Silkie thread!

[aoxa]

I haven't noticed any feathers coming off her, but maybe she is. I just hope she is fully feathered out come spring 

You wouldn't always notice. Even in their second year. You should be able to feel pin feathers though

 

[ChicksNherps]

You wouldn't always notice. Even in their second year. You should be able to feel pin feathers though

yeah your right I can feel some on her belly.

 

[aoxa]

yeah your right I can feel some on her belly.

She's molting

 

[Cynthia12]

Ok...craziest thing just happened...I was in the garage watching momma and her babies when she decided to 'dust bath' in the shavings...well I saw that she still had two chicks under her but thought they would run out when she started but they didn't...
So after a little I lifted her up to scoop them out and they were fully tangled up under her...caught by both their heads!!! I couldnt untangle them so I raced inside to get the scissors and I had to cut them out from under her...
That was crazy...what if I hadn't been there?

I had to do this for a neighbor that had a chick caught. I can tell you what happened there. She hadn't caught it in time. That babies wing was curled up and twisted. When I cut the baby out of the feathers, the mama hen went after it. She had had it with that chick there. There was no way that wing was ever going to straighten back out, it could hardly walk. Glad you caught them in time!

 

[Cynthia12]

God bless those that have been affected by the storm Sandy. I just read that 21 states have been terribly affected. Prayers going out for all.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Sonoran ~ I read where oyster shells aren't even necessary unless their egg shells are weak. My silkies egg shells are strong and hard. They free range and are able to get lots of worms and various garden bugs and I use no pesticides in my yard or garden and organic non gmo feed. I have given them some electrolytes and vitamins when two of my first chicks got wry neck and then I am treating them now since I had some sneezing going on with the new chicks and their broody (along with Denegard).

Do you know how many days I should treat their water with Denegard?

It really depends on your area: what is in the soil (assuming they range), and what minerals are in the water. There is no universal answer.

As for the Denagard, are you using the preventative or treatment dose?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

My silkies are 5-6 months old and not laying yet (closer to 6). Do silkies mature slower? Do i need to do something different? I have never had a hen go longer then 24 weeks. Their nest mate a bantam EE has been laying for 3 weeks. And the Bantam RIR nest mate rooster has moved up in line close to the top of the pecking order of 11 LF hens. Even the sillkie rooster acts like he is not ready to move up to his place in the pecking order. I have 3 silkie hens and 1 rooster and they are never far from each other like chicks act. Do i need to add some light to their coop. even thou all my bantams sleep together? They are free range in my yard from just before sunrise to just after sunset.

It would be the rare silkie indeed who laid that young. I never expect eggs before at least 8 months, and a few have not laid until they were well over a year. In general, silkies are one of the slower breeds to mature.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Explaining dominance so often is equally frustrating, but everyone has to learn somewhere, and I too am someone who came late to the game, and learned by asking all the same newbee questions...not THAT many years ago.

I would be shocked at a 1.5 year old hen that had quit laying (except for molt, chick raising, etc.). I have a ten+ year old hen who still lays occasionally, and have had others that old and older who also laid on occasion. About the only ones who might stop laying at a young age are sex-links or commercial layer strains, and that is because they have laid all the eggs in their ovaries: they were bred to lay early and often.

As a hen matures into her second and third year, she will lay a bit less frequently (and more so the more she ages), but the eggs will get larger and larger.

 

[aoxa]

Explaining dominance so often is equally frustrating, but everyone has to learn somewhere, and I too am someone who came late to the game, and learned by asking all the same newbee questions...not THAT many years ago.

I would be shocked at a 1.5 year old hen that had quit laying (except for molt, chick raising, etc.).  I have a ten+ year old hen who still lays occasionally, and have had others that old and older who also laid on occasion.  About the only ones who might stop laying at a young age are sex-links or commercial layer strains, and that is because they have laid all the eggs in their ovaries: they were bred to lay early and often.

As a hen matures into her second and third year, she will lay a bit less frequently (and more so the more she ages), but the eggs will get larger and larger. 

I was talking 'still laying' despite very little daylight as well as low temps. She should lay for many years to come

My silkies took the winter off last year when it was very cold (Late January - early March).


Also, if I were you, I'd keep a word document explaining and copy and paste and modify to appropriate topic. You are so detailed, and it must take you some time to type that all out every time. Not saying that the questions are stupid at all, and I am one to admit that genes confuse the bejebus out of me. Thanks to you, I'm starting to grasp the details of the whites I appreciate it!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I do have some....but I am usually too lazy to find and copy them