Venturing into silkie territory!!! QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE BEAUTIES!!

[firstimechickenowner]

I have a couple of questions about silkies...
We bought 2 beautiful white silkie bantams yesterday, but we have only had ISA browns up till now. Feels like we are venturing into unknown territory, Silkie territory that is!! Are they all that different from other birds???
Apparently they are 10 months old and still not laying

Is this possible or have they got their ages wrong???
The woman selling them didn't seem to know much about them (and neither do we). I just had to buy them and save them from the little cages they were being kept in...

We have kept them seperate from our ISA browns overnight. When would be a good time for them to mingle with each other????
Also, what's the little bit of blue on the side of their faces mean???
ANY HELP WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED GUYS!! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE...

 

[jodiea60]

I am verrrrrry new too first week in...but the Silkies I believe are late layers I think I read 9months or so to maturity....The blue I believe is the earlobe.....I'll be curious to see if I have learned anything about chicken when the pros see this!!!!!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Silkies have blue skin and even blue bones I have heard. My avatar is a "Showgirl" (silkie, naked neck mix) showing off her blue skin. They are not all that different from other chickens, but they may get bossed around some by the ISA so keep an eye on them. You may want to bond with them some before introducing them to the others, besides they really should be quarantined fro 30 days before you expose your flock to them. I'm not sure about the 10 months old and no eggs.

 

[lvchicken]

Maybe the home they were recently in was too stressful, so they haven't started laying. I mean, if I was a Silkie in a tiny cage, I would refuse to lay unless someone let me out!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Often chickens quit laying for a couple of weeks after being moved.

 

[speckledhen]

When you buy new birds, you should keep them quarantined for a month to be sure they don't pass disease to your current flock.

 

[firstimechickenowner]

Thanks peeps! Such quick repsonses..

I'm a little worried now because I have put the new ISA brown we got yesterday too straight in with our other 4 ISAs... Should I move her into the other coop with the silkies for a few weeks??? The last thing I want is for our perfectly healthy birds to be infected with some disease....

The coops are actually attached to each other too, does this mean any diseases could be passed onto our birds through the wire that joins the coops???

 

[speckledhen]

This thread will tell you what you need to know about quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12751

 

[firstimechickenowner]

Quote:
Thanks heaps for that... I just went out and checked all the new birds.. The ISA has little yellowy brown insects crawling all over her skin... I'm assuming these are mites...

So, I have moved her into a totally seperate cage on her own.
But, now what??? How do we treat these mites??? if that's what they are??

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Actually that is probably lice. Ivermectin pour-on will work, or a dog/cat flea/tick spray, or sevin or permenthrin dust. will get rid of the bugs. You will need to retreat in a few days unless you use a product with an insect growth regulator.

THe little turquoise spots are earlobes. Silkies have black to slate skin, bones and internal tissue (meat and organs).

There is a possibility they were in smaller cages to separate them for sale. I know I often group sale birds together, usually too tightly grouped for the pen, cage or coop so that they are in one place and easily shown. The seller could also have been cage training them for shows. I wouldn't assume that they remain in tiny cages all the time, or that they needed rescuing from your description.

Silkies, especially higher quality ones, usually lay quite late. Anything earlier than 8 or 9 months would be surprising, and over a year is not uncommon.

Since you already put the new isa brown with your others, you need to treat them all for lice. Check over the silkie as well, or just treat her.