Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[Silly Indie]

I finally got some silkies myself this year! Three little black fuzz balls. Unfortunately about a month ago a mink broke into the Bantie coop and killed two of the silkies along with eight other birds. We still have Peggy thankfully and she is currently raising a very special chick and doing a great job. They’re such sweet little birds I don’t know why I didn’t get some sooner.

 

[Chickeria]

I accidentally posted this message on the other Silkie thread! Oops!

...I covered up the gaps between the wood with clear tarps and moved the roost shelves so now the coop looks like pic below.. I just need to clean it up a bit and then add more roost shelves for flock expansion ..But I'm concerned I have the nest house about the same level as the roosts I have the nest house up on bricks so fluffies don't get stuck under and I can inspect for rats... I guess time will tell if they decide to sleep in the nests instead of the roosts!! I'm hoping since it's a seperate area they will just go to roost each night..
.. tonight I just shut them in and they were all roosting, 2 roosters and 6 hens, each rooster with their 3 girls on their own roost haha..
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(...another Silkie thread?! I have to look that up )

Awesome, it looks great
I love how your fluffies roost together
...so much fluff in a row...So cute!

I love your nest house - I couldn't blame your babies if they decide to sleep in it

What is the material you used on the ramp?

 

[Chickeria]

I finally got some silkies myself this year! Three little black fuzz balls. Unfortunately about a month ago a mink broke into the Bantie coop and killed two of the silkies along with eight other birds. We still have Peggy thankfully and she is currently raising a very special chick and doing a great job. They’re such sweet little birds I don’t know why I didn’t get some sooner.

I'm so sorry you lost 10 of your little ones That's so sad.

Do you have a picture of your little Peggy and her special baby?

I totally agree, they are very sweet (I have mine since 4 month now).

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I accidentally posted this message on the other Silkie thread! Oops!

...I covered up the gaps between the wood with clear tarps and moved the roost shelves so now the coop looks like pic below.. I just need to clean it up a bit and then add more roost shelves for flock expansion ..But I'm concerned I have the nest house about the same level as the roosts I have the nest house up on bricks so fluffies don't get stuck under and I can inspect for rats... I guess time will tell if they decide to sleep in the nests instead of the roosts!! I'm hoping since it's a seperate area they will just go to roost each night..
.. tonight I just shut them in and they were all roosting, 2 roosters and 6 hens, each rooster with their 3 girls on their own roost haha..
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Ohhhhhmyyyygaaaawwwddd... that is the most adorable thing ever!!! ❤❤❤❤

 

[Chickeria]

Ok cool! I actually 4 other little silkie babies. Those 2 faces were just the most obviously different to me.

Hi mamablair how are all your babies doing?

 

[LynnaePB]

Good evening fellow silkie lovers!
I just started a thread to demonstrate young (12-16 week olds, 3-4 months) silkie crests to help with gender ID. It is not meant to be a gender ID thread per say, but rather an assist for people with silkies to show what these can look like. Please post photos of examples that you may have if you are so inclined. Unusual examples are also great (like my pullet that has streamers). Hoping this can end up being a good resource, ideally should be birds no older than 4 months.
Thanks!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/24820461

This is a great idea! I'm afraid I don't have any good crest pictures of 12-16 week olds right now but it looks like you've already got some great examples!

Here we go:
Roosters:

ChirpView attachment 2803434
Teddy
Whoops I don't seem to have a photo!
Fluffy
I also don't have a photo!
Elvis
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Snowy
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Pom Pom ( the 3. One from the right)
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George

Broody hens:
Chickie
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Daisy
( I was cleaning out my phone so I don't have the pics in my phone. But do you know how my old pfp looked? That was daisy there)
Lilly
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Pullets:
Huggy
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Bumble
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Marilyn
My pfp
Cleopatra
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Crooksie ( not sure about the gender though)
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Cupcake
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Tiny
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These two babies still don't have names! Help me give them their names in the thread Help me give these chicks some names! (sorry l can't seem to know how to put the link in through my phone)
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Aww what a gorgeous flock!

I'm so sorry about little cupcake though, it's always so hard losing them.

I accidentally posted this message on the other Silkie thread! Oops!

...I covered up the gaps between the wood with clear tarps and moved the roost shelves so now the coop looks like pic below.. I just need to clean it up a bit and then add more roost shelves for flock expansion ..But I'm concerned I have the nest house about the same level as the roosts I have the nest house up on bricks so fluffies don't get stuck under and I can inspect for rats... I guess time will tell if they decide to sleep in the nests instead of the roosts!! I'm hoping since it's a seperate area they will just go to roost each night..
.. tonight I just shut them in and they were all roosting, 2 roosters and 6 hens, each rooster with their 3 girls on their own roost haha..
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Aww they look so precious roosting together, what beautiful little fluffballs!

Hopefully they'll stick to the roosts!

I finally got some silkies myself this year! Three little black fuzz balls. Unfortunately about a month ago a mink broke into the Bantie coop and killed two of the silkies along with eight other birds. We still have Peggy thankfully and she is currently raising a very special chick and doing a great job. They’re such sweet little birds I don’t know why I didn’t get some sooner.

I'm so sorry about the two silkies and eight others the mink got.

Peggy and her chick sound like they must be adorable together!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I finally got some silkies myself this year! Three little black fuzz balls. Unfortunately about a month ago a mink broke into the Bantie coop and killed two of the silkies along with eight other birds. We still have Peggy thankfully and she is currently raising a very special chick and doing a great job. They’re such sweet little birds I don’t know why I didn’t get some sooner.

So sorry for the loss of your birds.
Would love to see a photo of Peggy with her chick, if you are inclined .

 

[mamablair]

Hi mamablair how are all your babies doing?

Getting big. Haha. I shared these in the other silkie thread and forgot to here. Whoops.

 

[LynnaePB]

Thought I'd share my recently hatched babies as well. It's hard to photograph them all together and get clear pictures but I tried.

Looks like a black, a blue, and two partridge type chicks. Pretty sure the two partridges and the blue are from my recessive white girl Willow. She tends to be one of the only ones who lays slightly speckled eggs and all three of those came from speckled eggs (plus I know she carries both partridge and blue so these babies would make sense for her). I can't wait to try for some paints in a bit, the breeding pens are just taking a long time to finish.

Even though I'd like to breed the vaults out eventually for the time being they have been great for helping make an educated guess at sex in my babies. My last hatch (the Easter hatch) I was able to correctly guess sex at hatch based on vaults in 9 of 11 babies. I got really lucky and only got 3 boys total that hatch. If the vaulted are female in this hatch it looks like I got lucky again and only got 1 boy out of the 4 (but time will tell)!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Kinoko just laid her first egg!

Just about six months of age, 26 weeks and 1 day to be exact. Follows the pattern of her Polish mother. Hopefully she’ll have the egg laying abilities as well! My polish are surprisingly good layers.
Expected Hikari to lay first, she’s been squatting for over a month. Keep expecting to see a blue/aqua colored egg out there. Kinoko is the same age but has not been exhibiting any squatting behavior. Maybe due to her traumatic brain injury? Though she did manage to find the nest box and laid the egg right where she was supposed to.
Thought at first it was Hikari’s but very confused over the color as her mother carried two copies of the blue egg gene, so I was questioning all my understanding of genetics, limited as it may be!
Checked the vents and it’s definitely Kinoko that laid the egg. Hopefully Hikari will be inspired and get to work!