Here is my clan.See the new babies with mama
I love silkies
those are some cute kids!
Awwww, nothing like a motherly hen and her chicks! But I also see SNOW. When do you ever get spring?
My silkies are laying really well right now, and being broody. I told them they cannot hatch anything out without a rooster, but they didn't listen.
Have a show coming up May 14, if I am able to, I will go. I should have been feeding the whites more vegetables, but at least I've been giving them flax seed. That makes their feathers soft.
Most of the snow is gone now except in the woods.Its in the 50s during the day now.Light for Jesus how much flax seed do you feed your silkies?And what does the vegetables do for them?
Your Silkies are beautiful. Do you clip and cut the hair around their eyes so they can see?
No they are not real poofy
They almost look like the Dutch Silkie Bantam. Green are your silkies very friendly?
I love your silkies Green! The show quality are great for show.. but I really prefer a bird that can see! I bought some eggs on ebay a couple years ago, just cause they didn't have beards or big poofs..They were plenty fuzzy and I loved that you could see their face!
So cute to see the babiez with mom... great picture!
I love the Dutch Silkies.. Haystack.. I can't wait for you to get them!
ZZ's Debbie sent me some pic's of the adults, very interesting, but I'm not sure what to think...The jury is really out on these till I see them live. I'm really excited to be getting the red American Silkies. From what I have seen they are gorgeous...Only one of my blues lived, but it's doing very well. I think it's a roo, I only wanted one hen but bought five to make sure I got a hen, and would you believe it, I'm pretty sure its a roo...
ZZ's I have a question for you, you know how the little ones fall asleep so fast, but don't sleep long, Well this little solid black will sleep for hours in my coat pocket or in the neck of my coat if I have it off. I have never seen a baby chicken do that ever before, have you ever experienced that with a baby? Also if he see's me he will scream and run his head into the glass until I pick him up and then he is just fine. I really don't know what to make of this as I have never had a bird act like this before. Any ideas??? This is just to weird and I'm worried about leaving him alone...It's like an tantrum...No Joke...Hay
Hay the only two that are friendly are Jadee that we hand raised and the white rooster,he will let me pick him up and won`t run from me.I hand feed them sometimes and it still made no difference.
I'm hijacking the thread a sec. Zz I went back and read the posts, and I really thought your picture of the gorgeous blue hen with the blue eggs were araucanas, but they are ameracanas am I correct this time? Still so beautiful, I wanted them.
It may be DonnaB that has the araucanas. I may even be wrong about that.
I still want blue eggs, but will try to contain myself for awhile. So much turmoil in my life right now I cannot think straight at times.
Sorry for my confusion.
I still say you should be a professional photographer Zz. You have a gift for it.
Hay wrote;" I only wanted one hen but bought five to make sure I got a hen,"
Sigh. Well, at least I'm not the only one. Four lived, thre are roos, and the only hen was lost (with her only grown chick) in a dog attack. I will never understand why one of the roos survived, he was basically defeathered, and somehow made his way into the cow pasture, which I'm sure is the only reason he lived to tell about it. We thought he was gone, and then I went to pick up the trash that was in the cow field. It was the little roo, soaking wet, few feathers, and standing up so staright he looked like a plastic bag stuck in the fence. The cows were unhappy with him being there, and he couldn't get out. He's never come back 100%, but he makes sure he's there to help me distribute food in the morning, on my foot or the side of the bin.
I really wanted a Silky hen so I could hatch what I want. I was gifted with some OEG type banties, and they seem to be doing the job. I still want a Silkie hen, and may be able to trade for a pair of Turkens (eleven of which are behind me right now, just learning to fly to the top of the box).
I love my blue eggs. Somehow two of the bluest ended up under one of the little hens.......
Green I love to watch the Silkie moms with their chicks. They are so cute
I miss mine but love the Bantam Araucana more and needed their cage
Yes I have the Araucana LFJ
LFG I tried the flax seed and they would not even try it.My silkies will not eat anything new,you would think I was trying to posion them when I bring something new in for them.They like scratch and bread and thats it besides there regular feed.
I'm sitting here waiting for the man from the state to do the NPIP test so I can show my silkies. He wants to test the new silkies I bought, and two of the others from last year. Seems kind of stupid for a disease that is almost nonexistent by his own admission, but that is the government for you.
I had to do this last year and didn't like it. I was out in the sunshine. Thank God at least today is cloudy, oh and a bit misty, can't say rain, but definitely misty and the ground is wet. There is hope for Texas rain yet!
I hold the chicken and he lifts up the wing and draws the blood. He tests it right away, and the tests are negative of course. The chickens don't seem to mind much, but I don't like it at all!
Haystack, I'd be very worried.. I think that chick is terribly sick.. LOL Called Lovesick and can be very serious. The symptoms are... A chick that thinks it's a kid.. A chick that can't sleep without a comfy spot on the collar. Catsy has a pullet she raised in her collar, and the crazy thing still thinks she is mom. Very cute!!
LFJ.. I only have one blue, and she is a silkie/nankin cross.. The rest are lavender Ameraucanas. I have 2 black Ameraucana splits.. (carrying the lavender gene) and those two lay the blue blue blue eggs.. They are mother and daughter.. and don't lay real good, but when they do, they are the prettiest eggs I've seen. They will die of old age here cause of their egg color! I love them!
You can get blue eggs from any Ameraucana, just hard to find true blue.. (if not impossible) they all have a green tint.. but either way, they are a treat to collect every single time! :)
Thank you for the kind words regarding my pictures... I go through a gazillion pictures to make sure they are good ones.. If I'm going to post a pic for all to see, I sure want it to be the best representation I can get! ;)
Haystack, the Dutch Silkies ARE very different.. the feathers are so silken and pretty.. Just so nice looking to me. Their stance is quite different also. I like em.. Just not red. LOL
LFJ, I applaud you for doing NPIP. Not much consolation for the hassle of it all, but it is just good to hear people doing their part. Good for you. (regardless of how silly it is) :)
I'm so glad it's over. He had some trouble getting the blood this time. In Texas it is free testing and you must have that paper in order to show.
The cost is $4.50 per bird for the Amarillo Show, May 14. They are having a double show, which means two different judges. If one judge doesn't like your birds, maybe the other one will. I have the two whites, three partridge, four splash, and one blue I may enter. Yikes, $45.00 I may rethink this. At the tri state fair they had what they called "pay out" and you were paid per bird regardless if you won or not. Not sure if they will have that this time or not. I should call and ask them. Would they take your money and then give it back? That seems silly.
I asked the woman that sold me the whites about the hen not laying. She said it could be a lack of calcium. She also said to put her in with a different rooster and that may start things up for her. Hers are doing the same thing this year that mine is doing, but other people that bought birds the same time I did are having great success at hatching babies. : I'm sure not.
That is good advice... A roo will get her to "grow up" and be a big gurl.. :)
She has been in with the lovely roo that she came with, all this time, but it isn't happening.
They were "just friends".
Porkpal you are just too funny tonight. :D ty
She needs to have an affair to spark her love life and get her hormones going.. She must have that "brotherly love" thing goin on with her current mate.. You don't have to breed her, just introduce a new roo to do some dancing and stuff...
Zz I brought the little hen to my house and put her in the backyard. She obviously couldn't see, so I got the pink hair tape and tried to tie her crest up. She should weigh more than she does, at least I think so. She feels way too light. So, poor little thing is in the yard now and starting to peck and scratch around like a "real chicken". I feel sorry I didn't do this sooner, but I guess I was looking at her as a breeder, and she wasn't cooperating. I just kept thinking loss of $$ if she gets killed before I get any babies. I feel ashamed of myself! She looks so happy out there. I'll post the video I took of her. Imagine she is 15 months old and has never been allowed on real grass or dirt. :( She took right to it though.
I did trim the tape that is hanging down in the video. She doesn't like the tape, but at least she can see. The little splash comes over to her to say hello.
This makes me even more determined to get a big place for my roosters to scratch and have fun in too.
The video is downloading, and you may want to mute it, the dog is barking.. of course. The tree limbs are still in the yard, I haven't had the time or energy to deal with them. The wind is blowing here again too, and almost blows her over. The video is kind of long and nothing really to see, but to me it's kind of a "wake up" moment.
I have heard of show silkies starving to death cause they can't see. It is a shame, and more common than we think... I'm glad you posted this, cause more people need to be aware that it is very dangerous. I'm sorry I didn't "click" since you have been giving us the signs of a silkie in distress for some time now.. The mystery of why she won't lay has probably been revealed!! I hope she can go on to mature with no problems... I never even thought of the eyesight thing.. even with all the mention of Haystack's Silkies that don't have the Poofs... I feel bad for not even thinking of it..
I guess we need to focus on the positive.. She will be okay now!!
I should have been giving her oyster shell. :( Yes, we will focus on the postive and be grateful she is going to get much better now. I think I'll give her a new name too. Instead of Fefe that I named her as a joke as she reminded me of a french poodle when she came, so soft and fluffy. I want to call her Rose now, White Rose. She will be my little special flower.
The other hens seem to be behaving themselve around her. They stand close to her but so far no pecking or bullying. Now, if those red hens were here it would have been a different story. I miss them sometimes, but am glad they are gone too.
I love Silkies, but can't tolerate all the poofy feathers covering their eyes. My little SIlkie is a working gal, lays often, never gone broody, and since she is a hatchery chicken there aren't a lot of feathers to trim abound her eyes. the first time she missed a piece of bread in my hand I got the scissors out and gave her face feathers a whack job. She loves her new do.
She is beautiful!! I had to laugh when the wind almost tipped her over! That was so cute. Yes, she hates her ponytail.. :) but it was good to see her scratching around getting goodiez from the earth. Thank you for posting that video.. I've been thinking about her this am.
Z she is not well. She did eat this morning and then I noticed one of the hens peck at her, yes I know that's normal, but I didn't like it. I brought her in the house and put her in big box with lots of food and water. Her weight is really not good. I picked up the other hens in the yard to compare, and they are quite healthy feeling, but she is as light as a feather. :( Pardon the pun. I'm quite concerned about her. Guess I'll try to be grateful this has happened so I can take extra good care of her now. I still feel kind of stupid, but what's new?
There are several things I could have been doing for her I wasn't. Making sure she had plenty of grit and oyster shell was one, and providing her with layer plellets number two. Strange though, because the rooster with her seems fine. I want to worm her too. Other suggestions are appreciated.
She scratched that hair tape right off, so I used a rubber band this time. So far, so good.
Little Rose is needing a lot of TLC, and I intend to make sure she gets it.
LFJ, so sorry to hear your little gal isn't feeling well! I think you're doing the right thing by keeping her by herself for a while - and the worming sounds like an excellent idea, for all of your chickens. Will she eat some scrambled eggs? That's quick protein. Vitamin and electrolyte water might be very helpful too. Hope she starts feeling better soon. It's really worrisome when one of our chickies don't feel well, isn't it? All the best to her!
I was a little worried that too much time outside wouldn't be good. If she has been on wire, you better be prepared for Cocci.. Could have been too much grass too... I'm a little worried about Cocci.. First time on the ground, especially if others have been around, will be a trigger for Cocci for sure.
I may know what is wrong with her now. With all that poof around her face I wasn't noticing, but now that I have her crest up in a rubber band I can see her beak well. The top part of her beak is long and curves downward. Guess that is preventing her from eating. I don't know if I should try to trim that or what. Any suggestings?
I think her vision is more of a problem than her beak. Can you see her having a hard time eating when her hair is up? LOL That sounds funny.
She is not being very active at all.
She shakes her head frequently, and has done that since I first bought her. The rubber band may be annoying her as well, I'm sure.
Yesterday I kept sticking her head down into a bowl with raw egg in it, just to try to give her nourishment. She looks awful but at least she's alive. I thought maybe taking her outside might help, and it did seem to. She walked around a bit, but that was about it. Guess I'll try the scrambled eggs today. She is really not well.
I was reading about hens losing weight and found a few links about "internal layers". This makes sense as she has never laid an egg. The prognosis is not good. This one hen had surgery. http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/PennysSurgery/PennysSurgery.html
Little Rose has a bad infestation of Northern Fowl Mites. I bathed her thinking she was possibly egg bound, I wanted to let her sit in warm water awhile. That is when I saw large numbers of little black specks in the water. Guess most of them drown, but when the water drained a few were moving.
Mites can make a bird anemic, stop laying and can kill them, several websites stated. I covered her with seven dust and then rinsed her lightly. Poultry Protector is supposed to be good for mites, so I have several bottles of it coming.
Since she was outside in the backyard she has now exposed all my other hens.
Poor little girl,now that you have found the problem maybe she will start gaining,maybe some vit. for awhile in her water untill she gets her strength back.