Hello,
My husband owns a small flock of 8 Buff Orphington hens who are generally docile. They're not "lap chickens" but they've never given us any trouble, they know where their coup is and willingly return to it at dusk without us having to shoo them in, and they take whatever my 2 and a half year old dishes out, even when it means being compliant when he carefully loads them up, one by one, in his wagon and pulls them around the back yard.
However, I have my heart set on owning a couple of Silkies. I'm hoping to have my new chicks or chickens this summer.
My Buff's are almost 3 months old now, so they're still small. They don't fight each other; sometimes the biggest girl will puff her neck up and try to pick a fight but it lasts maybe three seconds and they cut it out.
My question is obviously, is it ever safe to allow a little Silkie to mix into a group of bigger, stronger Buff's?
My husband thinks I'm crazy and says I'll be overprotective of the Silkies; he says it's fine to mix them together once the Silkies are at least 6 weeks old, but the Silkie breed is so small and gentle, I just have horrible visions of the Buff's ganging up on the little things and pecking their eyes out.
Anyone got any experience with this? Any advice is appreciated.
My husband owns a small flock of 8 Buff Orphington hens who are generally docile. They're not "lap chickens" but they've never given us any trouble, they know where their coup is and willingly return to it at dusk without us having to shoo them in, and they take whatever my 2 and a half year old dishes out, even when it means being compliant when he carefully loads them up, one by one, in his wagon and pulls them around the back yard.
However, I have my heart set on owning a couple of Silkies. I'm hoping to have my new chicks or chickens this summer.
My Buff's are almost 3 months old now, so they're still small. They don't fight each other; sometimes the biggest girl will puff her neck up and try to pick a fight but it lasts maybe three seconds and they cut it out.
My question is obviously, is it ever safe to allow a little Silkie to mix into a group of bigger, stronger Buff's?
My husband thinks I'm crazy and says I'll be overprotective of the Silkies; he says it's fine to mix them together once the Silkies are at least 6 weeks old, but the Silkie breed is so small and gentle, I just have horrible visions of the Buff's ganging up on the little things and pecking their eyes out.
Anyone got any experience with this? Any advice is appreciated.
