Silkies chickens in weather (cold)

[GingerJane]

Hey! I am about to buy some silkie pullets, but first I would like to know are they good for cold climates? Right now in Minnesota it is hot and humid out, but I am worried for the winter, and boy does it get cold here... So do they do bad or good in cold climates.. or are they just better off in warm humid enviorments?

And by the way I always have a heat lamp in the coop for my other chickens (during the winter, in their coop) and they do just great! But yet again, they do really good in extremely cold weather...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

My silkies get cold faster than my fluffy Orpingtons and large heavy breeds do. However, mine do OK with a nice 100 watt bulb to huddle under when it goes below freezing. They don't wander in the snow like my heavy large fowl when we get snow. Just my experience. So if they have a nice coop with a lamp they will probably just LIVE in the coop all winter with very little desire to go outside...just make sure you have the room would be my advice.

Also they don't generally like ramps or roosts (although some silkies will roost, and they will eventually learn to navigate a ramp). They cannot fly.

 

[GingerJane]

Ok thanks, and yeah my chickens stay in the coop all winter long ( they are scared of snow haha!)
But do you're chickens perch while they sit under the heat lamp like mine do, or do yours sit on the ground with the heat lamp?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Ok thanks, and yeah my chickens stay in the coop all winter long ( they are scared of snow haha!)
But do you're chickens perch while they sit under the heat lamp like mine do, or do yours sit on the ground with the heat lamp?

I hang a lamp over a low roost (about 8 inches high) for the silkies in the winter if I have silkies that won't perch much. If your silkies perch with the other chickens that would work to have it over the main roosts (I have had some that would perch -mine do currently- and some that would not perch unless the roost was about 8 inches high).

So this winter I will be able to just use one lamp over the main roosts.

You may find that if you install a nice wide ramp for the silkies they will get up there with the other chickens. Or make a stairway out of cinder blocks, etc.

 

[GingerJane]

Ok thank you!!!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Silkies originate from the Himalayan regions of China. They do extremely well in cold weather. However, you do need to make sure they stay dry. Silkies will use a ramp as well as any other breed so long as they see it, and they see other birds using it. If their muffs or crests are so full that they block vision, you need to trim feathers so that they can see.

They don't do as well in hot weather, but they can tolerate is so long as they have sufficient shade and water. Misters and fans help.

 

[GingerJane]

Wow, thank you that helped a lot !! I will keep that in mind! Thanks again!