Well? Did anyone figure out why Silky Bantams have stinky poopies?

[Aunt Angus]

True. They stay outside a lot, but I have a lot of wildlife here that is crafty. Including rodents and hawks. So it's a juggling dance, but worth it. The silkies are just too small and trusting for all night out here. I'm too fearful of what may happen. Foxes, raccoons, rats, hawks, dogs, and other critters. Too risky. So, in they come each day as the sun comes down. Thank you for your opinion. I wondered since I had a dark-brown pet rat that I had as a youngster with an interesting natural musk smell compared to the blonde fancy rat friend it had which had no musky smell. I wondered if it was a similar thing. I guess not. Hmmm. One never knows. I never really gave it much more thought until lately.

I live in the woods, and my Silkies stay outside. I have a nice coop for them (a converted shed) and a covered, enclosed run. I have foxes, raccoons, and a pair of Coopers hawks that live on my property. I regularly find bear poop in my driveway. Oh - we have a big ol' king snake we call Homer out here, too. And coyote, bobcat, owls, possum, skunk and the rare-but-still-around wolf and mountain lion.

I sleep well at night because 1) I know my birds are safe, and 2) I don't have to smell poop all night long. You will be much happier without smelling them, too.

(Full disclosure: I am brooding 2 Leghorn babies in my bedroom at the moment to keep my cats at bay, but the chicks don't stink. And they'll be outside full time in a few weeks.)

 

[McChooky]

All poop stinks! I suggest your indoor chickens wear diapers at night if you're going to continue keeping them inside.

 

[AgnesGray]

Nothing will help like moving them out.

I think all of our chickens' poop smells about the same, including our silkies, adorable though they are. I will say that we took in hundreds of "covid baby" chickens before getting NPIP and their poop often smelled sour or very "poopy" when they arrived and the smell improved drastically (I don't smell it anymore, but my mom does - lol) on our feed. Someone told me as an afterthought when we first went soy-free that we'd enjoy having less manure smell and it is true. Maybe try a soy free feed and see if that helps with the smell.

 

[Birdslave]

I live in the woods, and my Silkies stay outside. I have a nice coop for them (a converted shed) and a covered, enclosed run. I have foxes, raccoons, and a pair of Coopers hawks that live on my property. I regularly find bear poop in my driveway. Oh - we have a big ol' king snake we call Homer out here, too. And coyote, bobcat, owls, possum, skunk and the rare-but-still-around wolf and mountain lion.

I sleep well at night because 1) I know my birds are safe, and 2) I don't have to smell poop all night long. You will be much happier without smelling them, too.

(Full disclosure: I am brooding 2 Leghorn babies in my bedroom at the moment to keep my cats at bay, but the chicks don't stink. And they'll be outside full time in a few weeks.)

I think I get it! I am just so not in my heart prepared for any more wildlife attacks with feathers all over the place, although I love, absolutely LOVE wildlife. I've reared wild babies from road-kill mothers of opossums, coons, etc. But I don't know. I think my head can't take any more tragedies? I am super-protective to a fault now out of fear, I guess. Good GOD! One time, when I was young, I wanted my HORSE in my house!!! (Laughing). Of course, my mom would never have put up with it since she had it decorated with Persian carpets when she traveled as a stewardess ("Flight attendant" it's called now). So, here I am. I took care of her until she passed away. Now I am older and am alone with my birds. (Oh, well). Wonderful stories, though, in my head about wild animals. So, yup. I can try leaving them outside, but they learned so much from me, and me from them. Tricks, talking back certain ways, and intensity like silent beek chattering in my ear in certain rhythms that I have to do back to confirm I got the message, like a bonding thing. Very cute and interesting. My Pigeon does the same thing. At night, when they hang out (One bantam in particular) on my shoulder says emotional things to me when instinctively things are dark and are quiet at night. It's very interesting. I'm a gentle person. I also am in the care field as a career, so I guess there you go. Plus I've been a wildlife artist all my life. Most of the time I hang out with animals rather than people only because I get it, and it's a refreshing break from the public. But unless I put a tent up outside, I can't have it in my head to leave them out overnight. Maybe when I move to a different property it would make more sense...? I don't know. The further I am from them, the more I feel I am screwing them over by acting like I don't care. They know I really do. As far as this comment about the smelly poop? It was because I read someone else asking about it a couple of days ago. I tried answering it but failed to remember my password, etc. So when I finally got on here, I decided to re-write somewhat what I tried writing before. That's all. It really isn't that bad, actually. I haven't been here for a year...I think. I found the comment through google and responded and realized I had an account here from way back, so to speak. That's how this all happened. I was just commenting and going on about the differences with all the birds I've had and how the B.M.s are definitely different between breeds.