Where to get Silkie chicks & keeping a Roo

[Karen_at_LittleBrook]

Hi everyone-

I'm getting ready to order my coop (still have a lot of snow) and then my chicks. I would like to get both standard laying breeds and Silkies- I posted a prev question about housing them together and I think it will be fine- I'm starting small, with only a total of 8-12 birds. (Although I'm not sure if I should order less because of the "packing peanut" possibilty, or more due to the possibility of shipping loss?) I want to start them all at the same time to help avoid new addition problems later on.

My questions are, where are the BEST places to buy Silkie chicks? And what about a Silkie Roo... I wouldnt mind allowing my Silkies to do what they do best, but I'm worried about keeping a gent with the girls full-time- I see a lot of pics with roos and hens together. And if I do that, do I have to keep him away from the standard laying girls? Would they cross breed? I dont want unexpected fertilized kitchen eggs!

Also... I would drive to pick-up my chicks here in central/upstate new york if anyone knows of any place.

Thanks,
Karen

 

[SonRise Silkies]

Hi Karen,
Yes, your roo will breed any and all hens that he can catch, and they can be awful easy to catch this time of yr.
If you do not want fertilized eggs you have to keep away from the "table layers"
Buy your chicks from a breeder if at all possible. Hatchery chicks are fine, but not always true to type if that matters to you.

I wouldn't keep regular chickens with my Silkies. Silkies seem more delicate and they can get pecked pretty hard and often due to the fact they don't always recognize danger, because their crests sometimes obstruct eyesight.

Packing peanuts might not be what you want to keep and could all be roos....I wouldn't count on them at all, order what you really want and you won't be unhappy with the results.

If you have lots of room in your coop/coops then mixing breeds together might be OK but crowding Silkies with another aggressive breed may be an unhappy situation.

Hope this helps some.
Cheryl

 

[silkielovr]

HEY! I just want to put out a fire before it starts!
I no longer will use the name Simply Silkies.....I applied for this name and it said it was not taken but it IS so I really apologize for this, I only posted two times and it will NOT happen again. Thanks Fattie for bringing this to my attention!
Again I apologize.

 

[tgrlily]

Hi Karen & welcome to BYC!

We live near Syracuse & have both large breeds & silkies. They were initially housed together but we found a little playhouse on craigslist & converted that to a silkie coop. We're working on separating all the breeds so we can breed them -- my poor husband is a brilliant carpenter...lol.

I would also recommend getting silkies from a breeder. Are you looking for potential show quality or are you ok with pet quality? What color or colors do you like? Silkies are great pets!

Frankly, I would recommend getting all of your chickens from breeders if possible. Depending on who you get them from, you can get birds that actually conform to the standards much better than hatchery birds. Do be careful when buying from craigslist... I recently responded to an ad for Ameraucanas & the "breeder" was INSISTANT that Ameraucanas & Easter Eggers are the exact same thing.

What other breeds are you looking for? There are a few BYCers in central NY that I'm sure would love to help! We're currently hatching BBS & White Silkies and will be throughout the spring. My daughter shows them & did quite well at the Fair. Next we'll be hatching both single comb & rose comb Red Dorkings, which are my son's conservation project & a very friendly & pretty breed. We also have BBS Orpingtons.

Let me know if I can help!

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[ultasol]

THe problem with keeping quality silkies and laying hens together is good quality silkies will have crests that impede vision, in addition I personally feel that those with large vaults are more prone to neurological injury. A peck on the head, while no big deal for most chickens, might cause neurological injury for a silkie with a large vault.

Of a larger concern, however, is their ability to compete for food compared to layers. The crest can really impede vision- that as well as size difference can create issues. Also, if planning on free ranging, silkies with crests are more prone to predation due to vision issues.

Just an FYI.

I used a chicken tractor last summer to allow my silkies to get some greens and sunshine, but they have been in the shop for the winter.

 

[possumhunter]

I have a banty roo that is in with my standards and he manages to do his duty with them all (can't say it is a very graceful act, but he gets the job done). I mostly use the eggs for consumtion and it took me awhile to figure out which ones were fertilized, because you can't really tell the difference. Just something to keep in mind, you can still eat the fertilized eggs and there is no difference in taste or appearance.

I had 6 pq silkies that I integrated into a flock of older standards and after the first few weeks, they were fine. I will emphasize that they were pet quality, so no large crests or vaults, so they had good vision and weren't as vulnerable to getting hurt as a nicer quality bird. But I thought mine did fine together. I would say it depends on where you get your birds. If you get them from a hatchery, you could probably run them all together just fine.

As far as how many to get...I would get a few more than you think you want...just in case you lose one or two. I've never had a problem getting rid of extra birds on Craigslist. Normally they are gone in a day.

 

[Karen_at_LittleBrook]

Thanks everybody, great information. Tgrlily I pm'd you.

 

[Karen_at_LittleBrook]

YES! Anyone local or in CNY who sells chicks please let me know! I would feel so much better picking them up than having them shipped! I've tried to email and PM but im not sure its working! Also, how do I find out about shows or auctions? I cant find a thing about them around here.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Darn, I wish you lived near me. I have some I need to get rid of. Too many!

 

[oconnorfamily25]

Hey- I need silkies too! I live in central ny, so could someone possibly tell me of some breeders there?