I have three 7-month-old hens - a RIR, a BA and a GLW. It's always been my chicken fantasy to own a silkie or a showgirl, but I never run across one when I'm acquiring new chicks (this is my 2nd group of hens... my first group has since passed on...) So now I have a real-life chicken friend who breeds silkies and a friend of hers who breeds showgirls. I can't have roo's so I can't get chicks since you can't sex silkies and showgirls, BUT she said she's on the lookout for a slightly older pullet or hen for me. But then I got to thinking... introducing ONE hen is always a bad thing, right? She'll be lonely and get picked on and I'm thinking I should just avoid the whole thing This kills me since I so badly want to own a silkie or showgirl, but I know I need to make sure the hens are happy and not miserable. I so have a huge gorgeous coop that would probably house 20 (although I don't really want to own more than 4-ish hens) so there would be plenty of room... sigh. I guess I know the answer to this, but was hoping some crazy chicken person would tell me that there is a good way to do it.
Well, sorry, I'm not going to be that one crazy chicken person. I wouldn't add one bantam/crested Silkie/Showgirl to a flock if standard sized hens. That's just asking for heartbreak. What you could do however is buy or make a small coop and run and get one Silkie AND one Showgirl to live in it. A small doghouse or dog crate with sides attached would work just fine (or you could build a coop from scraps). Good luck. Nikki
