SILKIES CHICKS PICS!1ST FOR ME & MY HEN!Born 20th & 21st April - HELP!

[ALLcoopedUP]

I think the one on the right is female and the one in the middle with the spikey hair is a male! Let's wait and see if I'm right.

FIRST CHICKS FOR ME & MY HEN!

First chick (white silkies) was born yesterday, 2ND TODAY.

I'm so happy but worried.......
HELP! How long do we wait before taking eggs away from her? SO she can concentrate on her little ones?
Mother broody hen still sitting on 8 eggs (6 silkie+2polish crested) eating well & happy.
The chicks seem really strong & healthy. But are they eating/drinking? Is the mum too busy sitting waiting for the other eggs to hatch?
There is starter feed & water near the nest, all clean with wood shavings and heat lamp
so when chicks venture out from under her they will stay warm near food and water. NOt sure that they have been out on their own yet. I showed them the feed & water.
WHAT DO I DO? I REALLY WANT THE 2 I HAVE TO TO SURVIVE.

Please, ANY ADVICE?

Chicks now 3 weeks old and doin' well, thanks

 

[kikidede]

Since you have silkie's...bantams...do you know how high they can fly? I'm NEW with this chicken thing...I'm getting my first chicks on May 21. I want to free range them. I want to build them a 'coop' in the inside of my barn. I want to keep the large barn doors open for the large animals to come and go. So, I was going to have a raised coop on the wall and have a platform up from the floor a bit for the bantams to jump up into the coop. So, the question is. How high can this platform be? Thanks.

 

[Why and Dotte]

The chicks will go back under mama when they're chilly, when she thinks that she's sat long enough she will give the eggs up. They'll watch her eat and if you've showed them the food and water then they know it's there, they also have a three day supply of yolk they can live on so there isn't a big deal they won't starve in a day.

 

[ALLcoopedUP]

I'm new too. Only got my silkies last year, Sept 2009 but have had a pair of Polish crested for longer - (and they are completely different and live in a converted stable sleeping as high as they can get on SEPERATE dividers between the mangers.)
My SILKIE coop (see pics on my web page) has an upstairs with a ladder - about waist height. They do hop/fly down but not sure they could fly up, they usually hop halfway and scramble up the rest. They have funny FURRY looking feet with lots of toes!
They are known for having small wings and not properly able to fly.
But they sure have flown about in the pen when we were teaching them to roost upstairs!
They all huddled in the bottom corner on the dust bath at night and it started to get cooler, so we had to give them a gentle shove in the right direction! It took a week of perseverance BUT WE GOT THERE IN THE END!

We put lots of perches in the coop but they prefer to sleep huddled together in the corner or the nest box in a sort of pyramid!

Hope you get some more detailed advice from long time silkie keepers.

 

[Carpe DiHen]

ALLcoopedUP nice pictures on your web site!

 

[ALLcoopedUP]

Thanks Carpe DiHen. I just had a quick look at your page and I really like your coop design.
I have a German Shepherd too! He always wants to be in on what's going on in the coop - but from a distance just to be on the safe side!
Animals are such fun. I love my new chicks and have taken some videos which I will try to put on You tube (another first for me!).
We tried to get our Polish Crested hen to get broody last year - she sat intermittently and so was unsuccessful. We put a few of her eggs under the broody silkie but they haven't hatched.
Will have another go in the near future.

 

[ALLcoopedUP]

Thanks Why & Dotte.
The 2 chicks are doing fine, as well as the chick feed they had corn on the cob today - their mum mashed it for them! (New pics on my page.)
They've been running around, chirping, attacking the corn cob and then hiding back under their mum.

Doin' what chicks are supposed to do?!

 

[ALLcoopedUP]

Here's the link for a video on YouTube of my Silkie Hen feeding her chicks.

All firsts for me - first chicks, first video put on YouTube. Just like the chicks - learing new stuff everyday.

 

[Carpe DiHen]

I loved the video!

Thanks for sharing that with us!

 

[OCD]

What a good mama!!!
They are so, so cute!!