Thank you for sharing your experience! I love my silkies too, no matter how often they go broody on me, or I have to blow dry them at night!That is great, I'm looking forward to reading your article!
I probably would say silkies are a bit more maintenance than other breeds I've had. The getting wet and standing in the rain has been the biggest issue for me. Our next coop will definitely have a covered run.....I don't know how many times I've gotten sopping wet because a heavy rain started and I had to scramble to get a lot of the hens/pullets into their coop. My chicks can be a little slower on the uptake when it comes to learning new things like getting in the coop for the night. Sometimes it can take a while and extra work to make sure they are getting the concept (it doesn't always happen but I do find it is pretty common). I also find with the five toes the 4th and 5th toe need to be checked to make sure the nails don't get overgrown (I think it is hard for them to wear the nails down with the toes being off the ground). A couple weeks ago when I let the silkies out for the morning I noticed one of my little pullets stumbling and falling over when trying to walk. Definitely scared me as I was thinking it could be something serious. When I picked her up and took a close look at her legs I realized it was due to her toenails hooking together!
On the other hand there are some major perks to silkies that can make them a bit lower maintenance. Mine are generally pretty laid back and calm and easy to handle (other than a few outliers and the males can be a pain in my flock). This saves a lot of time and effort if you have to treat the flock for anything like worms, mites etc. Then the fact that they are pretty easy to keep in a run as they don't typically try to fly out is really nice (that was a big problem in my non silkies back when I had a mixed flock).
Unfortunately it has been my experience that they are more prone to developing certain health issues/deformities. I used to hatch a lot of barnyard mixes and never once dealt with wry neck, cross beak (also sometimes a milder bent/crooked beak), or wry tail. With the silkies these are issues that can and do pop up. I consider myself lucky if I don't have any of those issues develop in a hatch of 10 or more. Thankfully if they reach half a year or so with no issues popping up they've generally been pretty healthy. Perhaps I've just been unlucky in that regard. I hope with good breeding I can eventually work out some of the health issues my silkies seem to be more prone to.
All in all I can't help but love my silkies despite some of the issues than can make them a little higher maintenance.
), i need to check all my girls.
they always seem so busy to me.
