Tell me about silkies

[michickenwrangler]

I've had large fowl for the last several years, but I was given a little partridge silkie (breeder assured me it was a pullet but we'll see

). I realized I know almost nothing about silkies: cute, broody, different looking feathers.

So, silkie owners, tell me about your birds please.

BTW, can they fly? Will I have to clip her wings?

Here she is with a LF partridge cochin chick. DD named her Chipmunk but DH wants to call her Ping (well, she IS Chinese he said). I'm kinda leaning toward Ping.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I love my silkies. They are my favorite breed. They dont fly, so you dont have to clip their wings. They are sweet birds, I havent had and agressive roo. Mine also dont roost at night, they pile up into a silkie pile to sleep.

Though they do use the roost, sometimes, that is out in their run. That roost is about 1 foot off the ground.

Also, if it rains and there is a little mud in the coop, they all just *have* to run and step in the mud, lol.

And, you cant tell the sex of a silkie that young, you have to wait until at least 5-6 months. Once you get to know your *line* you can start to tell earlier.

 

[brendapa]

I love the name "Ping"

Brenda

 

[ibpboo]

I have two silkies. They are the sweetest! I keep them in the same pen as the rest of the girls. The do roost with the rest of them. They do go broody a lot. I just let them set, and keep collecting the eggs from under them. Yes, the other hens lay their eggs under them.

Mine do not fly, but they are able to fly up onto the roost. I have different levels of things in my chicken pen though, so they just hop from one surface to the next, as the rest of the hens do. I just treat them the same as the other chickens.
Hope your is a pullet!

 

[SilkiesAndSuch]

Silkies are the sweetest, fluffiest, cutest, bestest, most wonderful birds in the world! I love them so much! Don't worry about them flying, as they do not have good flight feathers(the better the quality, the more silkie the flight feathers, thus worse at flying) Some silkies will roost, but i find that the better the quality(show quality is what i speak of) the less likely they will roost high and the more likely they will pile up. And if there is more than one silkie, they are more likely to pile. Roosters are the sweetest things(i know there are exceptions to every rule, so any naysayers back off) You will love your silkie and i hope it is a hen!