out at 6:30 to collect eggs, she was dead, with her egg behind her.

I am hoping her egg is fertile, I put it under a broody white pearl leghorn, yup, that's right a leghorn is broody, I have two that are.....crazy I know. I am hoping the egg is fertile and will hatch with the surrogate mommy.

Any ideas on what could have caused her death? I don't have any hens that appear sick in any way, Lovey appeared very normal also. I am at a loss here. Are silkies more suceptible to the heat than other breeds? It has been hitting and passing the 100 degree mark here, and doesn't look to be letting up, supposed to hit 100 or better all week. The hen house has ventilation,but should I open it up more? Put in a mister, a fan?? Please advise, I don't want to lose more hens. Thanks everyone

 

[hurricanerb]

Adorable!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Where did you find this? It would be perfect for my fuzzies.

I bought these at Atwoods. Walmart used to carry these, but I haven't seen them at my Walmart in a couple of years now. I do think I've seen these also at Lowes. I would call ahead your farm stores and Lowes to see if they have them. It's called a Cobra stand water mister. They also have flexible ones, too, but they are more expensive. These are only $9

it has 8000 iu/lb of vit e in it.

That might be okay. If you don't notice a difference in a couple of days, then I would go out and buy the capsules.

 

[Sanna]

Here is a pic of the chickie momma, my daughter..

CUTE!!

 

[SadieSue]

Okay Silkie lovers, a question....My black hen, Lovey, died yesterday for no apparent reason. I got her on April 30th, she laid 3 eggs since that time, one on June 1st, one on June 22, and one on June 24 (yesterday). I found her dead in the nest box where she laid her last egg. Any ideas? She was hopping around yesterday morning, eating and scratching like normal, pecking at the other hens when they got too close, which was usual for her. She was free ranging with all the other hens most of the day, which is normal for her, then I went out at 6:30 to collect eggs, she was dead, with her egg behind her.

I am hoping her egg is fertile, I put it under a broody white pearl leghorn, yup, that's right a leghorn is broody, I have two that are.....crazy I know. I am hoping the egg is fertile and will hatch with the surrogate mommy.

Any ideas on what could have caused her death? I don't have any hens that appear sick in any way, Lovey appeared very normal also. I am at a loss here. Are silkies more suceptible to the heat than other breeds? It has been hitting and passing the 100 degree mark here, and doesn't look to be letting up, supposed to hit 100 or better all week. The hen house has ventilation,but should I open it up more? Put in a mister, a fan?? Please advise, I don't want to lose more hens. Thanks everyone

I have no idea what caused Lovey's death, but I wanted to let you know I'm sorry you lost her.

 

[marlo1968]

I have no idea what caused Lovey's death, but I wanted to let you know I'm sorry you lost her.

Thank you SadieSue, I appreciate that....we will miss little Lovey, she was so much fun to watch, she was a bossy little girl, all the other hens (red stars, leghorns, and ameraucanas) side stepped around her....

 

[Hawkeye95]

This is a 3 month old silkie chick, and I am debating what kind of comb it is developing. Is this a peacomb developing? Or something else?

oh wow. It looks like a single comb to me... But it's definitely an odd one. Me personally-- I have enough selection that I've bred, I would NOT use that to breed with. He also doesn't have much of a crest on his head, either. But I'm sure he'll make one heck of a sweet pet.

Okay Silkie lovers, a question....My black hen, Lovey, died yesterday for no apparent reason. I got her on April 30th, she laid 3 eggs since that time, one on June 1st, one on June 22, and one on June 24 (yesterday). I found her dead in the nest box where she laid her last egg. Any ideas? She was hopping around yesterday morning, eating and scratching like normal, pecking at the other hens when they got too close, which was usual for her. She was free ranging with all the other hens most of the day, which is normal for her, then I went out at 6:30 to collect eggs, she was dead, with her egg behind her.

I am hoping her egg is fertile, I put it under a broody white pearl leghorn, yup, that's right a leghorn is broody, I have two that are.....crazy I know. I am hoping the egg is fertile and will hatch with the surrogate mommy.

Any ideas on what could have caused her death? I don't have any hens that appear sick in any way, Lovey appeared very normal also. I am at a loss here. Are silkies more suceptible to the heat than other breeds? It has been hitting and passing the 100 degree mark here, and doesn't look to be letting up, supposed to hit 100 or better all week. The hen house has ventilation,but should I open it up more? Put in a mister, a fan?? Please advise, I don't want to lose more hens. Thanks everyone

Is there good ventilation in the coop where she laid her egg? My guess is that she died of heat. Someone I know this morning said that her favorite hen died overnight with her head tucked in her wing and that is how she found her. She'd fallen dead off the roost over come with heat and must have died in her sleep. It's pretty hot here, and I think her coop doesn't have tons of ventillation. Mine has great big windows on all sides. If you can open your coop up more, I'd do so. And yeah, a mister wouldn't hurt anything either. I already have misters running in all of my pens. It lowers the temp near them by 20 degrees. The good thing is that you don't use very much water in a mister-- the water pressure is built up behind the valve.

 

[SadieSue]

I had a coop built for me last weekend - for free. I only paid for the materials and gas from someone who was nice enough to donate his time and drive a long way to do it, (over 3 hours.) This was originally going to be my grow out coop, but since the Silkies have stolen my heart like precious little thieves, looks like it's going to be my Silkie pen!

DH and I are going to be finishing the coop in the next week or so - the babies are 6 weeks now, I'd like them to move out by 8 weeks. So a final few questions I'd like some input on please? Photos below.
I know folks are pretty evenly divided about the Silkie ramp, no ramp topic. Obviously, this coop will have a ramp, (once DH and I figure out how to attach it! We're someone 'consruct' challenged). Since the chicks are going out before their crests are in fully, my thinking is that they'll be able to learn to navigate the ramp at a young age. I think I'm going to use astro turf as well as cleats up the ramp for better traction and footing and also to keep their feathered feet cleaner. Thoughts?

Also, I understand they don't necessarily roost, but I thought I'd add a very short removable roost inside. Linoleum floor covered in shavings as in my LF coop. There is brand new gravel on the run floor. I could leave it as is, or add bark. What do most of you use in your runs?

So we'll be fitting the coop for the final pieces, priming and painting and adding more secure hardware in the next couple of weeks. Do you think this will work? (I sure hope so because I blew my chicken budget on materials for the rest of this season!) However, nothing is too good for these little babies, right?

Wide view


Closer view of man door -


Pop door


Clean out door and nest box exterior


Nest box interior


Inside coop

 

[Sharksandguitars]

Well the reason I want to be sure is because he carries a special color gene. And I want to make sure before discarding him/her.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I had a coop built for me last weekend - for free. I only paid for the materials and gas from someone who was nice enough to donate his time and drive a long way to do it, (over 3 hours.) This was originally going to be my grow out coop, but since the Silkies have stolen my heart like precious little thieves, looks like it's going to be my Silkie pen!

DH and I are going to be finishing the coop in the next week or so - the babies are 6 weeks now, I'd like them to move out by 8 weeks. So a final few questions I'd like some input on please? Photos below.
I know folks are pretty evenly divided about the Silkie ramp, no ramp topic. Obviously, this coop will have a ramp, (once DH and I figure out how to attach it! We're someone 'consruct' challenged). Since the chicks are going out before their crests are in fully, my thinking is that they'll be able to learn to navigate the ramp at a young age. I think I'm going to use astro turf as well as cleats up the ramp for better traction and footing and also to keep their feathered feet cleaner. Thoughts?

Also, I understand they don't necessarily roost, but I thought I'd add a very short removable roost inside. Linoleum floor covered in shavings as in my LF coop. There is brand new gravel on the run floor. I could leave it as is, or add bark. What do most of you use in your runs?

So we'll be fitting the coop for the final pieces, priming and painting and adding more secure hardware in the next couple of weeks. Do you think this will work? (I sure hope so because I blew my chicken budget on materials for the rest of this season!) However, nothing is too good for these little babies, right?

Wide view


Closer view of man door -


Pop door


Clean out door and nest box exterior


Nest box interior


Inside coop

I think this will work out great for them. Ramps are fine with silkies--- IF it is nice and wide. Has strips for traction and is at a low angle. A steep angle will be very tough on them. I'm guessing that ramp is going to need to come clear out to the end of your pen to get a gentle incline on it. That, and you can raise it up on a cement block to give it more of a gentle incline and then put a couple of bricks below that for them to jump up to get onto the raised ramp. This is a really cute coop! Congrats on the new digs!