Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[kurby22]

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas if you celebrate and if not, a great day with loved ones! We so need the rain, but it’s put a huge damper in my chicken time! I haven’t been able to sit and visit them in over a week and Betty and Fuzzy look a bit like drowned rats seeing all your gorgeous silkies has helped though!

 

[kurby22]

I have a question for the Silkie experts…I have my two silkies Betty and Fuzzbert, and they were part of my original 6 chickens I got back in April with 4 standard size chickens. Well 3 of the 4 standards were boys so I rehomed 2 of them and kept the favorite. The four of them were my OG coop and always slept 4 in a row on their roost bar with the silkies huddled under the two big chickens for warmth. Well on Christmas my sweet boy, Eevee the Lav Orp rooster, died in my arms from an illness. Not having him in the coop with the three girls has caused a bit of a reshuffling—with Charlie the big hen wanting to be in the other bigger coop with the younger pullets and bantam Cochins. The silkies want to stay in their original coop and I think it suits their size better and their ability to reach good roost bars and a nest box but it’s a lot colder now when they sleep with just each other for warmth. Are they going to be okay? Lonely? Cold? The illness in my flock is a contagious and lifelong one so I’m not really wanting to get more chickens and sentence them to a life of illness as an option either :-( the bantam Cochins like sleeping on the roosts way up high in the other coop so I don’t really want to take them away from their happy place either! I am just worried they will get cold and lonely and I’m feeling sad that my boy is gone. He always let them snuggle under him at night he was a really good boy and my first chicken I ever loved.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

I have a question for the Silkie experts…I have my two silkies Betty and Fuzzbert, and they were part of my original 6 chickens I got back in April with 4 standard size chickens. Well 3 of the 4 standards were boys so I rehomed 2 of them and kept the favorite. The four of them were my OG coop and always slept 4 in a row on their roost bar with the silkies huddled under the two big chickens for warmth. Well on Christmas my sweet boy, Eevee the Lav Orp rooster, died in my arms from an illness. Not having him in the coop with the three girls has caused a bit of a reshuffling—with Charlie the big hen wanting to be in the other bigger coop with the younger pullets and bantam Cochins. The silkies want to stay in their original coop and I think it suits their size better and their ability to reach good roost bars and a nest box but it’s a lot colder now when they sleep with just each other for warmth. Are they going to be okay? Lonely? Cold? The illness in my flock is a contagious and lifelong one so I’m not really wanting to get more chickens and sentence them to a life of illness as an option either :-( the bantam Cochins like sleeping on the roosts way up high in the other coop so I don’t really want to take them away from their happy place either! I am just worried they will get cold and lonely and I’m feeling sad that my boy is gone. He always let them snuggle under him at night he was a really good boy and my first chicken I ever loved.

Oh I'm so sorry! It'll be interesting to see how the experienced ones respond.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Oh I forgot to tell you guys that my baby d'uccle roo (that moved outside a few weeks ago) taught Ginger to crow.
I don't think I'll need to rehome him because it's more like a quiet scream (aaaagghhh) than a crow, and the earliest I've heard him was 8:30am

 

[Silkie Princess]

Oh I forgot to tell you guys that my baby d'uccle roo (that moved outside a few weeks ago) taught Ginger to crow.
I don't think I'll need to rehome him because it's more like a quiet scream (aaaagghhh) than a crow, and the earliest I've heard him was 8:30am

That's great!

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Normal crow:
BaBaBaBaDOOOOOOOOO

Ginger's crow:
GRAAAAAAAGGGGHH. *FUNNY GRUMBLE*

 

[Anne-Marie Cee]

I recently got 3 white silky hens...should be laying.
They are very fluffy and look great.
They travelled 4 hours in a box ( in a car) and when they arrived there were 2 eggs.
Since then ( 4 weeks), there have been no eggs.
Initially I gave them layers pellets which they sort of ate.
Then I got them a large bag of scratch mix which they enthusiastically eat.
They have a yard to free range in with lots of grass in it.
I don't know what I am doing wrong.
I have had silkies before and they were good layers.
I've compared them to pictures, I'm pretty sure they are girls and there has been no crowing.
HELP please
Anne-Marie

 

[PippinTheChicken]

I recently got 3 white silky hens...should be laying.
They are very fluffy and look great.
They travelled 4 hours in a box ( in a car) and when they arrived there were 2 eggs.
Since then ( 4 weeks), there have been no eggs.
Initially I gave them layers pellets which they sort of ate.
Then I got them a large bag of scratch mix which they enthusiastically eat.
They have a yard to free range in with lots of grass in it.
I don't know what I am doing wrong.
I have had silkies before and they were good layers.
I've compared them to pictures, I'm pretty sure they are girls and there has been no crowing.
HELP please
Anne-Marie

Maybe they're just adjusting to the new environment

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Normal crow:
BaBaBaBaDOOOOOOOOO

Ginger's crow:
GRAAAAAAAGGGGHH. *FUNNY GRUMBLE*

Yay!!! Im so glad you can keep him!!

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I recently got 3 white silky hens...should be laying.
They are very fluffy and look great.
They travelled 4 hours in a box ( in a car) and when they arrived there were 2 eggs.
Since then ( 4 weeks), there have been no eggs.
Initially I gave them layers pellets which they sort of ate.
Then I got them a large bag of scratch mix which they enthusiastically eat.
They have a yard to free range in with lots of grass in it.
I don't know what I am doing wrong.
I have had silkies before and they were good layers.
I've compared them to pictures, I'm pretty sure they are girls and there has been no crowing.
HELP please
Anne-Marie

I just moved my chickens (bantams) a couple months ago, and they immediately stopped laying eggs, and talking at all for that matter. They seem to be squatting for me again and making happy chicken noises, so i think they'll start again soon. Id just wait it out. Between winter and stress, they might just be conserving energy and adjusting.