Silkie thread!

[shanebroadbent]

Hi,

We are first time chicken owners. We have bought our first two silkies and are very happy (or at least we thought we were). Having been watching the chickens closer today we are a little concerned that one of them may be a rooster. They are supposedly 20 weeks old. The chickens interact differently and there is a visual difference between the two of them. The one we suspect may be a rooster has normal tail feathers. Can someone please confirm if the chicken on the right in the following photo is a rooster?


4

We live in suburban Melbourne, Australia and roosters do not go down well with neighbors unfortunately.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Shane

 

[3ChickensinNC]

Lemon drop, my fav

That is such a cute name. And cute chick

 

[3ChickensinNC]

Smart thinking! Be sure to follow up in 2 weeks. You may want to visually check them again in one week, those little devils are tiny.

I am.already rechecking. Can you say paranoid! So far haven't seen anything. I don't check all just grab one out of each pen. Didn't get to the coops it was getting late so that's first on the list this morning.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hiya!!! I am new to Silkies - just got chicks in February this year - and when one went broody, I was a bad mother and let her sit. I hadn't read anything on Silkies or bantams, and never thought about them being any different, until today, when I was reading on the emergency page, and now I am panicked! They just hatched 2 days ago, all 4 eggs, and 2 of the 3 Easter eggers I let her sit on. The EE's are a little bigger (well there's one mistake) but don't seem to be picking on the Silkies. I have them in a box I built on the back porch with the mom - thermometer says it's not getting down below 76 at night, and so far it hasn't been over 88 during the day. She snuggles them good at night, and I have a blue nightlight in a jelly jar in one corner that gets warmer than my hands, but not too hot to hold - they occasionally snuggle it, but mostly run around like toddlers on speed during the day. The nest end is closed on 3 sides, but the rest is chicken wire, with a short draft guard - I put a bale of shavings next to it because that worried me. I'm giving them water with a little electrolyte in it, medicated chick starter, and some hard boiled egg. They won't eat the feed wet, but chow it dry just fine. They all seem healthy, but are they hard to raise? I just figured leave them with ma and treat them like regular chicks, but I went and read some posts on here, and well, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

The chicks will be fine being raised by a mama silkie. No issues there at all.

Hi,

We are first time chicken owners. We have bought our first two silkies and are very happy (or at least we thought we were). Having been watching the chickens closer today we are a little concerned that one of them may be a rooster. They are supposedly 20 weeks old. The chickens interact differently and there is a visual difference between the two of them. The one we suspect may be a rooster has normal tail feathers. Can someone please confirm if the chicken on the right in the following photo is a rooster?


4

We live in suburban Melbourne, Australia and roosters do not go down well with neighbors unfortunately.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Shane

The bird on the right has a large comb that could indicate a rooster.... but maybe not. Beardless silkies sometimes do have large wattles and combs. The tail is just hard feathers, not really an indicator of gender. BUT, I do notice some off color in the birds hackles-- and unfortunately that is a male pattern spot where it might indicate a boy.

 

[omaeve]

http://movies.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70017727&trkid=8379884&t=The+Natural+History+of+the+Chicken&pt_request_id=3fcd8142-2504-4a5e-ae1d-6b3ae4839021-1065061&pt_rank=0&pt_row=0&pt_location=WATCHNOW

THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT CHICKEN'S AT NETCHICKS OH YOU KNOW WHO I MEAN

Liza - chicken in name only

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE NET FLICKS GO TO YOU TUBE TO WATCH THIS STORY ABOUT THE SILKIE CHICKEN

 

[omaeve]

Hi,

We are first time chicken owners. We have bought our first two silkies and are very happy (or at least we thought we were). Having been watching the chickens closer today we are a little concerned that one of them may be a rooster. They are supposedly 20 weeks old. The chickens interact differently and there is a visual difference between the two of them. The one we suspect may be a rooster has normal tail feathers. Can someone please confirm if the chicken on the right in the following photo is a rooster?

YOU ARE IN TROUBLE NOW THE CHICKEN MATH HAS BEGAN

We live in suburban Melbourne, Australia and roosters do not go down well with neighbors unfortunately.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Shane

 

[4hchickmama]

I'm hoping someone might have an idea of what is going on with my silkie pullet. She is loosing all of the feathers on her crest. No parasites that I can see. She recently moulted on her body, but now all the feathers to the front of her crest are gone. She isn't being picked on...She is the boss in my flock. Any ideas what is happening? And how long before they will grow back? We have a show in Sept.

 

[littlecritters]

I am.already rechecking. Can you say paranoid! So far haven't seen anything. I don't check all just grab one out of each pen. Didn't get to the coops it was getting late so that's first on the list this morning.

From what I have read on another site it appears that only one or two chickens in a pen can be affected while the others are fine. Folks are wondering if mites/lice will be attracted to some birds and not others. Kind of like when my hubby gets a lot of mosquito bites when I get none. I have recently developed my own "paranoia" about these pests from a negative experience.

 

[peepblessed]

So what's that trick again for sexing them based on beaks? Aren't the sharply curved beaks that look eagle-like, usually males? If so, 2 of my three month olds are females

I have found this to be accurate about 70% of the time. It is just one indicator.

 

[peepblessed]

Lemon drop, my fav

Lovely!! Cute name too!!