Silkie thread!

[Sanna]

Hi everyone, I'm Michaela and I'm new to silkies! I've found this thread to be very helpful! I just wanted to introduce myself

Welcome! You'll be addicted in no time!

I've had a terrible day!!!

One of Catdance Kelar eggs fell out of the nest and broke open and of all ten eggs it was one that actually had a living breathing growing chick in it

I am beside myself I can't believe how sad I am. It only had 10 more days to go. I just am speechless to how I'm feeling right now. Here is to what would have been...




DEVASTATED!!!

That's is so sad. So sorry to hear what happened.

 

[littlecritters]

Thank you for the encouragement.  It really is difficult to get all of this straight but I'm determined.  Currently, I have about 15 varieties of chickens (my son says more but I know I didn't hatch that many ).  Anyway, each one of them has something different to learn or that is special/specific to that breed.  We love them all.  They are special to us and I honestly don't know what I've done all this time without them.  I

I checked out the websites.  Thank you, they were very informative.  I'm sharing them with my son because he is actually the chicken person.  He was the one that got me started in this.  When he had his kidney surgeries this past June and July, we researched raising chickens and decided that we wanted to raise some.  It has been a learning process for us both and continues to be.  It's an enjoyable learning experience. 

I hope your son is doing well and recovering from his surgeries. My daughter and I have found chickens to be very relaxing and therapeutic...and hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we do.

 

[NovaAman]

Well that makes me more sad! So sorry about your growing chick...


Roger is gone. Something made off with him today, and I don't know what. I can not find him, or a feather trail, or body parts... He is just gone I am thinking a fox maybe?? I mean, what else could take off with a silkie and not leave any trace?

I am just devasted.. To survive a hawk and then a raccoon raid...

 

[peepblessed]

Posted a LONG time ago with pics of my silkie babies that I bought. I'm not looking to show (good thing since they are not show quality), but I will need to eliminate all but one roo and need to decide who I want to keep. Folks here guessed their ages, which now would make them 14 - 16 weeks. Wanted to post new pics and get some feed back from you people more knowledgeable than me. Would like best guess on gender please, as well as color, and who would you keep? They were called splash and blue when I originally posted pics, but now I'm wondering if a couple of them might be paint?? They seem to be developing more in that direction. And is it possible to have a bird with both splash and paint markings? What exactly is the definition for each splash and paint??

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and opinions.
VERY windy today, so a lot of the puffs they have are being blown flat....


Charlie, Boy I think. Love the white ring around the neck. Nice small size




Cinder, boy I believe. Personally my favorite pick to keep. Crown is a little small, but everything else is the best out of all of them. Great personality, small and compact.




Spike, definite boy (crowing) Poor tail, poor feet, long back. Pretty color, but that's about it.


(Two pics) Chubs, crowing boy about 1/3 larger than the others - BIG boy! Too big?? All his points are there, though not great. I like his color though.



Wind really blowing in his face ...


Sunny and Muff - These are the 2 splash/paint (?) girls(?) If girls, will be keeping them. Nice crowns, feet aren't bad though could be better...


More pictures of each...











Wind really was blowing all of their poufs flat today. But do you see what I mean? They kind of look like dalmations, more spotty almost.
And one almost complete group shot (ignore the white hen)



Sorry for hijacking the thread. Appreciate any feedback though. Critique away.

I believe your girls are splash. Here's pictures of a couple of mine.



You will need to check the wings on the ones you plan to keep. You can post photos of them spread out if you need help looking for problems. Sorry you ended up with so many boys. The one you mentioned size on looks long backed to me and shy on crest. Size wise, you need to weigh him. He should be about 32 oz. give or take a couple. You've got some pretty babies. Over all your birds appear to lack type (the S shaped stance- head & neck back with chest sticking out). The one you like the best seems to have the best type. It could just be that the photos are not capturing them well. Some people have a better eye for evaluating a bird that is not in a correct pose. Hope you are able to find homes for the ones you don't chose to keep.

 

[Scifisarah]

I'm not far from you and we had trouble with red-tailed hawks. They carried our call ducks off whole so I would I think they might be able to fly off with a silkie.

 

[Brethren49619]

Thank you for the feedback Peepblessed. No, they don't really have great type from what I have seen on this thread, but the blue, Cinder, has the best type of them all. Not interested in showing or any of that stuff, but if I can only have one of the roos, might as well make it the best one that I have.

ScifiSarah,
My babies are never allowed out at all. Among other things, we have bear, coyote, owls, hawks, coons, possums, fox.... the list goes on. These little ones really would not have a chance outside of the pen/coop. My DH calls it the Fort Knox of chicken coops. I think I need to improve it still. Just because I haven't had a loss or break in yet, doesn't mean it can't happen.

 

[ChickSter99]

I've had a terrible day!!!

One of Catdance Kelar eggs fell out of the nest and broke open and of all ten eggs it was one that actually had a living breathing growing chick in it

I am beside myself I can't believe how sad I am. It only had 10 more days to go. I just am speechless to how I'm feeling right now. Here is to what would have been...




DEVASTATED!!!

Awwwweeee....I'm so sorry...That is so devastating. My son accidentally bumped into the table that the incubator was on and knocked an egg off the turner and cracked it open. We only had a few days left. So sad...I'm really very sorry.

 

[ChickSter99]

Well that makes me more sad! So sorry about your growing chick...


Roger is gone. Something made off with him today, and I don't know what. I can not find him, or a feather trail, or body parts... He is just gone I am thinking a fox maybe?? I mean, what else could take off with a silkie and not leave any trace?

I am just devasted.. To survive a hawk and then a raccoon raid...

Sooo sorry. Losing our feathered friends to some of us is more like losing feathered family.

 

[littlecritters]

NovaAman and Cindersga, so sorry for your losses.

 

[Clover Run]

Hi - I am new to the silky thread. Here are a few of my silkies - I am starting to show them in Oct.