Silkie thread!

[TAMMACLEAN]

Well, no chickies here. I had two make it to lock down, but the bad air cells were more of a trap that kept them from moving for the goal in the end.

I opened them this morning to see that there was no way for them to have made it. Now, I'm left with seven more, from the same place, to watch and wait.

But, on a positive note, I am supposed to get eggs from mbrobbins from here. She has beautiful Silkies and lives about an hour from me, and I hope to be getting two dozen....tomorrow, maybe.

Sorry to hear about your eggs... I hatched 14 silkies from mbrobbins about 7 weeks ago. Love them!! Good luck!

 

[aoxa]

I would love to know about this too!! My kids are always saying to put leg bands on them. That way we can tell some of them apart.

I had the hardest time putting those on them.. They screamed and whined. I've heard other products are better. Zip ties or even tiny elastic hairbands for children.

 

[aoxa]

Sometimes, hens crow too.  Its crazy, but true!  I have heard that some silkies crow one day and lay an egg the next.  So, its possible.

Thanks! I am really confused, as I was 100% sure this was a pullet. She fits all the pullet traits, round crest, small comb, pullet attitude, feathered in normally for a pullet, etc. Not to mention the colouring..

Anyone else have any response?

 

[ThaiChick]

So glad sciencechick brought up silkie haircuts! I believe I will do this today. My husband came home last evening and there was a red tail hawk sitting in the pine tree right outside my coop! He said he thought he was up to no good because the limb he was perched on was only 15 feet off the ground!

So how do I go about trimming the pouf around the eyes so my birds have a fighting chance while foraging?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Is there a thread that gives some hints or particulars for incubating and hatching Silkies? I have had success with my mixed banties, but would love to know how others do the process specifically for Silkies. And, where better to ask than here?
I have a hovabator that I use for incubating, and a little giant for lock down-both are forced air and keep very steady temps. My humidity for lock down won't seen to get higher than 68%, that's with covering most of the free space with bowls of water, sponges and wet cloths.
My questions are:
Humidity and temp during incubation (my temp has been 99.5, only fluctuating by about .5 degree)?
How often do you candle? And, do these chicks look different than other breeds when you do candle?
Is my lock down humidity going to work?
Do you go into lock down on day 18 no matter what?
Is there a difference in hatch rate when using cartons?

If you'd like to pm me that fine, as I know this has probably been discussed before, I just have trouble finding specific info on here.
I'm getting two dozen eggs tomorrow, so any and all info/advice is appreciated.
Blessings,T
Tina

You're going to have to get above 68% humidity to have a good hatch. At least in MY experience. I get sticky chicks when I'm below 70%. I have a Brinsea and it's hard to get above 70%-- so I simply add warm wet towels or you can add sponges. Incubating at 99.5 is fine-- even if you have some temp swings that go higher or lower by a few tenths. So long as it's not a whole degree... and if so, isn't very long-- like from opening the lid. I candle at 10 days for sure. Sometimes if I'm checking development in shipped eggs, I want to know when they are quitters, so I'll candle at 5 days too-- but it's unnecessary. I pretty much know that if my humidity is running right around 30-40%, that my air cells are going to be fine. However, if I've been worried about high humidity, then I will check them a couple more times (just a few eggs) to be sure the air cells are growing like they should. At 5 days, you should be able to see the tiny dot with the veins starting out. At 10 days, it's much clearer and you should see movement, but even if you don't -- doesn't mean you should toss them. I'm pretty good at knowing what I'm looking for. It just takes experience. The BEST advice I can give you for shipped eggs is to let them rest. And I'm not kidding-- that can mean the difference between a good and bad hatch. They MUST rest in the upright position for a day before setting them so they can settle. I take them all out of the packaging and then put them in egg cartons with the air cells UP (pointy end down). If you can't tell, candle them so you know which is which. I then will mark X's on the ones that have lost all signs of air cells. Leave them be for a day so the air can settle. Then I candle the air cells right before I put them in-- especially the one's with X's on them. Usually the air has come back to the top and they will look a lot better than they did when you got them. I've NEVER gotten eggs with perfect air cells. I think I'm unlucky. But I still get good hatches anyway. But you'll have your duds. I did get a 0% hatch on shipped eggs once. I think the PO shook them up beyond what they could handle.

So glad sciencechick brought up silkie haircuts! I believe I will do this today. My husband came home last evening and there was a red tail hawk sitting in the pine tree right outside my coop! He said he thought he was up to no good because the limb he was perched on was only 15 feet off the ground!

So how do I go about trimming the pouf around the eyes so my birds have a fighting chance while foraging?

There is no need to trim up the crest. The only part that interferes with vision is the muff (the beard). Just trim UNDER the eyes, and they should be able to see well. Crested breeds are at a disadvantage in the first place. I would never let ANY of my birds out without a cover--crested or not. Just sayin'. But I live on the open plains-- plenty of hawks around here. I also raise Polish, and their crests are MUCH bigger than silkies. There is no way I could trim every single bird I have. Right about now, farm stores are selling the bird netting for fruit trees-- they are usually pretty big, about 20 ft across. That would be a cheap way to cover a large portion of your yard to protect your birds. You could drive T posts into the ground to attach the netting to.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Thanks! I am really confused, as I was 100% sure this was a pullet. She fits all the pullet traits, round crest, small comb, pullet attitude, feathered in normally for a pullet, etc. Not to mention the colouring..
Anyone else have any response?

crowing is VERY rare in hens. I've seen a video of a hen crowing. But honestly, how many people here have chickens... and how many of us have a hen that crows? Yeah, it's just not likely to be the case. If your bird is crowing, I'd bet money on it being a rooster. Did you say how old your bird is? It does have the crest shape of a pullet, BUT--- a lot of my boys start out that way too. I could probably post 3 birds right now that I'm sure are boys and they look as pretty and round as a girl. If you have nicer quality silkies, they are going to look more girlie and be harder to sex. That's just the way it is. Especially if they are under 6 months, they will look girlie. For example-- this particular rooster is now a year old-- but this is his 5 MONTH old photo. This is a HUGE difference from what he looks like now:

5 months:

and at 7 months-- his comb is finally getting bigger, but still a girlie looking crest:

And what he looked like earlier this Spring: finally he has the full blown boy crest

These are all the same bird. The first picture -- there is a tiny comb there. That dark spot is part of his splash coloring in his crest, makes it look like his comb is bigger than it is. Often they don't grow their combs in until later. But when his comb started growing-- it really took off. But the nicer quality boys do tend to look really girlie for several months.

 

[aoxa]

crowing is VERY rare in hens. I've seen a video of a hen crowing. But honestly, how many people here have chickens... and how many of us have a hen that crows? Yeah, it's just not likely to be the case. If your bird is crowing, I'd bet money on it being a rooster. Did you say how old your bird is? It does have the crest shape of a pullet, BUT--- a lot of my boys start out that way too. I could probably post 3 birds right now that I'm sure are boys and they look as pretty and round as a girl. If you have nicer quality silkies, they are going to look more girlie and be harder to sex. That's just the way it is. Especially if they are under 6 months, they will look girlie. For example-- this particular rooster is now a year old-- but this is his 5 MONTH old photo. This is a HUGE difference from what he looks like now: 5 months:

and at 7 months-- his comb is finally getting bigger, but still a girlie looking crest:

And what he looked like earlier this Spring: finally he has the full blown boy crest

These are all the same bird. The first picture -- there is a tiny comb there. That dark spot is part of his splash coloring in his crest, makes it look like his comb is bigger than it is. Often they don't grow their combs in until later. But when his comb started growing-- it really took off. But the nicer quality boys do tend to look really girlie for several months.

Yep. I'm convinced it's a boy now.. Thing is, the parent stock is not SQ at all. That's why the beautiful round crest confused me. It's not my bird, but it was hatched from my eggs. At least my silkie can produce better quality chicks than they are The chick is 14 weeks old.

Here is one of my own that is 10 weeks. Now I'm scared that it won't be a girl :/ Though the one I was talking about has the personality of a rooster and the one above is very submissive compared to the others..

Oh and I have this possible cockerel (10 weeks) that is from the same 2 parents, but has a male crest at 10 weeks old. It's strange how there are so many variances among them.. This one above has the personality of a pullet as well, but I would guess cockerel based on the appearance. Should I wait to be sure?

Here is a white one with a round crest (also 10 weeks)

Another...

...

and this is the last one.

 

[peepblessed]

Need some help on this one guys...

14 weeks old.
Girl or boy? I'll tell you after why I question it. Don't want biased opinions

Girl, based on color, pencilling, crest shape and beak shape. Those don't look like streamers to me.

 

[aoxa]

Girl, based on color, pencilling, crest shape and beak shape. Those don't look like streamers to me.

But why would she crow then? :/ Oh gosh! I am so torn!

 

[peepblessed]

Looks like a pullet to me too. Actually looks a little like my girl, her brown is much more muted though. My roo sports that pretty reddish brown though.

I had a young pullet that crowed but of coarse that is pretty rare!