Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[TJAnonymous]

Btw, I love the way most of you come up with unique and cool names for your chickens. I haven't named most of my Silkies yet. The only one I've named is the one with the chronic eye infection. Every time I put medicine in his/her eye, he/she does this weird head shake like he/she has a nervous tic or something....so I've started calling him/her 'Twitch.'

But I have 2 lavender splash, 2 white, 2 black, and 2 buff Silkies to name. Open to ideas....

 

[AngBantamLuv]

So… After a good start with the silkies, little Hanabi had to be removed as she wasn’t staying under the heat and Amai was being a bit rough with her. She is so tiny I was concerned she might get stepped on, so I took her out. She was with the other hatchery chicks until this morning when the last of them went to their new owners. I then was able to place her with this newly hatched silkie chick that hatched last night. Just placed them together and Hanabi is showing the baby how to eat. Hanabi is one week old and the silkie is 12 hours old and they are about the same size
This of course is just a temporary solution as these Silkies were hatch to order and will be going to new owners as well next weekend. Hoping Hanabi is big enough at that point to go back in with Amai and Eko.View attachment 2637053View attachment 2637055

Omg too adorable!!!

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

How old are you Roos again? When I started raising chickens again, my horse trainer (who also keeps chickens) told me that every time she tried to raise roos together, they did fine until they were between 1 yr and 15 months old. Something in that age span flips a switch where they try to kill each other. I currently have two Easter Eggers that are about 14 months old. Despite being raised together, they've shared a tentative peace which I attributed to a LOT of space and a LOT of hens to share between them. But a few weeks ago, I thought the dominant one was going to kill the other. I had to forcefully go after the dominant roo to give the other one time enough to get far, far away. They are back to tentatively co-existing again but now I've put nets up over my chicken yard so none of my chickens can hop the fence and go rogue. I'm a little worried about how that might affect the dynamics between the two roos....

Anyway, I choose to make a 2nd coop & run for the Silkies so they wouldn't be bullied by the bigger chickens. I can't imagine that I'd have either enough girls OR enough space to make 2 Silkie roos get along.....

It all depends on the roosters.. some people have waayyyy too many and they all get along fine. If they grow up together there is more of a chance they will get along. But most of the time they don't unfortunately.
I have 3 boys, Rooster is 2 years old (I've had him since he was 5months old), Cookie is just over a year old now, son of Rooster and Biscuit is 5 months old, son of Rooster also. I find that as soon as 4 months old some of the boys I've had are very full of hormones and others quite calm and can easily get along with no fighting at all.
With Silkies we have the problem with broodiness, many hens could be broody at the same time so that means less hens for the roosters which can make fighting even more intense.

 

[TJAnonymous]

It all depends on the roosters.. some people have waayyyy too many and they all get along fine. If they grow up together there is more of a chance they will get along. But most of the time they don't unfortunately.
I have 3 boys, Rooster is 2 years old (I've had him since he was 5months old), Cookie is just over a year old now, son of Rooster and Biscuit is 5 months old, son of Rooster also. I find that as soon as 4 months old some of the boys I've had are very full of hormones and others quite calm and can easily get along with no fighting at all.
With Silkies we have the problem with broodiness, many hens could be broody at the same time so that means less hens for the roosters which can make fighting even more intense.

Thank you for the explanation... That makes a lot of sense. I knew when I started hatching eggs or picking up straight run chicks that I needed to be prepared with a plan for unwanted males. Either rehome or cull. My DH is very practical. He sees chickens as livestock. You eat them. Simple enough (for him). I have a much softer heart. Taking a life is always a hard decision. With Silkies, for whatever reason, it's even harder..... I'm anxious to see which of my Silkies ends up being a roo. At what age do they usually start crowing?

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Thank you for the explanation... That makes a lot of sense. I knew when I started hatching eggs or picking up straight run chicks that I needed to be prepared with a plan for unwanted males. Either rehome or cull. My DH is very practical. He sees chickens as livestock. You eat them. Simple enough (for him). I have a much softer heart. Taking a life is always a hard decision. With Silkies, for whatever reason, it's even harder..... I'm anxious to see which of my Silkies ends up being a roo. At what age do they usually start crowing?

I'm sure someone on here said theirs started crowing at 3 weeks old but they can start, from the start! Mine haven't started till after 4 months old, but that might be because I have an older Rooster In the flock.
I see Silkies as chicken pets that cannot be eaten but many do. It is a good solution to excess rooster problem if you have someone to do the job though -and maybe eat poor fluffy for you too

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I'm sure someone on here said theirs started crowing at 3 weeks old but they can start, from the start! Mine haven't started till after 4 months old, but that might be because I have an older Rooster In the flock.
I see Silkies as chicken pets that cannot be eaten but many do. It is a good solution to excess rooster problem if you have someone to do the job though -and maybe eat poor fluffy for you too

I think if I had someone I really trusted.. who knew what they were doing ( like taking them while they are asleep, making sure they are hypnotized, etc.), I could feel ok with someone processing, even my pet. But... anything inhumane or that would cause them stress.. nope!

I have actually asked my gardener, who is an older gentleman and grew up on a ranch, but he said no, even as an adult, he would have his dad do it!

So far, I have managed only 2 males out of 11... I hope my picking skills did well this time around.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I think if I had someone I really trusted.. who knew what they were doing ( like taking them while they are asleep, making sure they are hypnotized, etc.), I could feel ok with someone processing, even my pet. But... anything inhumane or that would cause them stress.. nope!

I have actually asked my gardener, who is an older gentleman and grew up on a ranch, but he said no, even as an adult, he would have his dad do it!

So far, I have managed only 2 males out of 11... I hope my picking skills did well this time around.

I have killed a few chickens myself because they were too sick and we're suffering so it needed to be done and I did it the most painless and quick way I could by broomstick for older ones and by hand decapitation with a chick...but I would never kill one because it's a rooster and never could process them or eat my pets. .. So far I have been able to sell all my excess males to good homes

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I have killed a few chickens myself because they were too sick and we're suffering so it needed to be done and I did it the most painless and quick way I could by broomstick for older ones and by hand decapitation with a chick...but I would never kill one because it's a rooster and never could process them or eat my pets. .. So far I have been able to sell all my excess males to good homes

I don't know if I could pull off euthanizing them I know I need to be ready if/when the time comes..

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have a killing cone but it is for large heavy breed chickens and ducks. Wouldn't work for a Silkie even if I wanted to (which I don't!).... The times when we had to put down sick chickens, I made DH shoot them in the head with his 22. I've watched videos on the broomstick method but I simply don't feel comfortable doing it without someone knowledgeable standing next to me and guiding me.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I have a killing cone but it is for large heavy breed chickens and ducks. Wouldn't work for a Silkie even if I wanted to (which I don't!).... The times when we had to put down sick chickens, I made DH shoot them in the head with his 22. I've watched videos on the broomstick method but I simply don't feel comfortable doing it without someone knowledgeable standing next to me and guiding me.

I did watch YouTube many times before doing it... Shooting would work well too as long as the person is accurate so it's instant death and no suffering.