Should have waited until they finished their oatmeal, they were messy and impatient.
Pictures are very poor quality. I noticed the Buff Silkie had a bright spot of blue on his..ear? Both sides. I believe he is a he. The picture doesn't show how bright it really is. Just wanted to make sure this was normal.
This is Vivian, I think she is a girl. She has it too but it's not nearly as bright blue. Just wanted to make sure this is normal and not a sign they are lacking in something.
Thanks!
The blue is normal it is suppose to be there,all pure silkies have it,they are very cute,I have silkies and babies two.12 more eggs to hatch out next month,they are very good broodies and mamas.
Thank you! I'm giving the Silkies to a DG'er on this forum and wanted to make sure all was well with them.
Do you think the black Silkie is a girl? I don't want to give my friend 2 roo's!!
Annie
Annie, how old are they?
They were born on 3/10. Silkies are the sweetest and so tiny compared to the EE'ers. Vivian is the one who likes to sit on my leg and look at me when I talk to her LOL. The Buff is very friendly too, he's always on top of the feeder, standing in the bowl of oatmeal or other treats.
These are two of my silkie girls.no wattles
This message was edited Jun 26, 2010 8:17 PM
These were last years babies,you can see the blue ears on the mom,now these babies have babies.
Your girls and grandbabies are beautiful! How old were they when they started to lay, and about how long afterward until they went broody?
Well, geeze, I guess I need to let my friend know they are roos LOL. I so wish there was a way to sex Silkies!! I think it was on byc site, can't remember, but the ad said Silkies, sexed was $7 more per chick. It would be worth it!
It may have been my pet chicken.The mother of these last babies is not year old yet.They started laying this spring and soon after went broody.
Wow, is that early to go broody? I want a broody but not until next year, they probably won't work around my schedule LOL. I'm planning to do the golf ball trick and at night swap them for day old sexed chicks, Jersey Giants, I think.
Pet chicken, yes, that was it! So is it really possible to buy sexed Silkies?
My little mixed Silkie/Nankin/Japanese bantam, Charlotte, not quite five months, old, laid her first set of eggs recently and then promptly went broody on the wooden nest egg.
I didn't realise it could happen so soon after they start to lay. None of my standard dual purpose breeds have done it that young, not even the broody ones. Even my Silkies waited until they were older and had been laying for a few months.
I suppose in the wild, chickens would have brooded their eggs as soon as they started laying. But it is so unusual in modern birds.
That is young, she's an overachiever LOL. But you're right, in the wild they would have to go broody as soon as possible. Thought most of that had been bred out of chickens now too, mother nature always has the last laugh.
Do you have the wooden egg nest so you know which one is broody, or is it to let them know the right place to lay eggs?
The wooden nest egg was to encourage them to lay in the coop. I kept removing Charlotte's eggs because there is no rooster with them. But she was determined.
The wooden egg is super jumbo, it was part of a German children's play kitchen set.
They are all first year layers...the ones that haven't started laying yet, keep walking up to the door of the coop and peering in, like it is a club they are not yet old enough to attend, but are extremely curious about. .
If they say they can sell them sexed I would think there would some kind of gurantee if they are wrong.
The hatcheries say they are impossible to sex as babies. That's why they are always straight run.
MS Peeps just started laying a month ago and she is broody now too. She is hatching Sebright eggs since I know hers weren't fertile as she is a people chicken and no way is little Roo getting near her. They are due July 6?? She will be 6 months old July 1
That's amazing that Charlotte will sit on such a big egg. I've seen other posts where they are stiing on 8 eggs or so. That seems like a lot for a little Silkie to cover!
I guess the only sure way to get a girl is to buy an older one. Do you think there is a "chance" the Buff Silkie is a girl? There are no waddles as compared to the black Silkie. Wishful thinking?
Also, when do you think I should get the nesting boxes ready (add straw & golf balls)? The EE'ers were born on 3/15. Average age for an EE'er to start laying? So far they've shown no interest in the nesting boxes, I know they're too young right now.
I don't know about Ameraucanas. And it kind of depends on the time of year they were hatched.
You will know the time is near when they crouch down and spread their wings out when you reach for them. This is the mating crouch and they start doing it right before they start laying. It is a very useful sign.
Guess I'm just overly excited about them starting to lay LOL
I was guessing they would start mid September.
My Ameraucaunas that were hatched in December started laying a couple of weeks ago so they were a little over six months old.
My little silkie is sitting on 12 eggs I got from ebay and she covers them all,hope they hatch and there is suppose to be a lot of white ones in the mix,I have not white ones and am longing for one.
My guess was close, about mid September for them to start laying. Plenty of time to do somethig with their nesting boxes.
The thought of a tiny Silkie covering 12 eggs made me laugh, that's dedication! Good luck, hope it's a great hatch for and there are lots of white babies.
My guess is the buff is a pullet and the dark is a roo..
I saw some white silkies at the feed store.. Shew.. that was close.. they almost had a ride home!
Thanks for taking a guess LOL. They're both staying until one either lays an egg or crows. No roos allowed here but so far the EE roo has a very soft crow so he's going to hide out here. My DN says he's in the Witness ProtEGGtion Program.
Silkies are too hard to resist, you have excellent self control!
Silkies are so slow to mature and give a clue.. I had one for 9 months before it revealed it's gender. :)
My friend can't take the Silkies after all so they'll stay here for now and be just fine no matter what their gender is. They're sweet little lap chickens!
I guess I thought the black Silkie was a girl because he and the EE roo are attached at the hip, always roost together and are within a few feet of each other at all times, never so much as a ruffled feather. Maybe it's just a dominance thing in the making and I'm romancing the idea that they like each other.
Another friend of mine wants to give me a 2 Giant Jersey girls. Tempting, I'm thinking about it and also how much room I have/don't have, what would be best for all chickens involved.
Thanks to all for the info!!
Jersey Giants are calm, friendly chickens. Mine are reliable layers of big brown eggs and have never gone broody - yet. I like them a lot.
I feel my arm being twisted, that is my kind of chicken! We're working on adding more outside run space. It won't be as secure as the pred proof run they have now. I'm going to fence in an area outside of it with regular fence, the 2"x2" by 4 ft tall fence. They can be out there while I'm out working in the yard and can keep an eye on them.
Finally getting back to the grass growing project in their run and have a Question:
I bought six 2'x6' x 10' boards and am cutting them in half, nail together, to make squares and cover with wire, put them in the run with fresh top soil, field grass seed on top. Chickens can still walk on it, sun can get through the wire so it can grow. My question is, what kind of wire should I use? Shade cloth (rat wire) was my first thought but now I'm thinking they might get their toes caught in it? Any suggestion as to what might be the safest size fence to use?
Right now their run doesn't have a blade of grass left in it. I cut grass for them every day, it takes forever because I use scissors and cut it up into tiny chicken size bites.
I have found that the daytime chicken yard does not need to be very secure - just enough to keep the chickens in and the dogs out. We had one (probably rabid) raccoon that raided in the day, but after it was shot there has been no other trouble. My girls seem to be too big for the local hawks to take.
Some of my little coops are screened with a hardware cloth that is 1" x 1/2" instead of 1/2" squares. It might be suitable for your grass boxes.
Porkpal - thank you for "Grass Boxes" now I know what to call them, it was driving me crazy! I'll finally be able to finish them next week. Have a house full of company until next week. Everyone loves The Girls and they love all the extra attention too. We had our coffee in the run this morning with the Girls LOL.
How idyllic!
