Silkies - They’re simply SPECTACULAR!

[chickengr]

my 5 silkie hens and 8 pullets spent their first night in the coop! they need some haircut as soon as possible.

what is the best ratio male:female for silkies?

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Waiting on one more, neither of the Candy Corn survived, so all of the survivors are Tolbunts!

Too precious and check out the long black hair on the far left chick in the top pic

 

[kurby22]

Too precious and check out the long black hair on the far left chick in the top pic

Hahaha I know! Super hairy already!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Update photos of my two “grow outs”
Lilikoi, the black, is now 16 weeks old. She is super friendly and follows me around.
Weighs 1.6 pounds and has a large vaulted skull. Because of this she recently had a little trim around her eyes.
14 week old Niko, the paint, is little shy but much friendlier than she was when she was a chick. Weighs 1.4 lbs and is non vaulted.
Both have still a bit of teenage gangliness going on but hopefully they’ll fill out more with time.View attachment 3016469View attachment 3016470View attachment 3016471View attachment 3016472View attachment 3016474View attachment 3016475View attachment 3016476View attachment 3016477

Such cuties!

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

Waiting on one more, neither of the Candy Corn survived, so all of the survivors are Tolbunts!

Wow! First pic looks like an interesting speech that one is giving!!!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Waiting on one more, neither of the Candy Corn survived, so all of the survivors are Tolbunts!

Sorry the candy corn didn’t make it.
The Tolbunts are adorable!
The first photo looks like a natural for the caption contest!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

my 5 silkie hens and 8 pullets spent their first night in the coop! they need some haircut as soon as possible.

what is the best ratio male:female for silkies?

I think the general rule is 10 hens to 1 rooster. I have 10 hens in with my cockerel. Only 5 are Silkies and hatching from 2 of them currently. None of them are his “favorite” hen and I get 100% fertility currently, so he manages to get around.

 

[chickengr]

I think the general rule is 10 hens to 1 rooster. I have 10 hens in with my cockerel. Only 5 are Silkies and hatching from 2 of them currently. None of them are his “favorite” hen and I get 100% fertility currently, so he manages to get around.

thank you. when I get the roo I might separate pullets from hens. when my youngest 4 grow up I hope at least 1 is a boy (there are at least 2 girls), I can keep all those girls with 2 boys. this year seems to be girl's year, lol.

 

[LynnaePB]

Waiting on one more, neither of the Candy Corn survived, so all of the survivors are Tolbunts!

Oh they are such cuties! I'm sorry about the candy corns not hatching but so glad you got a good hatch with the little tolbunts!

I love that first picture especially too, the way they've positioned themselves together there is just so adorable!

my 5 silkie hens and 8 pullets spent their first night in the coop! they need some haircut as soon as possible.

what is the best ratio male:female for silkies?

I think it really depends on the male but like @LadiesAndJane I've found my boys can easily cope with 10 girls usually. I'd go with a bigger group first and see how the fertilization rate is (unless you have multiple males in the future and want to do more targeted breeding).

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

my 5 silkie hens and 8 pullets spent their first night in the coop! they need some haircut as soon as possible.

what is the best ratio male:female for silkies?

Depends on the rooster really, I've had 1 rooster to one hen without overmating. I've had combinations of ratios, 3 roosters with 8 hens and they didn't fight, another time 2 roosters with 8 hens and they fought bad so had to separate. I think 1 rooster to 3 or 4 hens is good, but it depends on the rooster.