- Mar 22, 2016
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I have an 11 week old silkie chick who I was convinced is a pullet. I had two eggs hatch under a broody hen of another breed and one was much bigger, braver and hungrier than the other and started developing wattles and comb around 8 weeks and no crest, so I thought I had one male and one female. Now, having sold the 'male' and am left with the smaller more skittish 'female'. Right now I have only one other hen and the two ten week old Pekin bantam chicks she is still sort of mothering. As far as I can tell, the silkie's 'mother' is top chicken in the pecking order, followed by the other mother hen, followed by the silkie, followed by the two pekins. I say this because the silkie is bigger than them and pecks them when they come near her and they run away rather than fight.
The problem is this: In addition to bullying the smaller chicks, the silkie is just plain unfriendly. She HATES to be touched and sometimes even hates to be looked at, I swear. If I try to touch her in the coop she will peck the heck out of me. She only just braves taking food from me after some training but is very suspicious.
My question is, is this normal? Is she likely to get more friendly later or is this her personality now? Also is it possible she is still actually a roo?
The problem is this: In addition to bullying the smaller chicks, the silkie is just plain unfriendly. She HATES to be touched and sometimes even hates to be looked at, I swear. If I try to touch her in the coop she will peck the heck out of me. She only just braves taking food from me after some training but is very suspicious.
My question is, is this normal? Is she likely to get more friendly later or is this her personality now? Also is it possible she is still actually a roo?
