So...silkies are the dumbest birds ever...*UPDATE!!!*

[rodriguezpoultry]

I bought a few silkies. One is a DQ bird, but the rest are all very good.

I have clipped their crests because I wanted them to act like normal chickens. They eat and drink with standard fowl.

Issue is...they WILL NOT ROOST.

Is this because they really are that stupid, or because they have lost all instinct to roost above ground?

 

[wanda047]

Silkies don't fly. I actually put my roosts low to the ground and my female has figured out how to get on it. However, my silkie roo waits for me to pick him up and set him up there every night. I don't mind.

And PS.... I don't think Silkies are stupid

 

[Crest Acres Girl]

my silkies wont roost either...they roost UNDER the roost.....and you know what happends when they stay under the roosting pole the whole know

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
See...that's the thing. I have a ramp and these birds DO fly. Or at least attempt it. They will fly into the fence...then climb up it flapping their wings...just to run into the poison ivy patch...when I say "screw it" for the night. No WAY am I going in there...EVER.

 

[ChicknJ]

I gave my Silkies a half of a big dog crate turned upside down and filled with shavings for them and they all do the feathered pig pile in there. So easy to just dump and clean, and I dont have to worry about them jumping anywhere and hurting their heads or legs.

ps, I don't think they are dumb, mine seem like innocent little lambs.
(till ya try to take eegs away from a broody), ohhh speaking of broodies, with this arrangement, even if the momma gets off the eggs, someone else usually jumps on them... even the roo

 

[Laskaland]

Mine slept in a corner of the coop in a lovely silkie "pile"
They never roosted, but I always add an extra layer of shavings in the corner for them to snuggle in.
They did know enough to climb/hop in the coop at night.
good luck!
christina
(I think they are evil, but no dumber than any other breed)

 

[Majestic Lane Poultry]

Mine roost on a 2x2 my hubby installed for them. It is off the floor of the coop by about a foot! How sad is that, lol.

 

[Emzyyy]

I put a wooden box with a door with some wood shavings in it on the floor of the coop and mine sleep in that they don't like to roost even if I put them up there.

 

[Ugly Cowboy]

I beg to differ... Silkies may be dumb, but there brilliant compared to guinneas. Oh Lord, those have to be the most brain dead critters I've ever seen LOL. But really, silkies caint fly at all, so ya have to pick 'em up. My grandma's got a lot of 'em, I go over every night and put 'em up.

 

[BackSwampGirl]

That really hurts my feelings.I love all of my silkies even if some of them may not be perfect.But they are so sweet to me.There is nothing like being able to go up and being able to watch them stoop down and want to be picked up and loved.I could hold and love them all day.No they are not stupid!!!!! Sandra