We bred our bunnies again and things went better this time!
Things have gotten a little out of hand. LOL
One of our cats did NOT ask permission!
Thankfully, 3 more kittens and 3 more bunnies are manageable.
The chickens are doing well! All 47 of them!
They are getting a new LARGE coop very soon!
We let them run free during the day and as you can see they like to pick their own veggies! Now if I could just get them to till the garden paths!
Close up of a couple.
2 of the 6 silkies.
5 of them have big tufts on their heads and only one has a smooth head. Does that necessarily mean I have 5 roosters?? LOL
That's all for today. ;)
All of my silkies have tuffs on there heads. Check to see if they are getting a comb, silkie rooster combs are wide on there head, and cranberry in color. They are the hardest to sex, I still don't know what mine are yet and they were born in April. Your chickens look very healthy and happy. You have so much room for them to free range on. If your growing hosta, chickens love them. I found that out last year when my were free ranging, they ate them down to the ground. This year they have to stay in the coop until frost, then they can free range all winter if they want to. Your bunnies and kitties are beautiful, what a wonderful experience for your kids.
I haven't noticed any combs on them yet. They are 12 weeks. We also got ours in April, at the end, the 23rd. I had read another post here where someone was talking about the big "hair" and said those were probably male? Since the silkies were straight run, most have said they'd probably all be boys. LOL How soon should the comb be evident? Why does one of the silkies have a smooth head (no tuft)?
They've not gotten near any hosta but they did dig all the dirt off some tomato plants. :) They mostly scavenge the vegetable garden but there is enough in there for a small army.
We are getting ready to move the big coop but I'm having problems deciding where it should go semi-permanently or permanently. I'd like to have it where we can get electricity to it and maybe even a motion detector type spotlight. We do plan to bury chicken wire or hardware cloth around it or maybe attach it to the bottom so they are free to roam and nothing can get in.
I'm sorry to hear about your hosta! Thank you for the warning!
Badseed your bunnies are so cute. They look like little siamese kittens. And the kitties! Is there anything cuter than a kitten?
Thanks hart! My oldest is about to go nuts waiting for the kitties eyes to open. LOL It is a little strange to see them hobble around trying to see and hear and sucking on anything in the vicinity. LOL All the kids were really excited when the bunnies eyes opened. I guess it bugs a child when something cannot see.
I've read various reports that silkies are or can be extremely difficult to sex, even by professionals...lol. I can only guess at mine. Had intended to give some away but since I don't know what they are they are all still with me. There is one that I would swear is a roo but beyond that I have no idea on mine. Good thing they're small and take up little space...lol.
Love the kitty and bunny pics !! The chickens in "action" shots always crack me up the way they lean forward to run...lol
Julie
Yeah, the girls and I spend plenty of time laughing at the chickens when they take off running. Ours are very centered around their coop and the girls often take them different places in the yard or set them down and eventually they take off running if they can see the coop. I think the silkies are the funniest!
Badseed , It looks as if your place is a prospering and a 'sprouting! Congrats on the babies! Your Chickens have really grown up fast too!
Hers a pic of our only baby now! Hes so funny! We call him Gremlin! Oh yes and hes a little Buff Silkie!
You know , I have a Q. for everyone! Mama "Purty Sang", Buff Silkie, Has clean legs! Papa ,"UggieSang", has feathered legs. Is this Normal for a Hen Silkie ? Shouldnt she have feathered legs too?
This message was edited Jul 13, 2007 3:56 AM
I believe all silkies are to have feathered legs with the feathers coming to the 3rd toe....
http://www.americansilkiebantamclub.org/silkie_standard.htm
Julie
our silie hens have big tufts of feathers on their heads while the rooster has smooth feathers on his head
Hey, Michele, all you need now is a calf! Maybe I could drop one off the next time we go to KY.
Eufaula, I have a little bantam who looks like a bantam but has feathers on his/her legs. This chick is big like a silkie, has a silkie daddy, but look like a bantam with silkie feet. I'll have to get a picture, I call her/him baby boo, my little bantam hen is called boo boo, but seeing them together, they are the same color, but baby boo is a lot bigger than her mama. I think your Mama is a cross with a silkie, thats why you don't have feathers on her feet.
When the silkies are young they all look the same to me, I can't remember how long it took to find out we had 4 roos last year. I'm hoping for all girls this year, but I doubt that will happen.
love the pics ...
Kathleen! Don't you dare! LOL I think we really will get a cow or two after we can afford to fence properly. :) The man that does our field (who's family built this place) said I can get two calves in the spring, sell/butcher one in the fall and keep one as a milk or breeding cow or sell/butcher that one too and get two new ones in the spring. We may do that later on.I think we may keep a female mom/milk cow and sell the baby/babies each year.
Hello Eufala! Your baby is a beauty! We have three white silkies and three buff silkies and only one buff has the smooth head. All the others have the big tufts of hair. I guess time will tell. :) I think all of ours have feathers all the way down their feet. Now I'll have to go frisk them all and see!
Thank you for the input Julie, halnik and Cathy! This is all so much fun! It is also a great learning experience for me as well as the girls. They've been really good about helping to care for all of these critters!
The kitties eyes are starting to open. Poor things, get one eye open and not the other then move all lopsided. LOL
Hi Tracey! Thanks!
'Chelle
Silkies have a "CREST"
Not a tuft
not big hair.......
If one doesent have a crest then its either a cross breed or somewhere it got bad genes
polish you can sex from the crest
silkies crest are the same.... male or female
look for comb and spurs....I think they get spurs
run your fingers on the inside of the leg about where a spur would be
you may feel a nub
Gaw - jess bunnies! Gaw-jess bay-bees all!
At what age do Silkies think they are old enough to breed? LOL Some of ours are playing leap frog already at 12 weeks. None of the other breeds are doing that.
Several of ours also look to be growing "beards".
I took a bunch more pics today to narrow down IDs but won't get them posted right away.
All the kitties eyes are open now and the bunnies are turning into fat little pigs!
If we could get the mutt dog to stop herding the birds, all would be well. LOL
'Chelle
sometimes its just a dominance thing....the leap frog stuff
by the way
love the kitten with the 2 racing stripes on its back.......
CC, I have just been informed the kitty with stripes is "Cookie Jr", looks like mom. When can you come get her?? LOL
My eldest has seen the "mating" thing a couple of times. One of the whites with the crests likes to "dominate" the buff with the smooth head. LOL
Oh, you said that buff might be a mix. I looked it over good yesterday and got pics too. It does have the black skin, blue ears, five toes and a little spur on the inside of each leg. All of the others are crested but not that one.
This is one of the three white crested ones.
Excuse the swimsuit models. It's hard to find models with clothing, in the 90 degree temps. LOL
The buffs with crests, don't seem to be as full as the white ones.
Barred Rock?
I think I have the right pic of the right bird here...
We are thinking this one might be a Cuckoo Maran as it has gray legs. I might have the wrong pic though. All the Barred Rocks have yellow-orange legs.
Speckled Sussex?
Growing a beard....
Your chickens are beautiful, I think your growing a beard is a Ameraucana.
Silver Laced Wyandotte?
Badseed, love seeing your farm. I have at least one, ( have only seen one) cottontail bunny about the same size as your darling baby little ones. Since i have no control over them I am sure there are others having a ball out in my garden.
I have 3, a rooster and 2 hens of an unknow n larger type banty, when they lay eggs, which they are almost too old to do now, the eggs are the araucana (sp) color blue-green. Those three with the guinea fowl pair are free range now. The guineas are very busy out in the garden. I was hoping they would eat the earrwigs but I am afraid those little pests hide too well as I see lots of earwig damage up high in the plants.
Donna
Thanks Cathy! Actually a few of them are growing beards! And another one has a huge fluffy neck all the sudden....
CC, here is a pic of that buff silkies foot, the one with the smooth head, or uncrested. LOL It's amazing the things I find picture worthy!
Hi Donna! It's very nice to see you!
We've visited a local daylily grower a couple of times recently. WOW! Do they have some neat birds! They offered to share some of their birds with us but I had to say no for now. I do want to get some fancier ones after we get the number we have to a more manageable number. I guess I took that Evan Almighty movie too seriously as I'm trying to get down to only a couple of each type. LOL I don't necessarily want a male of every variety at this point though. :)
Anyways, the daylily guys had pea hens, frizzles, japanese, polish, brahma, peacocks, pigeons with feathered feet, macaaw...........I could just as easily blow a wad of cash on birds there as I could daylilies!
The black birds have not been as easy to sort out. I've been doing lots of reading on color of feet, faces, ears, etc trying to figure out what we have. I think most of them have a blue sheen so that is not very helpful!
This is the one that seems to be really "fluffed out" and bearded! When it's standing with all the other chicks, it's head and neck seem twice the size of the others and it is all feathers.
We have not quite figured out the white ones either. I think one is a Delaware, will have to see if I have a pic.
We have several that look like this.
I can't actually tell you if this is One Penny or Penny Two. Only the 3 year old knows for sure....LOL
Could this possibly be a Buckeye or no? Some of you still think RI Red?
the fluffed out and the white one below it look like americaunas