So I Have This Silkie...

[theycallmechickmagnet]

Okay this thread is about my silkie named Mitty, currently he is a little over 5 months old. When he was a tiny baby he looked fine but as he got older his beak started becoming crossed very badly and I realized his toes were very deformed, like on one foot the two short ones were grown together with no nail and the other one they were grown together with a nail. I always had thought Mitty was a boy because of his large comb but then as he got even older he started sounding and acting like the females. He always had a very high pitched voice (I don't think it will ever change) Yesterday morning I was shocked to hear another chicken crowing but I couldn't find out who it was. So today I got up and heard it again I ran out there and watched for 10 minutes, it was Mitty but sad to say the first few times I couldnt tell because of the cross beak. Even his crow is feminine/high pitched. He obviously has some bad sensory (I think that's the word for it) issues too. He's very bad at balancing like if you pet him he'll start wobbling and stand up tall and side step then freaks out because he thinks he is going to fall. Along with that he is very afraid of being dropped I guess, because we pick him up he starts flapping and yelling just going crazy until we hold him tightly against us. He spaces out a lot, like the others will play in the garden then he will be standing there falling over. Then his head falls to the ground and he does it all over again. (He shouldn't be tired he sleeps plenty) It's kind of hard for him to eat or see where he's going even, because one eye is larger and very close to his beak while the other is normal but further back. I don't know how he even lived this long because we hadn't assisted him with things but he seems to be eating and drinking like normal. He'll look at the food bowl then peck outside of it :/ I always thought our silkies were kind of slow, it must be the breeder. Because a few of our others have deformations as well, like a curve beak and toe problems, but not as bad as Mitty. They are definitely very inbred tho.

OVERVIEW OF MITTY

Mitty's Physical Trait Issues:
•A left eye that is huge and close to the beak
•His nostril on the big eye side is huge
•A beak that is curved and growing like crazy
•Cannot close his mouth (for obvious reasons)
•Hen/chick voice
•Deformed toes

Mental/Action Traits:
•When he pants he makes the same sound that a medium size dog would
•Freaks out flapping wings, kicking legs and screaming when picked up, only to calm down when feet are held under him or he is squeezed tightly against us
•Opens and closes his beak making a slight smacking sound (like the nom nom nom thing people do after a yawn)
•He doesn't mate (which is a good thing don't get me wrong)
•If you pet his head he will fall over and sleep instantly
•Acts like a hen but is a roo
•Falls asleep way too much when doing anything (except for running away)
•Isn't aggressive like the other silkie roo. I don't think he knows about that (yet)

^Mitty's eye close to beak

^Mitty's constantly growing beak

^Mitty falling over sleeping for no apparent reason

^Mitty's mouth that can't close

^Mitty sleeping being a round boi

I set him on a towel on the kitchen table and he doesn't move an inch, just sits there falling asleep. Doesn't matter how long I'm gone he doesn't go anywhere. But outside he runs away and avoids people, that's about the only thing he is good at other than being cute :3

 

[Purple_grape84]

I didn't see a question in your post so I'll just make a couple comments:
I would not let this chicken breed, the next generation will be worse.
You could try using a dog toe nail trimmer to shorten the top beak, might match up better to allow easier eating.
Might be slow to develop because it couldn't eat enough.
A lot of birds are uncomfortable with their feet dangling, I don't think that says anything particular.

I'm glad he's a friendly pet.

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

Oh my! How can something so mistaken be so adorable!!! That sleeping face planted in the towel is precious.
It's kind and compassionate of you to let him live out his natural life as long as he does not appear to be suffering. I'm impressed with his ability to eat.

 

[Crestcrazy2]

Awwww so cute
Would also suggest trimming down his beak so it doesn't grow into his throat because it looks like it might pretty soon if it keeps growing !

Yeah definitely don't breed him

thank you for keeping him alive! most people would probably cull him as they realized he was getting deformed but he seems happy with you, so great job !

 

[theycallmechickmagnet]

I didn't see a question in your post so I'll just make a couple comments:
I would not let this chicken breed, the next generation will be worse.
You could try using a dog toe nail trimmer to shorten the top beak, might match up better to allow easier eating.
Might be slow to develop because it couldn't eat enough.
A lot of birds are uncomfortable with their feet dangling, I don't think that says anything particular.

I'm glad he's a friendly pet.

Yeah. He hasn't shown any knowledge or interest in nating hahah. And thank you for the tip, what length do i trim it to? Just avoid a little bit away from the nerves inside? Also I know birdys are uncomfortable with that, all my chickens except one freak out with dangling feet. It's just he reacts differently squealing like a pig and flapping his wings, any little movement and he flips out. I've never seen a chicken squeal like that before, once there was a baby possum in the yard watching them, he was squealing then too We did move the possum away from our house tho

 

[theycallmechickmagnet]

Oh my! How can something so mistaken be so adorable!!! That sleeping face planted in the towel is precious.
It's kind and compassionate of you to let him live out his natural life as long as he does not appear to be suffering. I'm impressed with his ability to eat.

Yes haha he is the cutest thing I've ever seen. And he is very happy!

 

[theycallmechickmagnet]

Gave him a little haircut to help him see better, maybe eating will be easier too because he'll actually be able to see it lol

 

[Elliebeans]

I just wanted to congratulate you on doing such a good job with him, he's a lucky boy.
I too have a Silkie roo with a crossed beak, though Nuggets isn't as bad as Mitty's.
Nug's a little bit different to the other chickens as well, but not to the same extent. He gets around as well as the other chickens though seems to be more prone to naps then they are. But he just seems a little 'slow' compared to them if that makes sense?

I think he's probably pretty inbred too. Thought he was a hen for ages and he didn't crow until he was about 9-10 months old. His crow is pretty pathetic too and he likes to leave his crowing until about 7am which is nice.
I have seen him attempt to mate a few times, none of which seemed to be successful, he'd jump too far up and then fall off pretty much immediately and only with one of my silkie hens who seems to have taken pity on him. I've not seen any of the other hens show any receptiveness towards him. Probably because he doesn't act much like a rooster. He doesn't tell them when he's found food and tries to get in first when there are treats and I bet he'd do a runner if they were faced with danger.

He's never needed help with eating but he does struggle to pick stuff up off the ground. I make sure there is food in wide containers and the food is stacked deep so he can scoop it up easier.
I also provide a warm mash which he can slurp up and he likes cooked oatmeal for breakfast on weekends. Have you tried anything like that with Mitty?

 

[theycallmechickmagnet]

I just wanted to congratulate you on doing such a good job with him, he's a lucky boy.
I too have a Silkie roo with a crossed beak, though Nuggets isn't as bad as Mitty's.
Nug's a little bit different to the other chickens as well, but not to the same extent. He gets around as well as the other chickens though seems to be more prone to naps then they are. But he just seems a little 'slow' compared to them if that makes sense?

I think he's probably pretty inbred too. Thought he was a hen for ages and he didn't crow until he was about 9-10 months old. His crow is pretty pathetic too and he likes to leave his crowing until about 7am which is nice.
I have seen him attempt to mate a few times, none of which seemed to be successful, he'd jump too far up and then fall off pretty much immediately and only with one of my silkie hens who seems to have taken pity on him. I've not seen any of the other hens show any receptiveness towards him. Probably because he doesn't act much like a rooster. He doesn't tell them when he's found food and tries to get in first when there are treats and I bet he'd do a runner if they were faced with danger.

He's never needed help with eating but he does struggle to pick stuff up off the ground. I make sure there is food in wide containers and the food is stacked deep so he can scoop it up easier.
I also provide a warm mash which he can slurp up and he likes cooked oatmeal for breakfast on weekends. Have you tried anything like that with Mitty?

Yes that makes exact sense. I hate to say it but all of my silkies are stupid and slow. I hold one and her head just falls backwards as she instantly falls asleep. I love them though don't get me wrong. It's so cute, if you grab the hair on their head they shake their head no. Me and my mom always laugh about it we're like "do you love me?" chicken: *no*

anyways I'm getting off topic i just wanted to share that. It is crazy that yours crowed so late, that means my 'girls' could also be roos because they haven't laid an egg or anything yet. Our big silkie roo won't mate with them either. I think a lot of these silkie breeders are just dumb. They want money so they sell these inbred things which you can't tell are inbred at first. Then new silkie breeders buy the inbred ones and breed them even more. Someday their gonna mutate into monsters if it goes on long enough

I have a chicken named Nugget too haha, but she's an EE mix. I didn't know that chickens could have oatmeal tho! Is it the plain kind and do you add anything to it (besides water )?

One more thing about inbreeding tho, do you (or anyone else reading this) know if it's normal for a non inbred chicken to be deformed? We were incubating an egg from our RIR/EE and it gave up, so we opened the egg saw it's legs were backwards and it's feet were all crazy and toes twisted grown over one another. Could that have been an indication one or both of our chickens had inbred ancestors? Or is it just a normal occurance that happens sometimes when dna screws up?

 

[aembry1]

Yes that makes exact sense. I hate to say it but all of my silkies are stupid and slow. I hold one and her head just falls backwards as she instantly falls asleep. I love them though don't get me wrong. It's so cute, if you grab the hair on their head they shake their head no. Me and my mom always laugh about it we're like "do you love me?" chicken: *no*

anyways I'm getting off topic i just wanted to share that. It is crazy that yours crowed so late, that means my 'girls' could also be roos because they haven't laid an egg or anything yet. Our big silkie roo won't mate with them either. I think a lot of these silkie breeders are just dumb. They want money so they sell these inbred things which you can't tell are inbred at first. Then new silkie breeders buy the inbred ones and breed them even more. Someday their gonna mutate into monsters if it goes on long enough

I have a chicken named Nugget too haha, but she's an EE mix. I didn't know that chickens could have oatmeal tho! Is it the plain kind and do you add anything to it (besides water )?

One more thing about inbreeding tho, do you (or anyone else reading this) know if it's normal for a non inbred chicken to be deformed? We were incubating an egg from our RIR/EE and it gave up, so we opened the egg saw it's legs were backwards and it's feet were all crazy and toes twisted grown over one another. Could that have been an indication one or both of our chickens had inbred ancestors? Or is it just a normal occurance that happens sometimes when dna screws up?

I haven't started hatching eggs yet, I'm just starting out. I had no idea about everything I have just read in your comment. Wow! I have so much to learn before I will be ready to begin hatching eggs.