Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[Fluffy Lambs]

Do white silkies get super dirty? I want to get some but not if they will turn brown, I'd get partridge silkies for that.

My white silkies stay pretty clean, other than the crest getting grey sometimes.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

My white silkies stay pretty clean, other than the crest getting grey sometimes.

Why does the crest get grey?

 

[LynnaePB]

Again my only cockerel is a few months old and is wobbly! The one hatched in April I had to put down because he was so bad with his head backwards and now Burtle I love can't walk properly! Can't stand. Lays around. I have started a thread with his problem but getting any advice I can if you guys have any please!?
Currently seperate with poultry vitamin water and chick starter feed.
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Oh poor boy! I think giving the extra vitamins is a good idea as these kind of symptoms can be caused by certain vitamin deficiencies. Usually it is an E or B1 deficiency I believe. E isn't absorbed well without selenium so when you've got these kind of symptoms I'd give extra E, B, and some selenium to help the E absorb properly. E and B are hard to overdose but you have to be careful with selenium. A lot of silkie breeders like getting these tubes of selenium vit e gel that are marketed for goats and giving 2-3 pea sized drops a day for chickens showing signs of wry neck or vitamin deficiencies. I like using that for the selenium myself but I further boost the vitamins by getting a human B complex and crushing half a pill and giving once a day and at least a 400 iu+ pill of human vitamin E and mixing those all together and giving via syringe. It's a really sticky mixture due to the vitamin E so you want to make sure to stick the syringe past the tracheal opening in the throat.

Head trauma can also cause these types of symptoms. If it's trauma it'll just take time for him to recover.

Sometimes they never fully recover but I've never had one that at least didn't mostly recover. If it happens once relapse is more likely for that bird but it can also just be a one time thing.

Bad cases may require you to syringe or tube feed a bird while it is recovering so it doesn't starve to death while going through the worst symptoms (like wry neck where they constantly have their head under them so they can't eat). I like using a parrot formula for hand reared birds and either syringe or tube feeding. The formula is fine so is easy to get into a syringe and they seem to do well on it. All the pet stores here seem to carry some formula so hopefully ones there will as well if you need to hand feed. I use a 1cc syringe if I don't have my 14 french feeding tube handy. To avoid aspiration you'll again want to make sure to put the syringe down past the tracheal opening when feeding.

The one other thing that could cause weakness/lethargy that is common is coccidiosis. If you think that is a possibility I would treat for that first and then if he doesn't get better do the vitamin treatment. Unfortunately the most common coccidiosis treatment around here which uses amprolium you have to avoid giving excess vitamins as the amprolium kills coccidia by blocking b1 (thiamine). Coccidiosis is a much more immediate threat than a vitamin deficiency which is why I would treat for that first if you aren't sure which it is. If you have a vet who can take a stool sample and find out if it is coccidiosis that is a great way to know what you might be dealing with but I know that isn't doable for everyone.

Good luck, I hope your sweet boy feels better soon!

Good luck, I hope he feels better soon!

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I had this happen with 2 roos a few days ago, I'm 99% sure it was aluminum poisoning after we got our porch screened in even if we tried to clean it up. One died instantly and the other one has started to get back on track today. I don't think that's what yours has but maybe something similar. Praying your boy gets better soon

Umm, maybe some sort of poisoning but only to affect one of mine instead of all.. did others have access to that area of yours or just the 2 roos?

 

[787junglist]

I need an enormous silkie hen as incubator

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Why does the crest get grey?

Just from being outside I guess.

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Umm, maybe some sort of poisoning but only to affect one of mine instead of all.. did others have access to that area of yours or just the 2 roos?

All of mine. But the rest of them might not have scratched there? Im still a bit confused about it.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

Just from being outside I guess.

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, I'm thinking about getting silkies and know virtually nothing about them.

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, I'm thinking about getting silkies and know virtually nothing about them.

It's fine. They're pretty easy to keep

 

[LynnaePB]

Has anyone here gotten silkies from Ideal poultry and are they good quality. I'm looking for a hatchery that has good quality silkies that ships chicks.

I haven't got birds from ideal but I've got splash silkie chicks from cackle before. They do have bearded silkies if you prefer bearded.

Here are the three pullets I kept when I ordered splash silkie chicks from them. I only grew out these three so no knowing how the rest would have turned out as I sold them as chicks. I'd say for hatchery silkies they turned out fairly nice.