Silkies

[Silkie Chick]

Hello,

We are once more attempting to raise silkies. Some of our previous attempts have not been very sucessful. We keep their brooder clean, check for pasty bum, make sure they get food and water, but somehow they always have some sort of problem (crook-neck, dogs, cats, mites, etc.). But we figured we would give it one last shot, and got six silkie chicks. They have their own brooder, and it is in a central part of the house on a table (away from dogs), so we can monitor them closely. Already our bad luck has caught up to us, and one of the babies seems to be doing something that can only be described as a constant hiccup. We have fed it some yogurt mixed with some chick feed, and made sure it has had some sugared water. The "hiccups" still persist, even while it sleeps. Has anyone esle had this issue? Does it go away in time or are we looking at another fatality?
Thanks for your help.

BTW- Our six chicks consist of a black, a grey, 2 buffs and 2 whites.

 

[Silkie Chick]

This is the brooder that we have the silkies in... It is the little grey one that is having the problem.

 

[Silkie Chick]

The little grey one is doing better. We lowered and intensified the heat lamp, massaged its crop, gave it mollasses, and gave it lots of love and encouragement. So now it managed to move and walk to the waterer and even drank out of it... Just waiting for it to eat by itself.
Unfortunately, the little black one is now combatting pasty bum. At least we have dealt with this issue before, and it looks like a lot of warm paper towels are going to be used.

 

[elvin]

wonderful! our silkie babies are two weeks old. well, four of them are two weeks and we had a surprise of an additional two three days ago. i put a little bleach in their water and they are doing great! i put them in a secure bird cage outside, with their white silkie mother underneath. they love fish! i never would have thought of giving chickens fish, but they love crab. i also give them birdseed and fresh clovers and grass, their favourite are the tiny flowers that grow in the grass.

 

[Silkie Chick]

 

[Silkie Chick]

The little grey one died yesterday, . We got some replacements so hopefully all will be well.

 

[ChickenGirl1842]

Hi! I just received my 7 Silkie chicks in the mail yesterday. I'm using one of the jar waterers for them and so far 1 has attempted to drown himself and two have succeeded in drowning. The one that lived just crawled in the water and laid down with his head in the water. What can I do to prevent this?

 

[TheRookie]

Put marbles or large beads in the water so that they can't slip down into it enough to drown. I had the same problem. Just make sure you clean them first.

 

[ChickenGirl1842]

Thanks so much! I knew they were small but this is the first time I have had Silkie chicks and I wasn't really prepared for how tiny they are.

 

[LarissaSlates98]

Some baby chicks are silly. I swear if they look into water they drowned. So either use marbles or a very tiny bit of water at a time.