Thinking of getting Silkies

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acomeau13

acomeau13

In the Brooder
Sep 14, 2015
29
3
26
Massachusetts
Hey all. I havent been on here in a little while. I recently have 7 hens that I got last April. I was looking into adding a few to my flock. Not so much for egg production but to just enjoy. I really like how fluffy and cute silkies can be. My only problem is i really don't want any roosters. I know that my local grain store has a bantam day but its a straight run. Is there anyway I can tell the difference and also what do i do if i get males? My other girls are barred rocks, ri reds, and wyandottes. If the silkies were to be male I woulnt want them to mate with my females. I heard you cant tell until the silkies are about 3 months. I started looking into getting different breeds just for the reason of sexing, but I really like the silkies. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated. I plan on getting some baby chics in the next few weeks.
 
Silkies, for the most part are calm, gentle eye candy. That also makes them extremely susceptible to predation.
Because of their size, docility and poor vision, they don't do well in mixed flocks due to bullying.
I have friends that love them but I wouldn't own one.
They're also an annoyingly frequently broody breed so you'll need cages to break them unless you want to constantly be raising chicks.
Why don't you want them to mate?

The extra males taste just like chicken. The Asian markets here have freezers full of silkie roasters. They're prized for the black meat.
 
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If you have your heart set on getting female silkies, you probably ought to skip getting them as chicks and find some that are old enough to lay. If you really want silkie chicks, then you'll need a plan for dealing with any males that show up as they mature.

Good luck to you, hope you find what you are looking for!
 
Thank you so much for your input. I'm really debating on getting them as chics or getting another breed all together. I was looking at buff orpingtons and brahma's. I really want to have some silkies in my flock though. Also I read that sometimes the other hens can bully the silkies. My barred rocks are a little nore aggressive then the others.
 
ChickenCanoe said:
Silkies, for the most part are calm, gentle eye candy. That also makes them extremely susceptible to predation.
Because of their size, docility and poor vision, they don't do well in mixed flocks due to bullying.
I have friends that love them but I wouldn't own one.
They're also an annoyingly frequently broody breed so you'll need cages to break them unless you want to constantly be raising chicks.
Why don't you want them to mate?

The extra males taste just like chicken. The Asian markets here have freezers full of silkie roasters. They're prized for the black meat.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this. I thought I wanted silkies but then I read up on them. Another problem seems to be the type of feathers they have doesn't really protect them from the rain and wet so they can't be let out in inclement weather.
If you want them and keep them together inside somewhere that should be better.
 
Ya so now I'm really trying to figure out what I want to do. At the moment all of my girls are together in the coop and outside in their run. I don't use my birds for meat. Just eggs. I want calm birds as well because I have my 2 boys that help me get the eggs. My older one actually doesn't like to go in anymore because my barred rocks tend to peck more.
 
Would you consider silkies as house pets? They are docile, fairly quiet, and accept confinement. Please check out "people with house chickens," thread. More and more folks are doing this . My friend has had house chickens over 25 years, different breeds but, mostly silkies. She lets them outside when she and the dog are with them - to protect from any surprise predators, like drop in cats, hawks etc.

Actually its very difficult to sex silkies before 4-5 mos. of age. My friend got her silkies from breeders advertising on BYC Buy,sell,trade forum. They had to be shipped because of distance involved but, she got really beautiful birds. The birds were close to 5 mos. old and they were truly females.

I also would recommend either getting POL (point of lay pullets) or adult laying hens. Hatchery silkies have had the "broodiness" pretty much bred out of them so that could be what you might consider. However they do not look like the beautiful breeder silkies you probably see on these pages.

You might want to post on the "Silkie thread," and see what they would advise.
 
Also forgot to mention silkies don't really fly (their wing feathers are not suitable for it) but, they can jump up high. Also the crest and beards can make it very difficult to see (unless you periodically trim them back) so two big reasons right there, why they are especially vulnerable to predator attacks. Once trimmed back, you will see they are more alert and active than before. They are not dummies like some folks say. It's a result of obscured vision. Kinda like a sheepdog.
 
Thank you. I called my local feed store and got the number of where they get their silkie chics from. Im going to call them and see if they have any pullets available.
 

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