Tahlia95
In the Brooder
About 5 months ago I bought 2 silkie hens. I was told they were a couple of years old. One is a buff bearded silkie called Caramel and the other is a partridge called Speed Racer.
After they first arrived it didn't take us (my family) long to notice that Caramel wasn't nearly as active or alert as Speed Racer - who got the name because of her high energy level (she would always run away from us). Caramel seemed to just stand there most of the time looking somewhat depressed and hardly moving around. She seemed to eat and drink fine but just moved around extremely slowly. I thought she might not even last very long. But she is still alive and well but exactly the same. We were wanting to breed from them both but Caramel just gets way too scared and stressed out if our rooster mounts her and kind of just sits in the corner stunned with her beak open panting. We have never worked out why she is so vulnerable and inactive. We have thought that maybe she is actually older than we were told and just a poor old hen basically.
But. Me and my boyfriend went to a poultry sale about a week ago and bought 3 more silkies. Two white (one bearded) and one black. It didn't take us long to realise the bearded white one acts EXACTLY the same as Caramel does. She hardly moves around compared to the other two who scuttle around if we go into their pen. Like Caramel she eats and drinks fine but walks around almost like she doesn't know what she is doing and is just way too easy to pick up.
Does anyone know what on earth causes this kind of inactivity? Is this common with bearded silkies or silkies in general? Is there something we can do to get them to be more enthusiastic/alert and up their energy? We are wanting to breed from them but need advice on whether we should.
After they first arrived it didn't take us (my family) long to notice that Caramel wasn't nearly as active or alert as Speed Racer - who got the name because of her high energy level (she would always run away from us). Caramel seemed to just stand there most of the time looking somewhat depressed and hardly moving around. She seemed to eat and drink fine but just moved around extremely slowly. I thought she might not even last very long. But she is still alive and well but exactly the same. We were wanting to breed from them both but Caramel just gets way too scared and stressed out if our rooster mounts her and kind of just sits in the corner stunned with her beak open panting. We have never worked out why she is so vulnerable and inactive. We have thought that maybe she is actually older than we were told and just a poor old hen basically.
But. Me and my boyfriend went to a poultry sale about a week ago and bought 3 more silkies. Two white (one bearded) and one black. It didn't take us long to realise the bearded white one acts EXACTLY the same as Caramel does. She hardly moves around compared to the other two who scuttle around if we go into their pen. Like Caramel she eats and drinks fine but walks around almost like she doesn't know what she is doing and is just way too easy to pick up.
Does anyone know what on earth causes this kind of inactivity? Is this common with bearded silkies or silkies in general? Is there something we can do to get them to be more enthusiastic/alert and up their energy? We are wanting to breed from them but need advice on whether we should.
